Challenger Glossary of Sailing Terms

· Battens – Plastic stiffeners in the sail which help to give it shape

· Bear Away – Turn the boat away from the wind

· Beating – Pointing the boat as close to the wind as possible with the sail pulled in and the centreboard down

· Boom – Horizontal spar attached to the mast which controls the foot of the sail

· Bow – front of the boat

· By the Lee – sailing downwind with the boom on the windward side and the air flowing in reverse, from the back to the front of the sail

· Clew – Rear lower corner of the sail

· Crossbeams – Aluminium tubes that hold the hulls together

· Cunningham – (or tack downhaul) control line to tighten the luff of the sail

· Falls of Rope – The part of the rope hanging between two points

· Foot – Bottom edge of the sail

· Gybe – Turn the boat so that the wind passes across the back of he boat from one side to the other to move the sail from the old lee side across to the new lee side

· Gybing Lines – Lines attached each side to the kicker boom to pull out the sail

· Head – Top corner of the sail

· Kicker – Other name, vang. Pulls the boom down to tension the sail leech

· Leeward – The side of the boat that faces downwind

· Luff – Front edge of the sail

· Luff up – Turn the boat towards the wind

· Leech – Back edge of the sail

· Outhaul – Control line to tighten the foot of the sail

· Painter – Rope attached to the bow, used for towing or tying up the boat

· Port – Left hand side of the boat when facing forward

· Reaching – Sailing with the wind blowing across the boat

· Running – Sailing with the wind behind the boat

· Sheet – Rope that controls the boom and sail positions

· Sponsons – Outer hulls of a Challenger trimaran

· Starboard – Right hand side of the boat when facing forward

· Stern – Back of the boat

· Stock – Plate assembly that is attached to the boat and holds the rudder

· Tack – Front lower corner of a sail

· Tacking – Turning the boat’s bow through the wind until the sail fills on the opposite side

· Tell-tales – Strips of material with one end attached to the sail to show the wind flow. If they all fly horizontally the wind is flowing smoothly across the sail

· Tiller – A wood or steel pole the helmsman uses to control the rudder

· Transom – Back surface of the boat’s hull

· Wake – Small waves made by the stern of the boat as it passes through the water

· Windward – The side of the boat that faces upwind, or the opposite side to where the boom is, when running