sailing with the wind blowing onto the port side and with the mainsail on the starboard side

toward the rear of the boat

the sheet that controls the spinnaker

a knot attaching a line to a ring or small-diameter object

the angle at which the wind is perceived to be hitting a vehicle in motion; as a boat picks up speed the wind angle appears to move toward the front of the boat (think of a speeding car; the wind generally seems to be coming from directly in front of it); see “true wind angle”

the standing rigging running from the mast to the stern

weight used to increase boat stability (righting moment); ballast may be stationary (as in lead found in a keel bulb) or mobile (as in a sailor switching position to better balance the boat or water being strategically pumped into specific tanks in the hull)

thin strips or tubes of stiff material inserted into pockets in a sail to maintain proper sail shape, particularly the curved leech, or rear edge, of a mainsail

with the boat at a 90° angle to the wind—generally the fastest, simplest point of sail

sailing upwind at an angle; also called pointing