Nautical terms
27 of 469 terms in Sails & rigging. Show all
B
- Backstay Sails & rigging
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The stay that runs from the top of the mast down to the stern, keeping the mast from falling forward. On some boats it splits into two legs near deck level.
- Block (Pulley, Sheave) Sails & rigging
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A pulley in a case. Blocks change the direction of a line or, combined into a tackle, multiply pulling power. The wheel inside that the line runs over is the sheave.
- Boom (Gooseneck) Sails & rigging
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The horizontal spar that holds the bottom edge (foot) of the mainsail. It attaches to the mast at a swiveling fitting called the gooseneck and swings across the boat when tacking or jibing.
- Boom vang (Vang) Sails & rigging
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A tackle or strut from the boom down to the base of the mast that pulls the boom downward, controlling the shape and twist of the mainsail, mainly when reaching and running.
C
- Chainplate (Chainplates, Chain plate) Sails & rigging
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A strong metal fitting at deck level, fastened to the boat's structure, where a shroud or stay attaches so the rig's load passes into the hull.
Where chainplates pass through the deck they can leak; BoatUS lists weeping chainplates as a red flag, and hidden corrosion there can lead to rig failure.
usna.edu · icdept.cgaux.org · boatus.com · boatus.org · boatus.com
- Cutter (Cutter rig) Sails & rigging
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A single-masted sailboat like a sloop but with the mast farther aft, leaving room for two headsails set one behind the other.
H
- Halyard (Main halyard, Jib halyard) Sails & rigging
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A line used to hoist a sail (or a flag) up the mast and to lower it.
J
- Jib (Genoa, Headsail) Sails & rigging
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A triangular sail set in front of the mast, usually on the forestay. A genoa is a large jib that overlaps the mast; "headsail" covers any sail set forward of the mast.
discoverboating.com · ionianmarinesurveys.com · icdept.cgaux.org
- Jibe (Gybe, Accidental jibe, Preventer) Sails & rigging
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Turning the stern through the wind so the boom swings across to the other side. An uncontrolled jibe can swing the boom and mainsheet across with deadly force; a preventer line is rigged to guard against it.
K
- Ketch (Mizzen, Mizzen mast) Sails & rigging
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A two-masted sailboat with a tall main mast and a shorter mizzen mast aft, the mizzen standing forward of the rudder post. Yawls also have a mizzen.
L
- Luff (Luffing) Sails & rigging
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The front edge of a sail. As a verb, a sail luffs when it flaps along that edge, as happens when the boat turns too close to the wind or the sail is let out too far.
M
- Mainsail (Main) Sails & rigging
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The sail set behind the mast along the boom; normally the largest regular sail aboard.
- Mast (Spar, Mast step, Deck-stepped mast, Keel-stepped mast) Sails & rigging
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The vertical pole (spar) that carries the sails. Its foot sits in a mast step, either on deck (deck-stepped, usually easier to raise and lower) or down through the cabin onto the keel (keel-stepped).
discoverboating.com · icdept.cgaux.org · ionianmarinesurveys.com · usna.edu
P
- Points of sail (Close-hauled, Beam reach, Broad reach, Reach, Running, Beating) Sails & rigging
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The boat's angle to the wind: close-hauled (as close to the wind as the boat will sail), reaching (wind across the boat, with the beam reach at about 90 degrees) and running (sailing downwind, with the wind from astern).
R
- Reef (Reefing, Reef points) Sails & rigging
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To make a sail smaller so the boat is not overpowered in strong wind, by lowering part of the mainsail and tying or pulling it down to the boom, or partly rolling up a furling sail.
- Roller furling (Furler, Furling, In-mast furling) Sails & rigging
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A system that stores and reduces a sail by rolling it up, usually a headsail wound around the forestay. In-mast and in-boom versions roll the mainsail inside the mast or boom.
- Running rigging Sails & rigging
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The lines and hardware that raise, lower and trim the sails, such as halyards, sheets, reefing lines and the boom vang, along with the blocks and winches they run through.
S
- Sheet (Mainsheet, Jib sheet) Sails & rigging
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A line that controls the angle of a sail to the wind, attached at the sail's lower aft corner (the clew). Pulling it in is "trimming"; letting it out is "easing".
Despite the name, a sheet is a line, not a sail.
- Shroud (Shrouds, Upper shroud, Lower shroud) Sails & rigging
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Standing rigging that runs from the mast down to each side of the boat and keeps the mast from falling sideways. Upper shrouds pass over spreaders to the masthead; lowers attach lower on the mast.
- Sloop Sails & rigging
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A sailboat with one mast, set forward of amidships, carrying a mainsail and a single headsail. Compare the cutter, which carries two.
- Spreader (Spreaders) Sails & rigging
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A short strut sticking out from each side of the mast that holds the shrouds away from it, giving them a better angle to support the mast. Rigs are called single- or double-spreader by how many sets they have.
- Standing rigging Sails & rigging
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The fixed wires or rods (stays and shrouds) that hold the mast up and in place. Once tuned, it is not adjusted while sailing.
BoatUS lists a rig more than about 10 years old, frayed stays, cracked swage fittings, weeping chainplates and bottomed-out turnbuckles as signs a rigging survey is needed.
usna.edu · discoverboating.com · ionianmarinesurveys.com · boatus.com
- Stay (Forestay, Headstay) Sails & rigging
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Standing rigging that supports the mast fore and aft. The forestay (or headstay) runs from the bow to high on the mast and usually carries the jib or a roller furler.
discoverboating.com · ionianmarinesurveys.com · icdept.cgaux.org · usna.edu
T
- Tacking (Tack, Come about, Coming about) Sails & rigging
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Turning the bow through the wind so the wind comes over the other side and the sails cross to the new side. Each leg of a zigzag course to windward is also called a tack.
- Turnbuckle (Bottlescrew, Rigging screw) Sails & rigging
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A threaded fitting at the bottom of a stay or shroud that is turned to tighten or loosen it. Adjusting the turnbuckles to keep the mast straight and centered is called tuning the rig.
A turnbuckle screwed all the way in ("bottomed out") is one of the BoatUS red flags calling for a rigging survey.
usna.edu · ionianmarinesurveys.com · icdept.cgaux.org · boatus.com
W
- Weather helm Sails & rigging
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A sailboat's tendency to turn toward the wind, so the helmsman must hold the wheel or tiller to keep it straight. Too much of it usually means the mainsail is trimmed too tight; easing the main or reefing reduces it.
- Winch (Self-tailing winch, Winch handle) Sails & rigging
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A geared drum turned by a handle, used to pull in heavily loaded lines such as sheets and halyards, with a removable winch handle for extra leverage.
General guidance for recreational boaters, researched from the sources listed and written in our own words. Your equipment manuals, local knowledge, the Navigation Rules and a qualified instructor come first.