## Glossary 

Aft  – towards the stern 

Backstay  – back wire keeping the mast up 

Boom  – horizontal stick hanging off the mast 

Bow  – pointy bit at the front the boat 

Bowline – a useless knot that sailors insist on using for everything 

Cleat  – a metal horn around which a rope is wrapped to secure  it 

Clew  – one of the bottom corners of a sail, often attached to a sheet 

Cunningham  – a secret bit of rope that you’ll never need to touch 

Cabin  – lump in the middle you sleep in 

Fore  – towards the bow 

Foresail or  Jib – the ‘little’ sail in front of the mast (sometimes known as a genoa, ‘jennie’ etc) 

Forestay – front wire keeping the mast up 

Gybe  – to change directions by putting the back of the boat through the wind (see tack ) 

Halyard – a rope for raising or lowering a sail 

Hard on  – sailing close to the wind; pulling a sail in tight; what the skipper gets when he outmanoeuvres another boat 

Head  – the top corner of a sail 

Helmsman – person steering 

Jammer  – a mechanical device used to stop a rope from moving, activated by a lever on top 

Jib sheets  – two ropes for controlling the jib, one on either side of the mast 

Keel  – big heavy fin-thing on the bottom of the boat that keeps it from flipping over 

Lazy sheet – the inactive or unloaded rope on a sail, the loose one that’s doing nothing (see working sheet for comparison) 

Leech – the back edge of a sail 

Luffing – when the front edge of a sail flaps 

Luff – the front edge of a sail, also when a sail flaps or ‘lifts’ at this edge it is “luffing” 

Main sheet  – rope for controlling the mainsail 

Mainsail or Main  – the big sail behind the mast 

Make fast  – to secure  a rope, to stop it moving 

Mast  – tall vertical stick in the middle of the boat 

Port  – to the left as you face the bow of the boat 

Rigging  – ropes and wires on a boat 

Rudder  – a movable fin at the back that steers the boat, connected to a wheel or tiller for steering 

Scope  – the amount of rope you let out when anchoring, as a ratio to the depth of water (e.g. 5:1) 

Secure – to control the loose end of a rope, usually by wrapping it around a cleat or tying it off 

Sheet – a rope for controlling a sail 

Sidestay  – a side wire on the mast to keep it up 

Skipper  – the boss, the big cheese, the chef, the head honcho. Often the owner of the boat. 

Spar – a stick to with sails (e.g. the boom or mast) 

Starboard  – to the right as you face the bow 

Stern  – blunt bit at the back 

Tack  – 1. the attitude of the boat to the wind based on the direction the wind is coming from (i.e. a boat is either on “port tack” or “starboard tack”); 2. to change directions putting front of the boat through the wind (see gybe ); 3. the bottom edge of a sail 

Take in – to pull in a sheet 

Tiller  – a stick for steering, more fancy than a wheel 

Topping lift – a rope for raising a spar  (the boom ) 

Working sheet  – the active or loaded rope on a sail, the tight one that’s holding all the pressure (see lazy sheet  for comparison) 

