boom

Borrowed from Dutch boom (“tree; pole”). Doublet of beam.

(sailing) A spar extending the foot of a sail; a spar rigged outboard from a ship's side to which boats are secured in harbour.


car

→ French: car

→ Russian: кар (kar)

⇒ Sanskrit: कारयान (kārayāna)

→ Japanese: カー

Inherited from Middle English carre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman carre, from Old Northern French (compare Old French char), from Latin carrus (“two-wheeled baggage wagon”), from Gaulish *karros, from Proto-Celtic *karros (“wagon”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”). Doublet of horse.

der

On boats 25 feet or more, it is best to mount a mast car and track on the front of the mast so you can adjust the height of the pole above the deck

1995, Ken Textor, The New Book of Sail Trim, →ISBN, page 201:

(sailing) A sliding fitting that runs along a track.


weather

From Middle English weder, wedir, from Old English weder, from Proto-West Germanic *wedr, from Proto-Germanic *wedrą, from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰrom (=*we-dʰrom), from *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Weeder, West Frisian waar, Dutch weer, Low German Weder, German Wetter, Danish vejr, Swedish väder, Norwegian Bokmål vær, Norwegian Nynorsk vêr, Icelandic veður; also more distantly related to Russian вёдро (vjódro, “fair weather”) and perhaps Albanian vrëndë (“light rain”).
Other cognates include Sanskrit निर्वाण (nirvāṇa, “blown or put out, extinguished”).

cog

weather side, weather helm

Let me make a clean breast of it here, and frankly admit that I kept but sorry guard. With the problem of the universe revolving in me, how could I—being left completely to myself at such a thought-engendering altitude—how could I but lightly hold my obligations to observe all whale-ships’ standing orders, “Keep your weather eye open, and sing out every time.”

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 35, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 174:

(sailing, geology) Facing towards the flow of a fluid, usually air.


blade

From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”).
See also West Frisian bled, Dutch blad, German Blatt, Danish blad, Irish bláth (“flower”), Welsh blodyn (“flower”), Tocharian A pält, Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”), Albanian fletë (“leaf”). Similar usage in German Sägeblatt (“saw blade”, literally “saw leaf”). Doublet of blat. More at blow.

teh

typically sharp-edged working end of a knife or other cutting tool

(sailing) The rudder, daggerboard, or centerboard of a vessel.


fireball

/ˈfaɪəɹˌbɔl/

Chelyabinsk meteor
Nevada Test Site
Operation Upshot–Knothole

The noun is derived from fire (noun) + ball (noun). The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.

tulipallo

bag or ball filled with combustible material; (heraldry) charge depicting a disc-shaped bombshell

(sailing) A class of sailing dinghy with a single trapeze and a symmetrical spinnaker, sailed by a crew of two.


mule

→ Hawaiian: miula

→ Irish: miúil

→ Maori: miūru

From Middle English mule, from Anglo-Norman mule and Old English mūl, both from Latin mūlus, from Proto-Indo-European *mukslós. Compare Late Latin muscellus (“young he-mule”), Old East Slavic мъшкъ (mŭškŭ, “mule”), Ancient Greek (Phocian) μυχλός (mukhlós, “he-ass”), and German Maul Maultier, Maulesel (through Latin).

In heavier seas where a boat must sail a course dictated by waves, or where wave action makes power more important than pointing, the mule will prove the faster sail.

(sailing) A kind of triangular sail for a yacht.


up

down

antonym(s) of “away from the centre of the Earth”

down

antonym(s) of “towards the principal terminus”

From Middle English up, from Old English upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp, see more there.


runner

From Middle English rennere, rynner, urnare, equivalent to run + -er. Cognate with Old Norse rennari (“runner; messenger”). Displaced earlier Middle English runel (“runner”), from Old English rynel (“runner”; also “messenger, courier”).

махови́к

mechanical part intended to guide or aid something else to move

(nautical, sailing) A rope to increase the power of a tackle.


royal

From Middle English royal, from Old French roial (Modern French royal), from Latin rēgālis, from rēx (“king”). Doublet of regal (“befitting a king”), real (“unit of currency”), ariary, and riyal. Cognate with Spanish real. Displaced native Old English cynelīċ.

doublet

in ten days after we spoke the Solon, so rapid was his recovery, that, from lying helpless and almost hopeless in his berth, he was at the mast-heId, furling a royal.

