Sailing terms for beginners: port, starboard, windward, sheets and who gives way

TUREFF• •0

Sailing has its own language, and on a first lesson it can feel as if half the instructions are in code. The words exist because they are unambiguous: "left" depends on which way you are facing, but "port" never changes. Learn the handful below and the rest comes naturally.

Directions on a boat

Bow: the front of the boat. Stern: the back.
Port: the left side when you are facing the bow. Starboard: the right side. A common memory aid is that "port" and "left" both have four letters.
Ahead and astern: in front and behind.
Abeam: directly out to the side.
Forward and aft: towards the front and towards the back, on board.
At night, a boat shows a red light on the port side and green on starboard.

Directions relative to the wind

Windward: the side the wind is coming from, or towards the wind.
Leeward (usually said "loo-ard"): the side away from the wind.
Upwind and downwind: towards and away from where the wind comes from.
Heading up: turning towards the wind. Bearing away: turning away from it.
Port tack and starboard tack: you are on port tack when the wind is coming over the port side, and starboard tack when it comes over the starboard side. The tack is named for the side opposite the mainsail.

Parts of the boat

Hull: the body of the boat.
Mast: the upright spar holding the sails. Boom: the horizontal spar along the bottom of the mainsail, which swings across when you turn.
Mainsail: the sail behind the mast. Jib or headsail: the sail in front of it.
Keel or centreboard: the fin under the boat that stops it sliding sideways.
Rudder: steers the boat, controlled by a tiller or a wheel.
Helm: the steering, and the person steering.

Ropes have names

On a boat, ropes are usually called by what they do:

Sheets control the angle of the sails: you pull them in or let them out (ease them). The mainsheet and jib sheets are the ones you will use most.
Halyards pull sails up the mast.
Lines is the general word, as in mooring lines.

Words for manoeuvres

Tacking: turning the bow through the wind.
Gybing: turning the stern through the wind.
Heeling: the boat leaning over in the wind.
Luffing: the front edge of a sail fluttering because it is not pulled in enough or the boat is pointing too close to the wind.
Reefing: making the sail smaller in strong wind.
In irons: stuck pointing into the wind with the sails flapping.

Who gives way: the basics

At sea, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, known as the COLREGS, set who keeps clear. Rule 12 covers two sailing boats meeting under sail:

Different tacks: the boat on port tack keeps clear of the boat on starboard tack.
Same tack: the windward boat keeps clear of the leeward boat.
If a boat on port tack sees another boat to windward and cannot tell which tack it is on, it keeps clear.

The boat that must keep clear is the give-way vessel; it should act early and obviously. The other is the stand-on vessel, which should hold its course and speed, but must still act to avoid a collision if the other does not. A few important caveats:

These rules apply between two boats sailing. A sailing boat using its engine counts as a power-driven vessel, even with the sails up.
Other rules give priority to vessels that cannot manoeuvre easily, such as boats fishing with nets or large ships in narrow channels. Do not assume a big ship can see you or stop for you.
Racing uses its own rules between competitors.
An overtaking vessel keeps clear of the one it is overtaking.

Your course will cover the full rules, including lights and sound signals, as you go further. Which sailing words confused you most at first? Share your questions and experiences in the comments below.