Glossary
Apparent wind: Relative wind resulting from the boat's speed and the real wind.
Backstay: Rear shroud holding up the mast and symmetrical to the forestay.
Ballast: Compartment or tank used for balance by being filled with, or emptied of, water.
Beam: Side, starboard or port of the boat.
Bear away: To change course moving away from the direction of the wind.
Bearing: The direction taken by a yacht in relation to north.
Becalmed: A yacht is said to be becalmed when it finds itself without any wind.
Boom vang: System enabling the mainsail boom to be pulled down to tighten the mainsail, thus making it more rigid.
Boom: Perpendicular to the mast, the boom is a spar, which holds the lower edge of the mainsail.
Bow: The front of the boat.
Bowsprit: Spar at the front of the yacht allowing a sail to be put in place in front of the bow.
Breaker: Huge wave, which breaks and rolls.
Broach: To move suddenly in the direction of the wind.
Capsize: A boat capsizes when it goes over on its side under the force of a violent wave or strong wind to an angle, which means that it remains on its side.
Chain plate: The attachment point for the shroud or stays to the hull side.
Change of Tack: A move from one tack to another turning the bow through the wind.
Cockpit cleats: All of the cleats (used to hold a rope in place), which are found in the cockpit allowing the various ropes on board to be adjusted.
Cockpit: Hollow space at the rear of the yacht, where the helmsman is and where sails can be trimmed.
Coffee grinder: Piece of deck hardware forming a pedestal winch. This geared system offers a lot of power enabling sails to be trimmed.
Code Zero : it's a big genoa
Come about: To carry out a change of tack.
Daggerboard: Vertical fins, which are slotted under the hull of a yacht to reduce drift.
Delamination: The various skins and materials making up the composite materials come unstuck.
Dismast: To lose your mast following damage.
Displacement: The weight of the volume of water displaced by a boat.
Doldrums: Area of equatorial calms found in the Atlantic on either side of the Equator. It is a very hot area, where calms alternate with violent squalls.
Draw ahead: The wind changes to a less favourable direction for the yacht.
Drift: The sideways movement by a yacht in relation to its course.
Ease of: To ease the tension on a rope.
ETA: Abbreviation of Estimated Time of Arrival.
Foot: Bottom edge of the sail
Forestay: Shroud that is furthest forward.
Gennaker: Foresail reserved for downwind sailing.
Genoa: Large jib sail.
GMT: Greenwich Mean Time, also referred to as Universal Time.
Gooseneck: Swivel connection attaching the boom to the mast, allowing it to turn.
GPS (Global Positioning System): Satellite positioning device.
Gybe: To change tack with the wind going around the stern.
Halyard: Running rigging used to hoist a sail or yard. Each sail has its own halyard. Harden sheets, to sheet in: to pull on the sheet of a sail.
Head upwind: You are said to head upwind, when the wind is blowing in the opposite direction to the bow.
Headwind: When a yacht is heading into the wind. Heave to, to lie to: To heave to means positioning the yacht to ensure her safety in bad weather.
Heel: Angle at which the boat leans over.
Helm: The whole of the steering system enabling the boat to change course.
Hook: A hook system, which the allows the tops of the sails to be raised to the top of the mast.
IMOCA: International Monohull Open Classes Association. Intermediate shrouds: Side shrouds coming down from the top of the mast.
ISAF: International Sailing Federation.
Jib: Each of the triangular sails attached to a stay at the front of the mast.
Knot: Unit of measure for speeds at sea. One knot corresponds to one nautical mile covered in one hour.
Leech: The back side of a sail.
Leeward: Everything that does not receive the wind first is leeward. Lift, to veer aft: The wind comes around from the bow towards the stern. The wind lifts, when it becomes more favourable for the yacht to be on an ideal course.
LOA: The total maximum length of the boat, including the bowsprit. Luff of the sail: The leading edge of a triangular sail.
Luff: To manoeuvre to bring the boat closer to the direction of the wind.
Mainsail: Chief sail located behind the mast.
Mainsheet traveller car: Sliding mechanism on the traveller to which the mainsheet block is fixed.
Mainsheet traveller: Track on which the mainsheet block moves.
Nautical mile: Unit of distance at sea equal to 1852 metres (6080 feet or 1.15 statute miles).
Points of sail: Configuration and the angle a yacht sails in relation to the wind direction.
Pole: Long spar placed more or less sideways outside of the boat used to spread the sheets on foresails (genoa and spinnaker).
Port tack: A yacht on the port tack receives the wind from the left.
Port: The left-hand side of a boat, as you look towards the bow.
Rating rule: All of the rules, which define the specifications, which a racing yacht must satisfy.
Real wind: The real direction of the wind.
Reef: System used to reduce the surface of a sail.
Reef: To take in one or more reefs in a sail means reducing the sail surface.
Rigging: All that contributes to the wind propulsion of the yacht.
Roller furler: Rotating mechanical system fixed to the stay, allowing all or part of a foresail to be furled.
Rudder stoc: Mobile part of the steering system that moves the rudder.
Rudder: Submerged part of the steering system that can be angled.
Runner: Mobile shroud located at the rear of the mast.
Running downwind: Point of sail where a yacht receives the wind from astern.
Running rigging: Mobile elements of the rigging allowing sails to be hoisted and trimmed.
Sea-cock: Tube with a valve passing through the hull used for connecting instrument detectors.
Send aloft: Term used to talk of sails being hoisted.
Sheet: Rope used to trim a sail.
Shifting gear: Moving equipment and sails around the boat to stow them windward to reduce the heel.
Shiver: A sail which flaps, when receiving the wind on both sides, is said to shiver.
Shroud: Cable ensuring the mast is held in place.
Solent: Sort of jib.
Spinnaker: Foresail used in downwind conditions.
Splice: Joining two pieces of rope or cable by weaving the strands of each into the other to form a loop or join.
Spreader: Part of the rigging joined to the mast, which spreads the shrouds holding the mast in place.
Standing rigging: Fixed rigging, in particular, required to keep the mast in place.
Starboard tack: A yacht on a starboard tack receives the wind from the right.
Starboard: The right-hand side of a yacht if you are looking towards the bow.
Staysail: Foresail fitted to the babystay behind the jib.
Stern: The rear of the yacht.
Tack (port tack or starboard tack): The tack is the side of the boat, which faces the wind.
Tack: To sail often changing direction to head upwind or to optimise the yacht's speed by reaching (with the wind on the beam) rather than with the wind astern.
Tacking: By tacking, a sailor can move upwind by changing tack.
Tiller: Lever used to steer a boat.
To harden up: To stiffen.
U-bolt: Deck element attached to the hull of a yacht, on which a shroud is fixed.
Upwind: Point of sail closest to the wind..
UT: Abbreviation for Universal Time (equivalent to GMT).
VMG : Abbreviation of Velocity Made Good. It is the calculation of the speed on the ideal route towards the goal.
Waterline: The waterline is a line drawn on the hull at the level of the water; it marks the separation between topsides and the bottom.
Winch: Device used to pull on the ropes on board a yacht.
Windhole: An area without wind.
Windward: Everything that is the first to receive the wind is said to be windward.
