The ability to communicate on a sailboat is important, especially when we are racing. Windows of opportunities disappear much quicker that they appear. We may sail on different boats with different crews and coaches give instructions we need to understand. The need for a universal language is both important and fundamental. What if airline pilots and traffic controllers didn't understand one and other? Have you ever tried to order food in a foreign country where they don't speak your language? I have made my point.
In an attempt for us to start using terms associated with the universal sailors' language, I have listed some of the most important, basic, terms below. It is subject for expansion and by no means final or complete, but it is a start and I encourage each of you to read it and learn the terms by heart. In addition, I recommend reading the 2005-2008 Racing Rules of Sailing. First time readers should focus on Section 2 A-C.
The Racecourse:
The left side is always the left side. It is determined by looking upwind. As you round the weather mark and begin the run, the left side of the racecourse will be on your right (starboard) side. To make sure the person you are talking to will understand you may want to add "looking upwind" or "looking downwind" when you describe a side.
The starting line is usually located between a committee boat on the right and a marker on the left end. The committee boat end is also referred to as the "weather end" and the left end as the "pin end" or "leeward end". "The middle" is approximately the middle of the line. Any other starting point is usually expressed as fractions i.e. "1/4 up from the pin" or "1/3 down from the committee boat". If greater accuracy is required, we talk about boat lengths i.e. "three boat-lengths up from the pin" or "five boat lengths from the committee boat".
Points of sail:
"Port" is the left side of a boat, when facing forward and the right side is referred to as "starboard". A starboard tack is when the wind comes in from the starboard side and vice versa.
The most important tuning adjustment on your boat is the main and jib sheet. As we sail along we want to make small adjustments. We talk about trimming the sheets "one click" or "two clicks", referring to the sound of most ratchet blocks.
The normal sailing mode upwind is "close hauled". It defines the highest possible course which one could sail, without back-winding the jib (or main). It is sailing upwind, with the sails trimmed in at max, as close to the wind as possible.
Sailing higher than close haul would be referred to as "pinching". Pinching can be used for tactical purposes and/or as a means of "de-powering", but it is speed reducing in most cases and, usually, not a good thing."Drive the boat" is a term referred to as sailing a fraction below closed haul. Other terms used are "leaning on the jib" or "build speed".
No matter what point of sail you are on (sailing upwind or downwind, rounding marks, port or starboard tack), "head-up" means sail up higher in to the wind. Reversely, "bear off" would be the opposite. You would turn the boat away from the wind.
In an ideal world, we should approach the weather mark on "the lay-line". If we have "over-stood", we may have to "fetch" to the mark, in which case the sails are noticeably eased and we sail a course below closed haul. If we have tacked too early, we might have to "pinch" to round the weather mark.
An offset mark is usually used in larger fleets. In theory you would get there by sailing a "beam reach" from the weather mark. In reality the direction to the offset mark could be anything from closed haul, to a "fetch" and to a "broad reach".
Once around the weather mark you would bear off to a "dead run" i.e. the wind blowing from straight behind. On boats where spinnakers or whisker poles are used, we talk about a "regular-set" or "gybe-set" to indicate which gybe to begin the leg. A regular-set would indicate bearing off to a dead run, remaining on starboard tack while the gybe-set would indicate an immediate gybe before putting the boat in a downwind mode.
With very few exceptions, we want to sail the longest tack or gybe to a mark first. Sailing on the "long gybe" to the mark is the gybe that puts us in the closest direction to the next mark. Sailing "by-the-lee" is very fast in most mono-hull boats. You would get there by bearing off past dead down-wind, but be careful; you are very close to a gybe, so the vang ought to be eased slightly. If we are slow on a dead run, we may want to head-up and we would talk about "heating it up".
Positioning Reference:
When sailing along, boats on your weather side, slightly or far behind you, are referred to as "hip boat(s)". If they are far away, we talk about "distant hip". A boat positioned in front of you and to leeward is on your "lee-bow".
All for now, work in progress.
Magnus Liljedahl