Cup glossary of nautical terms

New to sailing? Many sailing commentators throw around lingo like quarters in a casino. You might hear some or all of the following terms during broadcasts of America's Cup XXXI:

Aft: The rear section of the boat. Opposite of fore.

Afterguard: Term describing the loose assemblage of skipper, navigator, tactician and other thinking types in the back of the boat. Number and duties vary from crew to crew. Generally: The strategic team within the crew.

Auld mug: Nickname for the America's Cup trophy.

Ballast: Weight in the keel and bulb beneath the boat to provide stability.

Backstay: Aft companion to forestay (see below).

Bear-away set: Mark-rounding maneuver in which the boat "bears away" toward the outer course after rounding a mark.

Bulb: The whale/torpedo-shaped appendage, usually filled with lead, affixed to the bottom of the keel.

Block: A shipboard pulley, usually used for jib or genoa sheets (lines).

Bowman: Crucial crew member who rides on the often-pitching bow and changes sails, among other vital tasks.

Boom: Long, pole-like spar, attached to the mast, used to secure the foot of the mainsail.

Bow: Nose of the boat.

Committee boat: Floating headquarters for race officials, it marks the starboard side of the start/finish line.

Code-0 Sail: A modern upwind spinnaker, usually deployed in light-wind conditions.

Douse: To drop and retrieve a sail, as in "dousing the spinnaker" while rounding a mark.

Foresail: A forward sail used between mast and forestay.

Forestay: Support for the mast, connected between the top of the mast and the bow.

Genoa: Large foresail used for sailing upwind, aka "genny."

Gennaker: An upwind sail that's a cross between a spinnaker and a genoa.

Gooseneck: It connects the boom to the mast.

Green-flagged: Referees declining a penalty challenge by one crew.

Grinders: Beefy crewmen who operate winches to raise and lower sails.

Halyard: Line used to hoist sails.

Headsail: A sail between the mast and the bow.

Helmsman: The boat's driver. Sometimes, but not always, also the skipper.

Jib: A foresail.

Jibe: Turning the stern through the wind, in the process changing sides of the boat on which the sails are deployed. Opposite of tacking. Also spelled "gybe."

Jibe set: A maneuver in which a boat jibes while setting its spinnaker immediately after rounding an upwind mark.

Keel: Appendage projecting vertically from bottom center of the hull to keep it from capsizing in the face of immense pressure from sails and mast while sailing upwind.

Layline: Imaginary line extending from racecourse mark indicating the boat's optimum sailing angle to round the mark.

Laying the mark: Sailing in a direction allowing the boat to round a race mark without additional tacking or jibing.

Luff: Pointing the bow into the wind.

Leech: The trailing (back) edge of a sail.

Leeward: Away from the wind.

Left-hand shift: Wind shifting to the left of the racecourse, as viewed upwind.

Mark: Buoy marking one end of the racecourse.

Penalty turn: A 270-degree turn required of a boat guilty of an infraction. The turn can be made anywhere on the racecourse, during the race or at the finish. Depending on wind speed and crew skill, it can take 30-40 seconds to complete.

Pin end: Buoy marking the port side of the start/finish line.

Pitman: The poor bloke below decks responsible for stowing and fetching sails. Also known as "sewerman."

Port: The left side.

Port tack: Sailing with the wind blowing on your port side, thus the mainsail on your starboard.

Reaching: Sailing downwind at an angle.

Rig: A boat's collective mast and sail.

Rigging: All the lines and wires attaching sails and spars to the boat.

Right-hand shift: Wind shifting to the right of the race course, as viewed upwind.

Sheet: Line used to control and adjust sail angles.

Shroud: Cables supporting the mast from side to side.

Spinnaker: The large billowing sail unfurled on downwind reaches. Also known as "chute" or "kite." Spinnakers are either traditional symmetrical or modern "asymmetrical," aka "A-sail."

Spinnaker pole: A portable pole attached to the lower mast to hold one corner of the spinnaker away from the yacht.

Transom: The flat, upper-rear part of the stern.

Starboard: The right side, no matter which hemisphere you're in.

Starboard tack: Sailing with the wind on your starboard side, thus the mainsail on the port side.

Starboard tack advantage: Rule in match racing which dictates that, in a crossing situation, boat on starboard tack has the right of way.

Stern: Rear end of the boat.

Tack: Turning the bow through the wind to change the sides of the sails. Opposite of jibe.

Trim: Adjusting a sail to optimum wind angle. Performed by a trimmer.

VMG: Acronym for "Velocity Made Good," a navigational term referring not to a yacht's straight-ahead speed, but its speed relative to the mark.

Windward: Toward the wind. Opposite of leeward.