Parts of a boat

It’s imperative to learn the names of boat parts so that communication, especially when things get a little hairy, is clear and the correct things are being identified. A common language has evolved over time for these parts, many of which were named with a story behind them. I will add tidbits in the next few posts when they are applicable. Here are the most basic parts for every beginning sailor.

The Bow of the boat is the front, pointy end. Conversely, the Stern is the back end. A Transom is the upright portion of the stern, and is used to mount rudder hinges, outboard engines etc. The seating area on a boat is called the Cockpit. The boat goes straight by using a fixed fin, called a Keel, Centerboard or Daggerboard which allows the Rudder to turn the boat. Think of the Centerboard as your car’s rear wheels and the Rudder as the front wheels. On a sail boat we have a Mast that the sail gets hauled up onto by use of a Halyard. More on this later. The bottom portion of a regular, Sloop rigged boat sail will be connected to a horizontal spar called a Boom. The sail is usually held in place by a Forestay and two Shrouds. The Forestay is obviously on the front of the boat and extends either fully to the top of the mast, called a Masthead rig, or only a portion of the way up the mast, called a Fractional rig. Keeping the mast straight up are at least two Shrouds, one on each side of the Mast, and raked aft slightly. When viewed from above, this three-wire arrangement looks like a triangle. Many boats, especially larger ones will also have a Backstay, in this case the shrouds may be angled less aft.

If the boat has two sails, the one in front will typically be a Jib, unless it is on a larger boat and extends aft past the mast, which then makes it a Genoa. These sails are referred to by a number that is a percentage of area larger than the triangle formed by the Forestay and Mast. Hence, a 150 Genoa is a rather large sail that extends quite far aft of the mast and its total area is 150% of the area normally taken up by a full Jib.

The Rudder, which steers the boat, is controlled by either a Steering Wheel, or a Tiller. Some boats have a Tiller extension.

The sails are angled to the wind by use of lines called Sheets. The main sail will usually have one Sheet that is run through several blocks to increase its mechanical advantage. The Jib will usually have two Sheets, one for each side. Sheets are normally secured in a cleat and can be tightened using winches and crank handles on larger boats.