Sailing Fundamentals Trivia Quiz

Answer: Port and starboard

From the rear of the boat looking forward, the left side of the boat is port and the right side is starboard.

Answer: False

The person steering the boat is the helmsman. The skipper is the person responsible for the boat. The helmsman can be any person on the boat whether assigned by the skipper or the skipper himself.

Answer: Halyards

When the halyard is not secure and no sail is attached, keep a firm grip to the shackle because if it slips out of your reach, you may have to climb the mast to retrieve it.

Answer: In irons

In irons refer to being in handcuffs or leg irons because the boat cannot move. This was a deadly situation back when battleships were sailboats, if your battleship is in irons, then you're basically a sitting duck for the enemy. Those huge ships could take several hours to get out of irons. Even smaller boats get caught in irons and any experienced sailor will tell you they have been in irons a time or two.

It is a fairly common occurrence and even though battleships today cannot be caught in irons, it can cause a boat to lose or fall behind in a race if the skipper doesn't know how to quickly correct the situation.

Answer: Back the main sail until the boat is moving backwards, reverse rudders until the wind fills the sails.

Backing the mainsail by grabbing the boom and push it out, this will allow the wind to push the boat backwards. Reverse the rudder so that the front of the boat moves in the opposite direction than it would if you were moving forward. This will get the boat in a position where the wind will fill the sails, when it does trim the sails in slowly to get the boat going forward, if you trim too much at first you can go right back into irons. Don't forget to correct your rudders when the boat starts going forward, if they are still reversed you will go right back in irons.

Answer: Tacking

Coming about upwind (changing directions by steering into the wind and the sails switch sides of the boat) is known as tacking.

Answer: Accidental jibe

Accidental jibes are very dangerous. It is when you are traveling downwind, the boom and sail are more out to the side of the boat than when traveling upwind. In this position, the boom has a further distance to travel when it comes about. In a normal jibe, everyone expects it because the skipper yells out "Prepare to Jibe!" then "Jibe Ho!" and can take position.

When an accidental jibe happens, it is usually a surprise and the boom can be traveling fast and hard therefore it can bust heads or even knock you completely off the boat.

Answer: Apparent wind

When sailing you will feel the wind from the boat moving plus the true wind, thus creating apparent wind. True wind would be what you feel when the boat is not moving or the direction a flag on land is pointing.

Answer: Running

Running is the point of sail where you are sailing almost directly or directly downwind. The fastest point of sail is reaching. Close hauled is close to being in irons. Jibing is coming about downwind.

Answer: False

Although most of the time a sailboat has the right of way over a powerboat (even though some powerboaters ignore this), there are few exceptions. If the sailboat is overtaking another boat (catching up to and going faster than another boat), the boat being overtaken has right of way even if it is a powerboat, and if the powerboat is dead in the water it has right of way.