Meet the Sailing Dinghy — What Are All the Bits Called?
The confusing collection of ropes and bits of metal becomes remarkably logical once you know what each one does.
If you have never sailed before, walking up to a fully rigged sailing dinghy can be slightly intimidating.
There are ropes going upwards, ropes coming downwards, ropes disappearing through little blocks, bits of metal, a large pole sticking into the air and another pole apparently positioned at exactly the right height to hit you on the head.
Then an experienced sailor may helpfully say something like:
"Just pull the jib sheet in a bit, ease the main and keep the tiller towards you."
Which is perfectly clear — provided you already know what a jib, sheet, main and tiller are.
This is where learning the basic language of sailing makes an enormous difference.
Fortunately, there aren't actually that many essential parts to learn. Better still, almost everything on a sailing dinghy has a very definite purpose.
Once you understand what each part does, the mysterious collection of ropes, sails and fittings begins to look remarkably logical.
And for this lesson, we are deliberately going to stay away from something complicated such as a Thames A-Rater.
Wonderful boats though they are, an A-Rater is probably not the ideal machine for learning your first dozen sailing words.
A straightforward club training dinghy — or something like our RS Toura — is a much better classroom.
Start With the Boat Itself: The Hull
The hull is simply the main body of the boat.
It is the bit that keeps you out of the water.
Or, at least, that is the theory.
On a dinghy the hull is relatively light, which means the boat can accelerate quickly but can also heel considerably and, occasionally, turn upside down.
That is part of the fun.
If you stand beside a training dinghy before it is launched, spend a moment looking at its shape. The hull has been designed to move efficiently through the water while carrying the crew and supporting everything else we are about to attach to it.
Bow and Stern — Front and Back
The bow is the front of the boat.
The stern is the back.
These are probably the easiest two sailing terms to remember.
If somebody says:
"Move your weight towards the bow,"
they mean move forwards.
If they say:
"There's water coming over the stern,"
you may wish to investigate fairly quickly.
There is good reason for sailors to have specific words for front and back. On a boat, everyone needs to know exactly which direction is being discussed, particularly when manoeuvring quickly.
Port and Starboard — Left and Right, but Better
This is where things become slightly more nautical.
When you are facing forwards towards the bow:
Port is the left-hand side.
Starboard is the right-hand side.
The important point is that port and starboard belong to the boat, not the person.
Suppose I am standing on the bank looking towards the bow of the boat.
My left may not be the boat's port side.
That is precisely why sailors don't simply shout "left".
A useful memory aid is:
Port and left both have four letters.
Once learned, port and starboard become surprisingly natural.
You will eventually find yourself saying things such as:
"There's a boat approaching on starboard,"
without consciously translating it into right and left.
At that point you are beginning to sound suspiciously like a sailor.
Now Look Up — The Mast
The tall vertical structure rising from the boat is the mast.
Its principal job is to support the sails.
On many dinghies the mast can be removed completely when the boat is stored.
When preparing a club boat you may therefore begin with what looks like a rather empty hull and gradually assemble the entire sailing rig.
Learning to rig a boat is one of the best ways of learning its parts because you physically handle each component rather than simply memorising terminology from a diagram.
The Boom — Mind Your Head
Attached roughly horizontally to the mast is the boom.
The bottom edge of the mainsail is normally attached to or controlled by it.
The boom swings from side to side as the boat changes direction relative to the wind.
It is also responsible for one of sailing's most memorable introductory lessons:
When somebody shouts "DUCK!", they are probably not discussing wildlife.
During a tack the boom usually moves across the boat in a reasonably controlled fashion.
During a badly controlled gybe it may cross considerably faster.
You very quickly develop an instinct for where the boom is.
Or a headache.
Preferably the former.
The Mainsail — The Big One
The mainsail is normally the largest sail on a conventional training dinghy.
It is attached to the mast and controlled partly by the boom.
The mainsail provides much of the driving force that moves the boat through the water.
One of the first major skills you will learn is how much to pull the mainsail in or let it out depending upon your direction relative to the wind.
If the sail is flapping wildly, something probably needs adjusting.
If it is completely rigid and the boat is heeling alarmingly while everyone is hanging over the side, something may also need adjusting.
Sailing is full of useful middle ground.
The Jib — The Smaller Sail at the Front
Many two-person or larger dinghies also have a jib.
This is the smaller triangular sail positioned in front of the mast.
On a boat such as our Toura, one crew member can often concentrate on controlling the jib while the helm controls the mainsail and steering.
This is a very useful way for beginners to start.
You don't necessarily have to learn everything at once.
You can spend a session concentrating on the jib:
watching how it fills with wind;
pulling it in;
easing it out;
changing it from one side of the boat to the other during a tack.
Gradually you begin to understand how the sails work together.
Sheets — Ropes That Control Sails
This is one of those wonderfully confusing pieces of sailing vocabulary.
A sheet is a rope.
More specifically, it is normally a rope used to control the angle of a sail.
So we have:
Mainsheet — controls the mainsail.
Jib sheets — control the jib.
Why isn't a sheet called a rope?
Because sailing has had several thousand years to invent terminology and is not going to make things easy for us now.
But the names are useful.
If somebody tells you to "ease the mainsheet", they are giving a very specific instruction:
Let some of the rope out so the mainsail can move further away from the centreline of the boat.
If somebody tells you to "pull the jib sheet in", you are changing the angle of the jib.
Halyards — The Ropes That Pull Sails Up
If sheets generally control sails once they are up, halyards are commonly used to raise them.
You may have:
a mainsail halyard;
a jib halyard;
and, on some boats, a spinnaker halyard.
When rigging the boat, you attach the appropriate halyard and use it to pull the sail up the mast.
This gives us a useful distinction:
Halyards pull sails up.
