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Terms 76 to 90 of 207 sailing terms in the database

Glossary Navigation

Sailing Word	Definition
Gunwale	A boat's rail at the edge of the deck; pronounced "gun'l".
Gust	A strong puff of wind; a period of increased wind speed.
Guy	A line to control the position of the spinnaker pole; the foreguy pulls the pole down to control tack height; the afterguy controls the for and aft swing of the spinnaker pole.
Gybe	to turn the boat, bearing away until the apparent wind direction changes to the opposite side of the boat.
Halyard	A line that hoists a sail up the mast or rigging, and secures it in the hoisted position.
Handicap	A set of rules and metrics that enable sailboats of inherently different design and speed potential to race against each other by adjusting finish times.
Hanks	A small snap hooks that attach the jib to the forestay.
Hard	To sail "hard" on the wind is to sail as close to the wind as possible.
Hard Over
Harden Up
Harness	A device worn by a sailor to allow the sailor to attach securely to a line;examples include saftey harness, bowmans harness & trapeze harness.
Hatch	An opening in the deck, covered by a hatch cover.
Head to Wind	When a boats bow is pointed directly into the wind.
Head up	To steer the boat further to windward.
Heads	Nautical term for bathroom, restroom, toilet, lew, dunnie etc.