Basic Sailing Terminology for the Beginner Sailor
When you are learning to sail, the first thing you will notice is that it is full of
confusing terminology. For the beginner it can be quite overwhelming, but everyone
has to start somewhere, even British Olympic heroes such as Ben Ainslie or Sarah
Ayton. So if you don't know your sheets from your booms, or your port from your
starboard, here are some definitions of some of the most common sailing terms.
The Bow and the Aft
The bow is the name given to the forward part of the boat, and the aft is the name
given to the back half. However, the aft is slightly more problematic because it is also
known as the stern. The bow is important to know because its location directly relates
to two of the most important terms in sailing: port and starboard.
Port and Starboard
Port refers to the left-hand side of the boat when you are looking forward towards the
bow. Starboard is the opposite, referring to the right-hand side of the boat. Beginner
sailors often think that it would be easier to use ‘left' and ‘right', but these could refer
to something else whilst out on the water and become confusing. It is important to
know these two terms because many sailing rules regarding the rights of way that
oncoming boats have refer to them. One common way to remember them is that ‘port'
has the same amount of letters as ‘left', but they will soon roll off the tongue easily.
Windward and Leeward
As you will already know, sailing is intricately linked to the wind and what direction
it is coming from. It therefore comes as no surprise that we have our own names to
refer to these directions. Windward therefore refers to the direction in which the wind
is blowing, and leeward the direction opposite the way the wind is blowing. People
tend to confuse these quite a bit to start with, so don't worry if it takes a while to
remember them.
The Boom, the Rudder and Sheets
These are all objects found within a sailing boat. The boom refers to the horizontal
pole that connects to the foot of the sail. It moves from side to side to harness the
power of the wind, and can be quite dangerous if the sailor is not paying attention to
it. The rudder is the flat piece of plastic or wood that is positioned under the boat, and
is responsible for steering. It is controlled with a sheet, which is the name given to any
rope that is used to control either the boom, the sail or the rudder. Sheets also have
different names according to their role, but we won't go into that here.
Tacking and Jibing
These are two of the most common manoeuvres in sailing. Tacking is accomplished
by turning the bow through the wind, allowing the wind to change from one side of
the boat to the other, and the boat moves towards an upwind location in a zig-zag
manner. Jibing is essentially the opposite of this, and involves turning the stern of the
boat through the wind in order to travel downwind. However, the manoeuvre is often
a lot quicker and less controlled than tacking, and the quick-moving boom can make it
more dangerous.
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