

This refers to a basic sailing maneuver wherein the boater turns the stern through the wind, changing the wind from one side of the boat to the other. Jibing is one of those sailing terms for wind that you’ll encounter. The lines are clipped on the boaters’ safety harness to secure them while walking on the deck. These lines connect from the bow to the stern on both the starboard and the port. Jack stays, or jack lines, refer to lines often made of steel wire wrapped in a plastic jacket. In IronsĪnother sailing term for wind is “In Irons.” This sailing phrase is heard when the boat’s bow is headed in the wind’s direction, disabling the boat to maneuver. As one of those funny sailing terms, handsomely doesn’t have anything to do with boaters’ appearance. When a boater asks you to haul on a line handsomely, it means to pull a line in a slow and even motion carefully. The gunwale refers to the upper edge of the hull. GaffĪ gaff pertains to a spar that securely holds the upper edge of a gaff sailor a fore-and-aft. Forestaysįorestays refer to the long cables or lines connecting from the vessel’s front to the mastheads. It may also mean securing an anchor on the side of the vessel. This sailing term is a verb that means to repair a spar or a mast using a fillet of wood. On the estimate, this is approximately measured as the distance between a human’s outstretched hands. FathomĪ fathom refers to a unit of length equivalent to 6 feet or 1.8 meters.

When you hear them say, “The cut of his jib,” they are talking about the shape of the staysail at the front of a sailboat or ship. When you hear them say, “The cut of a sail,” this means the shape of the sail. Cut of His Jibįor sailors, the term Cut means the shape.

Cat HeadĪ cat head refers to a beam that extends out from the hull that supports and secures a raised anchor. To those who don’t know this, they find these to be funny sailing terms. Brass monkey is widely believed to refer to a brass tray used in ships to store cannonballs during the Napoleonic Wars. These sailing boat terms refer to freezing weather as if it would freeze cannonballs off a brass monkey. Hence, they are terms often heard when sailing. The aft and the bow are two important areas of the boat. The bow refers to the opposite side of the aft, which is the front of the sailboat. It may also refer to a spar that extends the jib’s foot, gaffsail, or trysail, or a spar that extends square-rigged masts to carry studding sails. It may refer to a spar fastened to the foot of a fore-and-aft sail. BoomĪ boom may refer to a floating barrier that helps control navigation into and out of harbors and rivers. You can utter this loudly to hail a boat, as in “Boat ahoy!” 5. AhoyĪhoy is a term that functions to draw the attention of others. The term ahead refers to the forward of the bow. If you hear a boater say that he has a spare rope located aft, this means that the spare rope is kept at the back of his sailboat. AftĪlso called the stern, the aft refers to the back of a sailboat. If you hear someone say that something is above board, it means something is in plain view. This term refers to anything that is on or above the open deck. Sailing TermsĬlick here to see this TOPFORT 187/230pcs Fishing Accessories Kit on Amazon.īelow are 59 sailing terms that you should know to become a better sailor, in alphabetical order: 1. Read on to learn more about these commonly used nautical terms, including several funny sailing terms that boaters use. We may get a commission if you purchase something through a link on this page, so thank you! We’ll list 59 sailing terms below, including basic nautical sailing terms and funny sailing terms.Īlso, we hope you find the links here useful. Leeward – the direction where the wind is blowing towards.Starboard – the right-hand side of a sailboat.Port – the left-hand side of a sailboat.What are the sailing terms you must know?įive of the most basic sailing terms that you should know are as follows: Knowing many sailing terms will also make you a better sailor. It’s important to know common sailing terms so that you can communicate effectively with other boaters, especially during an emergency.