1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., “CHAPTER XXXV”, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC:

(nautical, sailing) In large sailing ships, square sail over the topgallant sail.


kite

The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kūts (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot.
Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird.
The verb is derived from the noun.

leko

military aviation, slang: aircraft — see also aircraft

leija

sailing, slang: spinnaker — see also spinnaker

Our good master keeps his kites up to the last moment, studding-sails alow and aloft, and, by incessant straight steering, never loses a rod of way.

Richard Mayne (2000) “kite”, in The Language of Sailing, Chicago, Ill., Manchester: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, →ISBN, page 162

(sailing, dated) In a square-rigged ship: originally a sail positioned above a topsail; later a lightweight sail set above the topgallants, such as a studding sail or a jib topsail.

The key to a good gybe is to bring the spinnaker round to the old weather side before you begin, and then to steer to keep some wind in the kite.

2014, Tim Davison, “Symmetric Spinnakers”, in Skipper’s Cockpit Racing Guide: For Dinghies, Keelboats and Yachts, London: Adlard Coles Nautical, →ISBN, page 24:

(sailing, slang) A spinnaker (“supplementary sail to a mainsail”).


crotch

en-verb

crotch (third-person singular simple present crotches, present participle crotching, simple past and past participle crotched)

crotches (present singular third-person)
crotching (participle present)
crotched (participle past)
crotched (past)

Of disputed origin; two possibilities seem likely:
* From Middle English croche, variant of crucche (“crutch”); compare crook.
* From Middle English croche, variant of crouche (“cross, crozier”).

[…] when she begins to go astern, let go the anchor, brail up the spanker, crotch the boom, haul taut the guys, light-to the cable, as fast as she will take it, until a sufficient scope is out, when stopper.

1864, William N. Brady, The Kedge-anchor, Or Young Sailor's Assistant, page 192:

I always crotched the boom while reefing, and made an easy job of it, the boat, in the meantime, taking perfect care of herself on any point of sailing, under jib and jigger.

1907, H.R. Stiles, “Notes on Rigging”, in Thomas Fleming Day, editor, The Rudder, volume 18, page 611:

The big coiled throat and peak halyards were made ready to run, and the mainsheet was put to the winch ready for crotching the boom.

(transitive, sailing) To secure (the boom) to the boom crotch (a forked pole).


Windex

From a brand of mast-top wind indicator for sailing boats, derived from wind.

(sailing) An arrow-shaped indicator of wind direction installed in mast-top.


tether

From Middle English tether, teder, from Old English *tēoder and/or Old Norse tjóðr ( > Danish tøjr, Swedish tjuder); both from Proto-Germanic *teudrą (“rope; cord; shaft”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dewtro-, from Proto-Indo-European *dew- (“to tie”), or from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Cognate with North German Tüder (“tether for binding the cattle”), Swedish tjuder (“tether for binding cattle”).

inh

(nautical, sailing) A strong rope or line that connects a sailor's safety harness to the boat's jackstay.

turvaköysi

nautical: line that connects safety harness to jackstay


gasket

Perhaps from Middle French garcette (“gasket”), from Old French garce (“young woman”), feminization of garçon.

(sailing) A length of rope or canvas band used for reefing a sail, or holding a stowed sail in place.


glassy

en-adj

glassy (comparative glassier, superlative glassiest)

glassier (comparative)
glassiest (superlative)

From Middle English glasy, equivalent to glass + -y. Compare Saterland Frisian glääsich (“glassy”), Dutch glazig (“glassy”), German Low German glasig (“glassy”), German glasig (“glassy”).

a fair day on a glassy sea

Of or like glass, especially in being smooth and somewhat reflective.

(sailing, surfing, of water, not comparable) Lacking any chop; smooth and mostly flat.


hurdy-gurdy

Probably onomatopoeic in imitation of the sound produced by the stringed instrument. Compare obsolete hirdy-girdy (“an uproar; noise”). Attested from the 1740s.

A pair of oars, a small mast and sail, pen boards to contain the fish, a bailer, a water jar, a bait knife, a compass, a small wooden winch called a hurdy gurdy, a fish gaff, and the tubs, trawls, floats, and anchors used to set gear was all that was required to equip it.

2009, Keith McLaren, A Race for Real Sailors, page 20:


pollywog

(sailing slang) A sailor who has not yet crossed the equator.


circumnavigate

en-verb

circumnavigate (third-person singular simple present circumnavigates, present participle circumnavigating, simple past and past participle circumnavigated)

circumnavigates (present singular third-person)
circumnavigating (participle present)
circumnavigated (participle past)
circumnavigated (past)

Borrowed from Latin circumnāvigātus, perfect passive participle of circumnāvigō (“sail round something, circumnavigate”), from circum (“about, around”) + nāvigō (“sail, navigate”), from nāvis (“ship”) + agō (“do”). By surface analysis, circum- + navigate.

