Sailing contains a plethora of jargon that can be extremely confusing to the non-sailor. So, here is a plain English explanation to help you understand the key terms that will help you follow the Atlantic Cup.

• Class: designation of a category that a racing boat falls into based on the specs with which the boat was built. For instance there are categories known as Class 40, Mini, Figaro, etc.
• Class 40: a monohull racing boat with a maximum length of 40 feet and the Class of boat that will be used in The Atlantic Cup
• Double handed: sailing with only two crew members aboard
• Downwind: sailing away from the wind
• Fully crewed: sailing with enough crew aboard so that each sailing task is performed by a dedicated individual
• Hull: the body or shell of the bottom of a boat on which it floats in the water
• Inshore: sailing in close proximity to land and safe harbor.
• Knot: the unit of speed for boats. It is equivalent to 1.151mph
• Mainsail: the sail behind the mast. This sail is also controlled by the boom.
• Monohull: a boat that has only one hull
• Nautical Mile: 1,852 meters or approximately 6,076 feet
• Offshore: sailing in open waters usually greater than 5 nautical miles from land.
• Program/campaign: term used to describe the team members who run the boat and the race schedule that yacht will follow.
• Prevailing winds: the typical winds for a particular region and time of year
• Short-handed: sailing with only one or two people aboard.
• Spinnaker or Kite: the balloon like sail at the front of the boat used when sailing downwind.
• Upwind: Sailing towards the wind (a boat can not sail directly into the wind, if it did it would come to a complete stop)