• Battens          – Plastic stiffener rods in the sail which help to give it shape

• Bear Away       – Turn the boat away from the wind

• Beating           – Pointing as close to the wind as possible with the sail pulled in

• Boom              – Horizontal spar attached to the mast and the foot of the sail

• Bow                 – front of the boat

• By the Lee      – sailing downwind with the boom and sail on the windward side

• Clew          – Back lower corner of the sail

• Crossbeams  – Aluminium tubes laid across the hulls to hold them together

• Cunningham  – (or tack downhaul) control that tighten the front edge (luff) of the sail

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

• Foot                 – Bottom edge of the sail

• Gudgeon        - Bracket with hole in it for locating a pintle to form a hinge

• Gybe         – When sailing downwind, turning away from the wind and moving the

                 sail across the boat and the wind so that it fills on the opposite side

• Gybing Lines – Two Lines running from each side of the kicker boom to the sailor in the cockpit to pull out or gybe the sail

• Head               – Top corner of a triangular 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 (Also - Luffing = turning towards the wind)

• Luff up        – Turn the boat towards the wind

• Leech        – Back edge of the sail

• Outhaul – Control line attached to the clew  to tighten the foot of the sail

• Painter        – Rope attached to the bow, used for towing or tying up to a mooring

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

• Pintle        - Short vertical bar. Mates with Gudgeon to form a hinge for the rudder

• Reaching       – Sailing with the wind blowing across the boat

• Rig               - The mast, boom, sail and control lines

• 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             – Cheek-plates, hinged to the stern of the boat, holding the rudder blade

• Tack        – Front lower corner of a sail

• Tacking  – Turn the bow through the wind until the sail fills on the opposite side

• Tell-tales      – Strips of material attached to the sail at one end to show the wind flow

• 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 passing through the water

• Windward      - The side of the boat that faces the wind or, when running, the side opposite to the boom