Boating Dictionary

Angular distance between the geographic North and the magnetic one

Difference between magnetic North and compass inclination; variation due to external elements, such as metal items near the compass; see also compass compensation

One of the two steel rhomboidal magnetic elements of a magnetic compass .

Point of the hull where the main mast terminal lays

Yard and relative trapezoidal sail, located at the top of the mainmast, above the topgallant sail.

Main mast in multi-mast vessels. Main sail

Sail inserted on the mast or the boom, generally triangle-shaped.

Drum fixed to the mast which allows to roll, partially or totally, the mainsail

Horizontal rail when the mainsail sheet carriage runs

A wooden or iron beam which supports a deck

Opening in a bulkhead or in the deck wide enough to let a person pass through

Wooden or metal handrail, generally mounted on the deck house

Lighhouses, lights, buoys which makes navigation safer

Combined cardinal-lateral system

Thin cable used for hand stitchings.

Cable which joins two mast heads

To fix a mast on its step

Terminal part at the base of the mast, usually on the relative mast-step

Closure at the mast top

Hole in the deck where the mast passes through

L' Set of masts and stays of a boat

Regatta between two identical boats

The highest wind intensity the sheets of a hoisted sail can bear

Emergency signal indicating an extreme danger

Summer northern widn which blows in the Aegean Sea.

Type of projection of Earth's surface on maps

Belgian geographer who invented the homonymous projection

A great circle of the Earth passing through the poles and perpendicular to parallelsThe Greenwich meridian also serves as the basis for the world standard time zone system. (UMT)

Distance between metacenter and barycenter. It indicates the boat's stability

Term which represents ‚M‚ in the international phonetic alphabet..

Unit of measuremnt of the atmosperic pressure, equal to 1000 dynes per square centimeter.

Wind which blows from North-West

One-design sailing board designed by E. Prade; Olympic class since 1996. it measures 3,.80x0.68 m; with a 6-square-meter-sail area

The smallest aftermost mast on a sailing vessel having more than one mast

Mainsail hoisted on the mizzen mast

Sail above kitchen stack

Squaresail hoisted on the mizzen mast

Longer and choppier waves.Degree 4 in Beaufort Scale

A light squaresail set above a skysail

To come alongside a quay

To stop the boat by fixing it to a pier or a quay through some ropes or an anchor.

To moor fore and aft, both to a pier and through anchors

Mooring which uses two anchors placed on the bottom laterally to the boat. The two anchoring lines are divided and they both leave from the bow fitting. Useful when weather is bad.

Heavy structure, generally made of cement, on the sea bottom provided with a ring to which a mooring chain is fixed

Reference point located on the coast

Telegraphic alphabet invented by Samuel Morse: it consists of a group of lines and points which represent all letters.

A boat which includes the features of both sailing and motor boats

To move a boat at a sufficient speed to manoeuvre

Acronym of Multi Purpose Sail, an asymmetric sail similar to gennaker, used in cruises

Auxiliary rudder system. A mechanical instrument used on sailing boats to maintain a stable course in relation to wind.It is an authomatic pilot which doesn't use energy, which is important in long navigations.