Fast Track to Sailing (Colgate)

Question 1

Keel

Answer 1

Heavy, fixed fin attached to the bottom of the boat that provides stability (loaded with lead)

Question 2

Bow

Answer 2

Front end of the boat

Question 3

Port side

Answer 3

Left side of the boat (when standing on the boat, facing ahead)

Question 4

Starboard side

Answer 4

Right side of the boat (when you are standing on the boat, facing ahead)

Question 5

Aft

Answer 5

Direction you are facing when turned towards the stern

Question 6

Stern

Answer 6

Back end of the boat

Question 7

Beam

Answer 7

Widest part of the boat (measures at largest distance from one topside of the boat to the other, not always at deck level)

Question 8

Transom

Answer 8

Vertical or slated part of the boat, on the back end, that goes from the deck to the water

Question 9

Astern

Answer 9

Behind the boat, off the stern end

Question 10

Ahead

Answer 10

In front of the boat, off the bow end

Question 11

Abeam

Answer 11

At a right angle from the boat

Question 12

LOA

Answer 12

Length overall: total length of the boat from the bow to the stern in a straight line (not including bowsprit, if the boat has one)

Question 13

Bowsprit

Answer 13

Pole that extends beyond the bow of the boat (not all boats have one)

Question 14

LWL

Answer 14

Lower waterline length / waterline length: straight-line distance from the point where the bow emerges from the water to the point where the stern emerges from the water (necessary for calculating potential speed of the sailboat)

Question 15

Draft

Answer 15

Vertical distance from the water surface to the deepest part of the boat (bottom of the keel), indicating where you can and cannot sail due to depth constraints

Question 16

Draw

Answer 16

The water depth in which the keel of the boat would touch the bottom; “how much does your boat draw?” is answered with a depth measurement equivalent to the boat’s draft

Question 17

Centerboard

Answer 17

Replaces the keel on some boats: a relatively thin panel made out of wood, fiberglass, or metal that can be raised or lowered to change the draft of the boat (these boats have two drafts, drawing a smaller number of depth units with the board up and a larger number of depth units with the board down)

Question 18

Freeboard

Answer 18

Vertical height from water’s surface to the edge of the deck (important determinate of interior space; the more freeboard a boat has, the more headroom there will be in its cabin, if it has one)

Question 19

Topsides

Answer 19

Sides of the hull above the waterline

Question 20

Hull

Answer 20

Body of the boat

Question 21

Cockpit

Answer 21

Where crew sits to operate the boat

Question 22

Tiller

Answer 22

Attaches to a post that goes down through the hull to the rudder (moving the tiller moves the rudder)

Question 23

Rudder

Answer 23

Fin-shaped blade attached to a pole underneath the boat, behind the keel, connected to the tiller; steers the boat by diverting water that is moving past it

Question 24

Sloop

Answer 24

Single-masted sailboat