– but the way you say it. More on the need for nautical language, with some new terms
By Andrew Bray Illustration: Guy venables
I touched on the subject of marine terminology in an earlier column and how many newcomers to sailing find it confusing and question its necessity. Why have port and starboard, tradition apart, they argue when left and right are much more easily understood as they are in everyday use? That’s an easy one to answer and it’s the same reason that port and starboard are used on aircraft. Port and starboard refer to the sides of the boat or aircraft. Left and right are directions. If you’re looking aft you can point to something over to your left but it will be on the starboard side of the boat and vice versa.
Most terminology has evolved out of necessity. On a large sailing ship with a multitude of lines of many descriptions and serving many purposes it was vital the instructions and orders given to crew were easily understood, especially as many of those lines would be under huge load. An order misunderstood could easily lead to damage to the vessel, her crew or worse. So there is no ambiguity in the instruction to “Ease the port fore brace” or similar commands.
Not many CS readers will own or sail boats or ships with fore braces, catheads or top gallants but they may well have martingales and highfield levers and the reason for understanding their names and functions are the same as on a tall ship. Out of racing new descriptions have emerged as well, which operate alongside the traditional terms. A barberhauler is used on a sheet to change its lead, ease still means let go slowly but dump! means do it in a hurry or you’ll be in big trouble. You might dump the vang, the spinnaker sheet or guy before you wipe out, or broach.
Multicoloured modern ropes have made things easier. If your beginner crew doesn’t know which is the peak halyard he or she might be able to identify the red-flecked one (as opposed to the solid red one; life is still not simple). I was a bit cash strapped when fitting out one of my boats and a job lot of blue-flecked line was something I couldn’t resist. I detest spinnakers but this boat had one. She also had an inner forestay so had two poles, which meant that each had its own topping lift, downhaul, sheet and guy which came to a total of eight lines. You can probably guess what colour they all were. Gybing, with crew unaccustomed to the strange ways of the Bray boat, could be entertaining. “No, not that blue one, the other blue one!” I didn’t need to explain the meaning of broach.
Also from racing came another new term. It was, I believe, during one on the Whitbread Round the World Races that two lines on the boat with no traditional description became know as the “up f****r” and the “downf****r”. Crude perhaps, but clearly understood especially when a watch captain shouts “dump the downf****r or we’re f****d!” This is language that a crewman of one of Henry VIII’s ships would have understood, less for their vulgarity than their meaning for swift and appropriate action.
On Maggie May we have somewhat more genteel terminology, although anyone who sails with me knows that if any request is accompanied with a quiet “please” through clenched teeth then it’s time to hurry up and do something.