SAILING JARGON

ENGLISH SAILING JARGON

• Death roll - is the act of broaching to windward, putting the spinnaker pole into the water and causing a crash-jibe of the boom and mainsail, which sweep across the deck and plunge down into the water.
• Chicken gybe - tacking more than 180° to avoid a jibe
• Chinese gybe - is a type of gybe where the upper section of the main sail moves across the boat, filling from the opposite side, whilst the lower section and boom remain on the original side of the vessel. It contrasts with a normal gybe, where the whole sail moves across the boat as the boat turns its stern through the wind. A Chinese gybe is usually induced by too little tension on the vang or kicking strap, allowing the boom to rise up and the leech of the sail to twist excessively. The term can be used in a different sense, in which a Chinese gybe is a gybe caused when a boat rolls excessively to windward (usually when running downwind), causing an unexpected and/or uncontrolled change in course (specifically bearing off dangerously). This sense of the term is similar to death roll.
• Skirt - As the grinders bring in the jib on the new leeward side, the foot of the jib often gets caught on a stanchion outside the lifelines. This prevents the grinders from bringing the jib in to its proper trim, and they start yelling "skirt!" The foredeck crew must lift the foot of the jib over the stanchion and put the foot inside the lifelines, so that the grinders can finish bringing in the jib and the boat can complete the tack.
• Turtle - a bag used to store a spinnaker
• Knock down - ko se jadrnica toliko nagne, da se križ(i) na jamboru dotakne(jo) vode
• Lazy (jib) sheet - the windward (jib) sheet, the one not currently in use.
• Lines - on board a boat, this is what you say instead of “ropes”