Sheets control sails once they are sailing.
That simple difference removes a surprising amount of confusion.
Under the Boat — The Centreboard or Daggerboard
Now we come to something beginners don't always immediately appreciate.
A sailing boat needs something projecting down into the water.
On many dinghies this is a centreboard.
On others it may be a daggerboard.
Both perform broadly the same important job: they resist sideways movement through the water.
Without one, the wind would push the boat sideways far more easily.
A centreboard normally pivots up and down.
A daggerboard usually slides vertically into a slot.
The distinction matters when rigging a particular boat, but at this stage the important idea is simply:
The board underneath helps the boat turn the sideways force of the wind into useful forwards motion.
We will return to that idea later because it is central to understanding how a sailing boat can apparently sail partly towards the wind.
At the Back — The Rudder
At the stern you will normally find the rudder.
The rudder is a blade that sits in the water and helps steer the boat.
Turn the rudder and you alter the flow of water around it, producing a turning effect.
Simple enough.
Except that sailors generally don't hold the rudder itself.
They use something attached to it.
The Tiller — Steering Backwards
The tiller is the handle connected to the rudder.
Move the tiller one way and the stern moves the other way.
That means the bow turns in the opposite direction to the tiller.
This can initially feel completely backwards.
If you move the tiller towards port, the boat turns towards starboard.
Move it towards starboard and the boat turns towards port.
Many beginners spend their first few minutes steering in an elegant series of S-shaped curves while their instructor says:
"Other way… other way… OTHER way…"
Then, suddenly, it becomes instinctive.
One day you realise you are steering without consciously thinking about the tiller at all.
That is one of those small but very satisfying milestones in learning to sail.
Don't Try to Memorise Everything Sitting at Home
You could probably learn all these definitions from a book.
You could certainly learn them from a diagram.
But there is a much better method.
Stand beside a real boat.
Touch the mast.
Move the boom.
Find the mainsheet.
Look at the jib sheets.
Hold the tiller.
Move the rudder.
Lift the centreboard.
Follow a halyard from where you hold it to where it disappears up the mast.
Suddenly these aren't just words.
They are parts of a machine you can understand.
That is why learning at a sailing club can be so effective.
There are real boats sitting there waiting to become classrooms.
Practical Challenge — Name the Boat
Next time you are at your sailing club, stand beside a simple training dinghy before it goes into the water.
Without looking anything up, see whether you can identify:
Hull
Bow
Stern
Port
Starboard
Mast
Boom
Mainsail
Jib
Rudder
Tiller
Centreboard or daggerboard
Mainsheet
Jib sheets
Halyards
Don't worry if you only recognise five on your first attempt.
Walk around the boat with somebody experienced and ask them to point things out.
Then try again.
You will probably be surprised how quickly the names stick.
For an even better exercise, reverse it.
Ask somebody to name a component and see whether you can touch it.
"Show me the starboard jib sheet."
"Where is the centreboard?"
"Which rope is the mainsail halyard?"
That turns what could have been a vocabulary lesson into something practical.
A Photograph Can Become Your First Sailing Diagram
This is also an excellent subject for a photograph.
Take a clear side view of a straightforward training dinghy — preferably fully rigged on the bank or pontoon — and label the photograph with arrows.
Point to:
Bow — Stern — Mast — Boom — Mainsail — Jib — Rudder — Tiller — Centreboard — Sheets — Halyards
You could even produce two versions.
The first is labelled.
The second has only the arrows.
See how many parts you can identify without looking at the answers.
It is a surprisingly effective way of learning.
Why Learning the Names Matters
The purpose isn't to sound nautical.
Knowing the correct words makes sailing considerably easier and safer.
Imagine an instructor saying:
"Pull that rope."
Which rope?
There might be half a dozen within reach.
Now compare that with:
"Ease the mainsheet."
That instruction tells you exactly what to do.
Similarly:
"Move towards the front."
is less precise than:
"Move towards the bow."
And:
"There's another boat coming from the right."
becomes much clearer once everyone understands port and starboard.
Sailing vocabulary exists because boats involve people working together in an environment where clear communication matters.
And Suddenly the Boat Isn't Complicated Any More
One of the nicest moments when learning to sail is when the boat stops looking like a mysterious collection of equipment.
You arrive one day and realise:
That's the mast.
That's the boom.
There's the mainsheet.
The jib sheets are there.
That's the centreboard.
The tiller controls the rudder.
And suddenly the boat makes sense.
You haven't actually sailed anywhere yet.
But you have already taken an important step.
Because learning to sail isn't one enormous skill that somehow has to be mastered in an afternoon.
It is lots of small skills gradually joining together.
First you learn the names.
Then you learn what the parts do.
Then you learn how to use them.
Before long, somebody will tell you to:
"Ease the mainsheet, pull the jib in and put the tiller towards you."
And instead of staring at them blankly, you will actually know what they mean.
That is when the mysterious collection of ropes and bits of metal starts becoming something much better.
Your sailing dinghy.
More Parts and Terms https://pmrsailing.uk/sailing-lessons/Sailing-Terms.html
My name is Philip. I started sailing when I was 65.
I joined a club and because my son had already been part of a club for many years - borrowing all types of boat. He knew what we needed and the type of boat I would require.
So we did by an RS Toura - a virtually unsinkable dinghy which has given me the confidence to experiment and learn and take my RYA exams and become a competent sailor and then to move up to the boat of my dreams - the A-Rater.
Next in the Learn to Sail Series
Now that we know what the main parts of the boat are, the next question is much more interesting:
What actually makes a sailing boat move?
Because the wind doesn't simply blow a sailing boat forwards.
And understanding that is where sailing starts to become fascinating.
Return to https://pmrsailing.uk/Lessons.html
No comments:
Post a Comment