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Port and Starboard - the port side is the left hand side facing the bow. The starboard side is the right-hand side. Remember this by: "left is a four-letter word, so is port." Bow and Stern - the bow is the front of the boat, usually the sharp end, and the stern is the back. The Rudder, and its handle &endash; the Tiller, is used to steer boats. On big yachts like America's Cup boats, they use a wheel rather than a tiller. Moving forward we have the Mainsheet, which is a piece of rope is used to control the angle of the boom and mainsail to the wind. Other sails also have ropes to pull in the ends of the sail. To make it easier to pull sails in against the force of the wind, the ropes are led through winches. (The grinders pull ropes in by grinding the winches with big handles.) The sails, mast and boom (which is the spar that is at the bottom of the mainsail, horizontal to the deck) are collectively known as the Rig. Most mainsails are triangular in shape. The front of the sail which is tied to, slid over or slides up the mast is known as the Luff. The boom is used to control the border edge of the sail, called the Foot. The mast is supported by pieces of wire known as Stays. These wires go from various places on the mast down to the deck, and hold the mast up. |