Sailing Terms

In sailing there are a lot of terms that describe the same thing - and most sailors try really hard to come up with words that mean something different in your day to day conversation. The upwind headsail may be called the Genoa, Genny, Jib (for smaller size), #1, #2, #3, #4, blade, 150, etc... Each of these terms designate a specific headsail...and sometimes the same one: genoa, #1, etc...

A spinnaker can be called a chute or a kite, a 3/4 or 1/2 oz. depending on the weight of the material or even be given names. Elise has 'France' for instance, to refer to its heavy weather spinnaker.

A line or rope can be called many things depending on their usage, and I think that tow lines and dock lines are actually the only terms that will employ the word 'line'. Lines to pull sails up are called Halyards, and lines to pull booms or poles up are called topping lifts, toppers or uphauls. Lines to pull the spinnaker pole back is called a guy (there are no girls). Lines to pull sails in are almost always called sheets, and a sail may blanket another one.

Any line to pull the luff of a sail down tight should now be called a cunningham for the mainsail and a foreguy for the pole because downhaul was far too easy a term to understand. The outhaul is probably the line that makes the most logical sense as it pulls the mainsail out.

The standing rigging will have a forestay and a backstay but not sidestay. These are called the 'shrouds'. 

Tacking can be called coming about, going about, changing tacks. You might hear 'ready to tack', 'ready about' - and 'tacking now' or 'helm's a lee'. Gybing is always called gybing, but no one actually knows how to spell it.