The nautical vocabulary is extensive and even the smallest of parts or pieces of a sailing or motor boat has its corresponding word that, if we are not experts, we will find it difficult to recognise.
As an initiation, we can talk about the most common and, therefore, the best known terms to define the parts of a sailing boat, even for novice sailors. If we ask one of our guests on board to “take the line with the winch handle and make a firm hold on the cleat”, he or she will probably not understand what we are saying and will look at us almost in panic. And yet, it is a very normal and even basic phrase for any regular sailor.
Names of the parts of a sailing boat
The parts of a sailing boat have their own nomenclature that defines them and it will be important to know it in order to know exactly what we are referring to at any given moment. In addition, for quite a few of these parts of a sailboat, the use of the English word has become popular.
We will refer in this article to the introduction of the most common terms for the parts of a sailing boat.
If we make a division of the parts of a sailing boat, we will call bow the front part of the boat, stern the rear part, starboard the right side and port the left side. In addition, to refer to the diagonal ends on both sides, we will use the term tack for the front diagonals and fin for the rear diagonals.
Another classification of the parts of a sailboat can be made according to the part that is underwater and the part that is above water. The part of a sailboat that is underwater is called the live work, as it is sensitive to the state of the sea or currents, among others. The part above the waterline, and therefore without direct interference or sensitivity to the sea, is called the dead work.
Some of the words that define the parts of a sailing boat are rather funny, as they have a widely known meaning but have nothing to do with their nautical meaning, which an uninitiated person will not be able to relate to. Among these terms we find words such as mast, cockpit, platform, transom, bridge, wheel or tiller, balcony.
Each and every one of us knows these words as they apply to our daily lives, but when we embark they change their meaning to become parts of a sailing boat.
What in everyday life is a mast, in sailing is the part of a sailboat that is raised approximately from the centre of the deck to hoist the sails.
The cockpit is not the area where we take care of our personal hygiene. It is the sunken space where we will settle in navigation and where we will control and manage most of the elements for navigation.
The platform is the flat horizontal surface adjacent to the stern, specifically a continuation of the transom, in this case flat and vertical. Both are the rearmost parts of the stern.
The wheel is what we would call a steering wheel in a car, and the tiller can be a fishing rod or a steering rod, the latter being a piece of wood attached to the rudder for steering with an alternative system to the wheel.
Finally, the balcony has nothing to do with an exit to the outside in a house. Rather, they are the structures generally made of stainless steel located at the bow and stern of the boat. Not all of these parts of a sailing boat are the most important, but they do present the curiosity of a sailing boat.
Finally, it should be noted that each and every one of the cables that support the mast and ropes for working on board – what we would commonly call ropes – has its own name. On any ship there are only two ropes: the bell rope and the watch rope.
