Sailing

Motion across a body of water in a sailing ship, or smaller boat, powered by wind. The force of the wind is used to create motion by using one or more sails.

For most people, sailing is a hobby. Sailing can be further divided into two areas: Racing and Cruising.

In ancient times (See Odysseus), ships used following or rear-quarter winds. They therefore had to wait in port or at sea for the right wind directions.

Modern sailing ships are able to go against the wind from an average of 25 degrees for most sloop-rigged yachts, to as little as 16 degrees for modern (America's cup type) racing sloops.

Sailboats typically have one, two, or three hulls. Vessels with one hull are known as monohulls, those with two or more are known as multihulls. Multihulls can be further subdivided into catamarans (two hulls), and trimarans (three hulls).

Multihulls, especially catamarans, sail much faster than monohulls. Unhappily it is common wisdom that in the open ocean, monohulls are the only safe design. Monohulls remain upright because their buoyancy is higher than their center of gravity. In severe storm or wave conditions, a monohull will recover from a capsize well enough for the crew to jury-rig some sails and limp to a port. A multihull will remain capsized and adrift, probably killing its crew.

Sailors are expected to know the essentials of boating safety which include right-of-way rules, lights, signals and various rules designed to support safe navigation. Of course, there are unlimited more esoteric etiquette rules and custom that will demonstrate to others advanced knowledge of boating protocol such as pulling up the fenders when you're not in port and especially safety rules such as ducking one's head when one hears "prepare to come about".

Sailors use traditional terms for the parts of or directions on a vessel; starboard (right), port (left), forward or fore (front), aft (back), bow (very front), stern (very back). Vertical poles are masts, horizontal poles are booms (if they can hit you), gaffs (if they're too high to reach) or poles (if they can't hit you). Ropes or wires that hold up masts are called shrouds or stays. Ropes or wires that raise and lower sails are called halyards. Ropes that adjust (trim) the sails are called sheets. Ropes that pull on poles are called vangs. Walls are called bulkheads. Actually, the only rope on a boat is that which is attached to the bell. All other material that might at first glance seem to be rope is actually line. The toilet is the head, the kitchen is the galley, etc. Oddly, sails in different sail plans have unchanging names. For the naming of sails, see sail-plan.

Sailing terms have entered popular language in many ways. "Broken up" was the fate of a ship that hit a "rocky point." "Pooped" refers to the poop deck of a ship, where tired or ill sailors hung their hammocks. "In the doldrums" referred to being becalmed, windless, especially in the narrow band of hot windless water "the doldrums", near the equator. "Adrift" meant literally that a ship's anchor had come loose, and the ship was out of control near land and therefore in serious danger. "Keel-hauled and hung out to dry." was the rather nasty process of attaching a sailor to a rope, and drawing him under the sailboat while underway, and then hanging him from a yard-arm (under his shoulders usually, not by his neck), where officers and crew could mock him. A "broadside" was the simultaneous shooting of all the cannon on one side of a ship. (There are a lot more, but I can't think of any right now...)

See also: Yachting, model ship, ketch, sail-plan, and sloop.