Patrick Childress, who solo circumnavigated on a Catalina 27 in 1982, stresses the value of eggs, which will keep at least six weeks if previously unrefrigerated and oiled with vegetable shortening.

1992, Richard Henderson, Singlehanded Sailing, →ISBN, page 225:

Jack and Lura Francis, both fairly tall, circumnavigated on a Westsail 32.

1997, Diana Jessie, The Cruising Woman's Advisor, →ISBN, page 30:

Chay Blyth was the first when he circumnavigated in British Steel in 292 days in 1970 in a voyage that some predicted would end in certain death.

2004 March 10, Edward Gorman, “Van den Heede rewarded for perseverance”, in Times of London:

(intransitive, sailing) To sail around the world.


vang

vang (third-person singular simple present vangs, present participle vanging, simple past and past participle vanged)

vangs (present singular third-person)
vanging (participle present)
vanged (participle past)
vanged (past)

Borrowed from Dutch vangen (“to catch”). Ultimately a doublet of etymology one.

On a catamaran, the curved track has enough beam to allow the mainsheet to vang the boom throughout its entire arc.

The Patented Hoyt Jib Boom adds to offwind speed by vanging the jib and acting as a built in whisker pole.

1999 January, Cruising World, volume 25, number 1, page 80:

We needed to vang the main, pull it down to flatten it, and make it more efficient.

2018, Henry R. Danielson, Island People: Finding Our Way:

(sailing) To flatten the sail and regulate its position with such a line.


clewline

If the halyards are not single, the yard must be sent down by a yard rope, like the topgallant yard. In some vessels, instead of making the sheets and clewlines fast to the jack, over-hand knots are taken in their ends, and they are let go.

1863, Richard Henry Dana Jr, Captain Brown, Dana's Seaman's friend, page 24:

(sailing) Outermost of the ropes with which a square sail is rolled up to the yard

supistin

outermost of the ropes with which a square sail is rolled up


monotype

en-noun

monotype (countable and uncountable, plural monotypes)

From mono- + type or mono- + -type. The printing technique is so called because it allows only one impression to be taken.

(sailing) A sailboat designed to be crewed or raced by a single person.


lapper

(sailing) A headsail that overlaps the mast.


keelboat

By and by the steamboat intruded. Then for fifteen or twenty years, these men continued to run their keelboats down-stream, and the steamers did all of the upstream business, the keelboatmen selling their boats in New Orleans, and returning home as deck passengers in the steamers.

1870, Mark Twain, chapter 3, in Life on the Mississippi:

(sailing) Any sailboat having a keel (as opposed to a centerboard or daggerboard).


knockabout

We sailed our knockabout around Cape Cod.

(sailing) A small sailboat lacking a bowsprit, of a type found primarily in the Massachusetts area.


afterguard

This is his sixth Cup campaign but his first as skipper, a position he inherited after the helmsman Russell Coutts, Butterworth’s longtime alter ego in the afterguard, bolted from Alinghi in 2004.

2007 July 3, Christopher Clarey, “A Familiar Foe Blocks New Zealand’s Path”, in New York Times:

(sailing) The members of a yacht's crew who attend to the aft sails


mastman

“I just said to the boys that when Australia won in Newport, they were 3-1 down, and we all know what happened there,” said Matt Mason, Team New Zealand’s mastman.

2007 July 1, Christopher Clarey, “Alinghi Within One Victory of America’s Cup”, in New York Times:

(nautical, sailing) A sailor who is charged with tending the halyards and other lines near the mast


mainyard

The sails were split, the mainyard shivered, the wind blowing fresh, the night setting in; and all our chance was to make for Corfu--or, as F. pathetically called it, 'a watery grave.'

A long line of red and white flags extends from the top of the mainyard to the helm and streamers flutter from the mastheads.

1914, E.H. Aitken, Concerning Animals and Other Matters:

(sailing) The yard of the mainmast, from which the mainsail is hung

grand' vèrgue

the yard of the mainmast, from which the mainsail is hung


barkentine

There was a barkentine in Halifax harbor. That was a thing worth looking at in the year 1933.

