Sailing Terms
There are so many terms exclusively meant for sailing and these sailing terms have to be mastered by those who go out into the sea without experience. These technical jargons are part of sailing world. If you go to a sailing school or sailing club, you will get acquainted with these terms. To be thorough with these sailing terms will help you to make your sailing a happy adventure.
Let us discuss some of the sailing terms here. When you have to catch the wind, you go in an angle right and left with zigzag bows and each of these turns are termed as tack. If you make use of a wave for propelling, this is called as surfing. Gibing is the opposite of tacking and in this, the forces remain constant and sails are tended so that any damage to the boat is avoided.
A sailor’s dictionary can explain you the meanings of sailing terms such as broaching, capsizing, pitch poling, turtling, and nautical mile. When your boat is overpowered, it loses its stability and wind turns the boat over. This is called as broaching. Flipping of the boat and its rolling sideways is called as capsizing. Sometimes, you boat may turn upside down with its back above just like a turtle and this position is called as turtling.
Sailing terms may appear to be quite difficult in the beginning. But they will be easier after one or two sailing trips. Only if you are familiar with the sailing terms, you can follow the instructions given in a sailing school or sailing club. When you are out in the sea, you may make use of radio for communication. In this case, when you do not know how to tackle the situation, the instruction may tell you to do something like, ‘Head on to the bow’ or ‘Move to the Stern’. Only if you know the meaning for the sailing terms ‘stern’ and ‘bow’, you can follow the instructions and protect your life. Bow means front portion of the boat while stern is its back.
Hull, cockpit, mast, rigging, mainsail, head sail, spinnaker, tack, jib and sheets are some more of the sailing terms. When you go deep into the subject, this list will become endless. Initially you need to learn the basic sailing terms and as you get some experience, you will learn more by yourself. Experience is the best teacher to teach sailing terms.
