Bluewater

These are terms which Bluewater sailors will hear regularly, but

Directions:

Sails:

• Mainsail: on the boom, aft of the mast.
• Jib: a triangular sail set on the forestay, in front of the mast. The jibs are mounted on a roller furler, and are rolled up around the forestay when furled.
  • Working jib: the smallest of the jibs, primarily used in strong winds
  • 95: The standard jib, which covers 95% of the area between the forestay and the mast
  • 140: A large jib for light winds.  The 140 covers 140% of the area between the forestay and the mast, meaning the clew reaches back behind the shrouds
  • 160: The largest jib, primarily used for racing, covering 160% of the area between the headstay and the mast
• Spinnaker: A Spinnaker is a large, bulbous foresail that is used for downwind sailing. Spinnakers are usually made of very light material and resemble a parachute when deployed; sometimes a spinnaker is referred to as a “chute”.
• Code Zero: a cross between a large jib (also known as a genoa) and a spinnaker. The code zero sets like a spinnaker and has more belly than a jib, but is not quite as balloon-like as the spinnaker and is used for reaching.

Rigging

• Backstay: a steel cable that runs from the top of the mast to the transom, at the back of the boat.  It is tensioned with a hydraulic system that can be adjusted. Increasing the tension on the backstay creates more bend in the mast, which flattens the mainsail, which may be desired in different wind conditions; this flattening action is most effective in a fractional rig, like Mashnee’s in which the forestay attaches to the mast near, but not at, the top of the mast.
• Block: the nautical term for what is commonly called a ‘pulley.’ A block consists of one or more rotating sheaves inside a frame, and adds mechanical advantage to the rig.
• Cringle: A heavily reinforced grommet or eye in a sail to which a line is fastened, or through which a line is run.
• Fairlead: A fairlead is a block, padeye, ring or any other device which controls the path of a line on a boat. When a line is not running correctly where it is supposed to go, or is snagged or stuck, it is said to be “fouled”. When a line is running correctly and is not fouled, it is said to be “fair”. A fairlead is simply a device that “leads” a line “fair”.
• Forestay: a steel cable that runs from the mast forward to the deck or bowsprit, providing support.  The forestay runs through the middle of the aluminum foil on the roller furling system, which supports the jib.
• Gooseneck: the hardware that attaches the boom to the mast
• Halyard: any line that is used to raise a sail
• Jib Car: a fairlead for the jib sheets attached to a track on the deck.  The jib car can be moved forward or aft along the track to adjust the angle that the jib sheet makes with the clew of the jib sail. By changing the angle of the sheet, you can adjust the amount of tension on the foot or the leech of the jib sail, which adjusts its draft and twist.
• Lazy Sheet: A lazy sheet is a line that is rigged to be used as a sheet, but is currently not doing anything.  For example, two lines might be tied to the clew of a jib sail to be used as sheets. When the boat is on starboard tack, the port side jib sheet will be under tension, and the starboard side line should be slack. So the starboard line is referred to as the lazy sheet.
• Leechline: this can refer to two distinct things:
  • A thin line running through the leech of the sail, which can be tensioned or slackened to adjust the shape of the sail.
  • A piece of yarn or material that flies from the leech of the sail, used to visualize airflow. Essentially, a telltale attached to the leech.
• Line: a rope that has a job on the boat related to rigging or sailing.
• Reef Hook: a hook attached to the gooseneck, at the forward end of the boom. To reef the mainsail, the sail is lowered on the mast until one of the reefing cringles in the luff of the sail is low enough to slip over the reef hook. The halyard is then raised and re-tensioned.
• Reef Line: a line used to secure the clew of the reefed sail. The reef line runs from the boom to the reef cringle on the leech, then back to the boom and forward to a winch.
• Reef Points: either small grommets or short pieces of line sewed into the sail between the reef tack and the reef clew on the mainsail. These are used to tie the bulk of the sail loosely around the boom while the sail is reefed.
• Running Rigging: the parts of the rig that are meant to move and be adjusted under sail, like halyards and sheets
• Sheet: A line attached used to trim a sail by controlling the angle of the clew of the sail. A mainsail will have one sheet. A jib or spinnaker will have two: a working sheet, to leeward, and a lazy sheet, to windward. The working and lazy sheets switch at each tack or jibe.
• Sheave (pronounced “shiv”): the wheel that turns inside a block. The edge is usually concave to support the line. Sheaves may also be mounted in the top of the mast or on the side of the boom for halyards and reefing lines: since these do not have the independent shell of a block, they are called sheaves.
• Shrouds: rigging that provides lateral support for the mast. These are usually steel cables attached to the boat with chainplates. Tension is adjusted with turnbuckles. Upper shrouds run from the top of the mast to the deck; lower shrouds attach to the mast partway up.
• Standing Rigging: rigging that provides structural support for the mast. The shrouds, forestay, backstay, and any support for the bowsprit are all standing rigging.
• Stay: part of the standing rigging which provides fore-and-aft support. Mashnee has a forestay, backstay, and bobstay (under the bowsprit).
• Topping Lift: a line that supports the boom when the sail is not set. Topping lifts can be adjustable or fixed.
• Turning block: a block used to re-direct a line from the work being done to a convenient belay point.
• Turnbuckle: a device for adjusting the tension or length of lines or cables. Turnbuckles consist of two threaded rods, one screwed into each end of a metal frame, one with a left-hand thread and the other with a right-hand thread. Turning the frame one direction or another serves to tighten or loosen the lines. Shrouds and stays are usually attached to a boat at the bottom with a turnbuckle to allow them to be tightened.
• Winch: a rotating mechanical device used to control lines under heavy loads. A winch consists of a cylindrical drum that is ratcheted so that it can only turn in one direction (usually clockwise), internal gears, and a handle that can usually be removed. When a line is wrapped around the drum, friction helps prevent the line from paying out. The gears are configured such that turning the handle allows the user to apply greater tension on the line than he or she could do so by hand. Tension must be kept on the tail end of the line to prevent slipping; this is called tailing.
• Working Sheet: the sheet that is actively controlling the sail, almost always the one to leeward.