1937 August, Theodore G. Roberts, “Lay Aft, Mr. Dutton!”, in Boys' Life, volume 27, number 8, page 16:

The William Olsen, a San Francisco barkentine, kedged out into the lagoon as fast as possible, and through the tearing sheets of rain I glimpsed other vessels reaching for a holding-ground.

1937, Frederick O'Brien, Mystic Isles of the South Seas.:

She is passenger on the square-rigged barkentine Speedwell, now lying off the coast of Virginia.

1990 May 18, Patrick Daugherty, “Reading: Fare for Flying”, in Chicago Reader:

(sailing) Alternative spelling of barquentine


luffer

So even if the luffer to leeward does react quickly enough in the stopping of his boat, he'll also have to start going bacckwards to prevent you breaking away and going for the mark ahead of him.

1975, Yacht Racing - Volume 14, page 38:

The obsessive luffer seems to want a threat to windward for the sheer pleasure of upholding the right to luff, even though a luff almost always costs more places than it saves.

2013, Eric Twiname, Start to Win, page 107:

Some lost places at training events are worthwhile to enhance your reputation as a luffer—you can buy the poor windward boat a beer later!

(sailing, yacht racing) One who luffs (sails close to the wind) in order to threaten a windward opponent.


gunter

Named after Edmund Gunter, English mathematician and geometer. Compare Gunter's chain. For the surname, see Gunter.

(sailing) A device used in sailing, for two main configurations of rig:

A wire that leads from a point near the end of a gaff to a point near the other end. A block travels along this wire, and a halyard is attached to the block. This allows the gaff to be raised to the vertical by a single halyard.

A set of hoops or parrel beads which secure the gaff loosely to the mast in a vertical position.


hullock

(sailing) A small part of a sail lowered in a gale to keep the ship’s head to the sea.


up sticks

en-verb

up sticks (third-person singular simple present ups sticks, present participle upping sticks, simple past and past participle upped sticks)

ups sticks (present singular third-person)
upping sticks (participle present)
upped sticks (participle past)
upped sticks (past)

up + sticks, plural of stick (“a mast or part of a mast of a ship; a yard”).

(UK, Ireland, sailing, slang) To put up the mast of a ship in preparation for sailing.


forehander

Then he heard the wailing cry of the forehander as the crowd manned the braces.

1940, Roland Barker, Jonah's Ark, page 59:

I had not been below ten minutes when I heard Mr. Hughes shouting orders; then there came the cries of the forehander, and the creaking of brace blocks, as the yards were trimmed once more.

(sailing) The crew member in charge of managing the foresail.


clew line

(sailing) Alternative spelling of clewline


doublehand

doublehand (third-person singular simple present doublehands, present participle doublehanding, simple past and past participle doublehanded)

doublehands (present singular third-person)
doublehanding (participle present)
doublehanded (participle past)
doublehanded (past)

Whether you're sailing with a full crew complement or doublehanding with your spouse,...

2014, Ralph Naranjo, The Art of Seamanship, →ISBN, page 67:


doublehanded

This section uses a survey of thirteen couples to look at typical shorthanded solutions to watchkeeping and then discusses some standard watch schedules for doublehanded crews.

2006, Beth Leonard, The Voyager's Handbook: The Essential Guide to Blue Water Cruising, →ISBN:

(sailing) Requiring or using a crew consisting of two people.


heave to

heave to (third-person singular simple present heaves to, present participle heaving to, simple past heaved to or hove to, past participle heaved to or hove to or hoven to)

heaves to (present singular third-person)
heaving to (participle present)
heaved to (past)
hove to (past)
heaved to (participle past)
hove to (participle past)
hoven to (participle past)

(intransitive, nautical, sailing) To cause (one's vessel) to become dead in the water by pointing the bows directly towards the wind.


unweatherly

en-adj

unweatherly (comparative more unweatherly, superlative most unweatherly)

more unweatherly (comparative)
most unweatherly (superlative)


fleet racing

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A type of sport sail yachting event where a squadron of sailboats race as a fleet, against one another, on the same course, at the same time. (The famous Whitbread or Volvo Ocean Race, is of this type, as is the America's Cup World Series, and Extreme Sailing Series.)

water sports; yachting; water sports; yachting

match racing

where only two sailing yacht go head-to-head


match racing

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A type of sport sail yachting event where two sailboats race against one-another, head-to-head, on the same course, at the same time. (The America's Cup, the most famous sport yachting event, is of this type.)

fleet racing

where many sailing yacht go head-to-head


fleet race

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A race in sport sail yachting where a squadron of sailboats race as a fleet, against one another, on the same course, at the same time.


match race

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A race in sport sail yachting where two sailboats race against one-another, head-to-head, on the same course, at the same time.


stadium sailing

The in-port races for this Volvo Ocean Race are following the latest 'stadium sailing' trends by being held on a fixed course to gain maximum spectator appeal.

