Sailing Vocabulary

Gerardo Gala

These are the opposite terms in sailing:

Direction / position

  • Port – Starboard
  • Aft – Fore
  • Bow – Stern
  • Windward – Leeward
  • Upwind – Downwind
  • Ahead – Astern

Sail handling

  • Sheet in – Sheet out
  • Trim in – Ease out
  • Luff – Fill
  • Tight – Loose
  • On – Off (for controls such as vang, outhaul, etc.)

Steering / course

  • Head up – Bear away
  • Port tack – Starboard tack
  • Tacking – Gybing

Boat / sail controls

  • Daggerboard down – Daggerboard up
  • Rudder down – Rudder up
  • Boom down – Boom up (less commonly used as a paired sailing term)
  • Heel to windward – Heel to leeward

Launching and landing

  • Onshore wind – Offshore wind
  • Launch – Land
  • Beach – Water