Marinero › Parts of a sailboat
The hull is the body of the boat — bow at the front, stern at the back — with the keel beneath it to stop sideways slip and the rudder near the stern to steer. Above deck the mast carries the mainsail along its boom, and a headsail (jib or genoa) flies from the forestay; the forestay, backstay and shrouds are what hold the mast up. The crew works from the cockpit, at the helm. Tap any part below to see it highlighted and read what it does.
The labelled diagram needs JavaScript. Every part and its description is written out below — the list is the same content.
This is the same set of parts, in the same words, as Module 1 of the Marinero course — the free one. Tap "show on the diagram" to see any of them highlighted on the boat.
The front of the boat — the pointed end that cuts through the water.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe back of the boat, where the helm, cockpit and bathing platform are.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe line where the hull meets the water when the boat is properly loaded.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe height of hull between the waterline and the deck — how far you are above the sea.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe heavy blade under the hull. It stops the boat sliding sideways and keeps it upright.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe flat blade under the stern, turned by the wheel or tiller. No water flowing past it means no steering.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe wires strung between the stanchions around the deck. They stop a stumble becoming a swim.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe pulpit is the stainless steel frame around the bow.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe tall vertical spar rising from the deck — the backbone of the rig.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe horizontal spar running aft from the mast along the foot of the mainsail. It swings at head height.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe main sail, set behind the mast on the boom. Hoisted head to wind and reefed first when it blows.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe forward sail, flown from the forestay. Larger than a jib because it overlaps the mast.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryWire from the bow to the masthead.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryWire from the stern to the masthead, stopping the mast falling forward.
Show on the diagram → · glossarySide wires from the deck up to the mast, stopping it falling sideways.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryHorizontal poles from the mast at mid-height pushing the shrouds outward.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe line that hoists a sail up the mast. Up and down is a halyard; in and out is a sheet.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe line controlling the boom, and so the mainsail — the most important line in the cockpit.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe sunken working area where the crew sits, steers and trims. Mind the boom above it.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe left side of the boat when you face the bow. Marked red, including its navigation light.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe right side of the boat when you face the bow. Marked green.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe beam is the width of the boat at its widest point.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe companionway — the hatch and steps from cockpit to cabin.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe boat’s kitchen — cooker on gimbals, sink, fridge, and fiddles to hold the pots.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe saloon — the main living area below: table, seating, off-watch berths.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe marine toilet. Nothing goes down it but what came out of you and thin paper.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryThe wheel or tiller, and the position you steer from. On most charter boats it is a wheel on a pedestal.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryA self-tailing drum that gives you the leverage to haul a loaded sheet. Three turns on, clockwise.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryTwo-horned fittings that lines are made fast to. Round the base, two figure-eights, one locking turn.
Show on the diagram → · glossaryNames alone do not survive the first windy afternoon. What works is connecting each part to the job it does: the keel is why you can sail across the wind instead of sideways, the boom is why you duck, the winch is why a loaded sheet does not take your fingers. Module 1 drills exactly this set of parts card by card — recognise it, then name it from memory.
Next: the boat & wind explorer for port and starboard, windward and leeward and the points of sail; the six knot guides; and the sailing terms glossary for everything else you will hear.
The hull is the body of the boat, with the bow at the front and the stern at the back. Under it sit the keel, which stops sideways slip, and the rudder, which steers. Above deck the mast holds up the mainsail — attached along the boom — and a headsail (jib or genoa) set on the forestay. Wires called the forestay, backstay and shrouds hold the mast up, and the crew sits in the cockpit at the helm.
The mainsail is set behind the mast, along the boom, and does most of the driving. The jib or genoa is the smaller sail forward of the mast, flown from the forestay; a genoa overlaps the mast, a jib does not. On a charter boat the headsail usually rolls away on a furler while the mainsail is hoisted and reefed on its halyard.
The keel is the heavy fixed fin under the hull: it resists sideways slip and its ballast keeps the boat upright. The rudder is the smaller movable blade near the stern, turned by the wheel or tiller, and it steers. The keel also sets your draft — how deep the boat needs the water to be.
Standing rigging: the forestay from the bow, the backstay from the stern, and the shrouds running to the sides of the deck, spread outward by the spreaders. It is called standing rigging because it never moves — the ropes you pull are running rigging.
Port is the left side facing the bow and starboard is the right, and both are fixed to the hull whichever way you are facing. Port carries the red navigation light, starboard the green.
Module 1 is the boat itself — 59 cards, free. Learn it, practise it, then name every part from memory.