2011 October 29, James Boyd, “Abu Dhabi claims first Volvo Ocean Race in-port race”, in Daily Sail:

For the first time in history, the America's Cup would be visible to fans on the shoreline, part of Ellison's vision of "stadium sailing".

2018, Mary Pilon, The Kevin Show: An Olympic Athlete’s Battle with Mental Illness, page 218:

The Premiere Sailing League USA (PSL) has announced its choice of the new RS21 to elevate the dynamic of the sport through its stadium sailing program.

2018 August 16, Jan Harley, “Premiere Sailing League USA chooses RS21 as the new boat for Stadium Sailing”, in Sail World:

At the end of August the Extreme Sailing Series™, now in its 12th year, arrives in Cardiff Bay, UK and from 24th – 27th August an array of Olympians, world champions and America’s Cup superstars racing on identical hydrofoil catamarans called GC32 will battle it out to win the only UK leg of the ultimate stadium sailing race global championship.

2018 August 21, “Schiller Water Bike Races at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Cardiff”, in Superyacht News:

(water sports, sailing, yachting) A type of sport sail yachting close to the shore in an in-shore environment with tight courses, with shore-based fan stands comprising the "stadium". (Olympic sailing events typically are stadium sailing events. All Extreme Sailing Series races are stadium sailing events. Many of the America's Cup World Series fleet racing regattas are stadium sailing events.)


bowsie

(sailing) A simple device with three holes used for tensioning stays on boats or guy-lines on tents.


ooch

en-verb

ooch (third-person singular simple present ooches, present participle ooching, simple past and past participle ooched)

ooches (present singular third-person)
ooching (participle present)
ooched (participle past)
ooched (past)

The verb is possibly a variant of scooch or scoot, or an onomatopoeia representing the movement. The noun is possibly derived from the verb.

liikauttaa

(transitive) to move or slide (oneself or someone, or something) by a small amount

But if you are racing a boat without a chute, especially a single-hander, ooching is usually more effective.

1977, Yacht Racing, volume 16, Chicago, Ill.: One-Design Yachtsman, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 46, column 2:

Ooching involves the lower haIf of the body and the board. By pushing the board back and forth in small places, by minimal extension and retraction of the knees, the planing condition can be induced or enhanced.

1985, Sail Boarder International, volume 5, number 4, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.: Surfer Publishing Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 75:

You go below to check on Bud and review the racing rules. Prohibited actions include: sculling, pumping, and ooching.

1989, Anne Lorimer Sirna, ChapWoman’s Alwomanac: Pilot Handling throughout the Year, Camden, Me.: Seven Seas Press, →ISBN, page 34:

Moving the trunk of the body forward and backwards, even in strong winds, can flap the leech and increase the sail's drive (ooching).

2013, Bryan Willis, “Means of Propulsion”, in The Rules in Practice: 2013–2016, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Nautical, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 84:

(sailing) To propel a boat or sailboard by rocking one's body back and forth.

sysätä

(intransitive) to propel a boat or sailboard by rocking one’s body back and forth


ooch

Presumably, this means that one may ooch only to initiate surfing or planing and that, if challenged, one must be prepared to defend one's ooching behavior in light of the conditions and the wave pattern. Potential problems: How many ooches are permitted per wave?

I suspect it will take an ooch or two on the boom to get the upper batten to clear.

1999 June, Chuck Paine, “Design”, in Yachting, volume 185, number 6, page 56:

(sailing) An act of propelling a boat or sailboard forward by rocking one's body.

sysäys

act of propelling a boat or sailboard forward by rocking one’s body


lazy jacks

(nautical, sailing) A type of running rigging to assist in handling a fore-and-aft-rigged sail during reefing and furling; consist of a network of cordage which is rigged to a point on the mast and to a series of points on either side of the boom.


royalsail

(nautical, sailing) A royal (square sail over the topgallant sail).


penalty turn

(sailing) In a race, a penalty incurred for a foul, consisting of making one (or more) 360-degree turns of the boat.


bilgeboard

(sailing) A lifting foil used in a sailboat, which resembles a cross between a centerboard and a leeboard.