Colours The national ensign.


COLREGS The International Regulations for Prevention of Collision at Sea.


Companionway An entry point to the accommodation which can be accessed without undue clambering, usually at the forward end of the cockpit.


Coriolis Force The force generated by the Earth’s rotation which accelerates moving objects to one side or other of a north-south trajectory. The effect is least near the equator and greatest at the poles. The Coriolis Force was named after a French physicist and is used mostly in understanding weather systems.


Counter A form of stern which extends above the waterline beyond the rudder. A ‘reverse counter’ extends the boat’s natural lines above the waterline, but instead of continuing these to a logical conclusion with a long overhang it turns back sharply on itself to mirror the bow profile.


Cracking off A colloquial term for ‘bearing away’.


Cross-trees Secondary spars attached well up the mast running athwartships which serve to ‘spread’ the upper shrouds and give them a better angle of pull.


Cutter A single-masted boat with more than one headsail. Traditionally the outer sail, or jib, was carried on a bowsprit. Many modern cutters set both headsails inboard.


Dead reckoning Literally a position worked up from course steered and distance run through the water. ‘Dead Reckoning Navigation’ has come to mean all navigation done by traditional means in the absence of electronics or a visual fix.


Dinghy An open boat of diminutive proportions, often a yacht’s tender.


Displacement The weight of water that would be displaced by a vessel were she to be lowered into a full open tank. It is the equivalent of her actual weight.


Downhaul A line which pulls down the tack of a sail or the forward part of a spar.


Draught The measurement between the waterline and the lowest outer skin of the keel.


Drogue A device to create drag streamed from a long rope in heavy weather. Streamed astern, it can slow a boat down and keep her stern to the weather. From ahead, it works as a sea anchor, in theory holding the boat’s head up to the wind.


Eye splice A loop worked into the end of a rope by passing the strands through one another.


Fairlead A fitting which leads a rope ‘fair’. Among other places, it may be found on the rail for mooring lines, or on deck to lead sheets onto a winch where it may take the form of a cheek block.


Fall The hauling end of a rope rove through a tackle.


Fender Board A plank used to augment fenders when lying against pilings.


Fluke The part of the anchor which ploughs into the bottom.


Fore-and-aft Running between bow and stern rather than athwartships. Fore-and-aft rig is the yacht or small-craft rig as opposed to the square rig used on ships, with yards running athwartships.


Forefoot Where the keel meets the stem.


Forestay The stay supporting the mast from forward, to which the jib, genoa or (traditionally) the staysail is hanked.


Freeboard The vertical distance between the deck and the waterline.


Gaff The spar which spreads the head of a four-cornered, old-fashioned, fore-and-aft rigged mainsail. Vessels using such sails are ‘gaff rigged’.


158 | MANUAL OF SEAMANSHIP


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