What a luff! Cupspeak made easy

By Warren Gamble

Gybe - when yachties yell at each other? Genoa - where the Prada crew comes from? Sail - Saturday at The Warehouse?

The misunderstandings are exaggerated, but the point remains. In the City of Sails, home of the America's Cup, many like their feet firmly on the ground.

Apart from a visit to the beach and the occasional ferry trip, the closest thousands of Aucklanders get to the sharp end of a boat is driving past a marina.

Then along comes the oldest sailing competition in the world and despite yourself, despite the watching-paint-dry, grass-growing comparisons, the mega-rich boys' toys backdrop, the drawn-out non-drama of the endless early rounds, it has suddenly pricked your interest.

Prada and AmericaOne going bow-to-bow in the challenger finals blew away the boring image and replaced it with a realisation that this yachting stuff can be exciting.

And also strangely hypnotic, slow and furious, graceful and rugged.

Now throw in the national fervour for New Zealand's black boat and its worryingly unknown potential in the final showdown with the Italians, and you have a public tide of interest.

Before you know, you'll be huddled with groups of workmates around the television listening to Peter Montgomery.

Then WHOOMPFF, you hit the foreign winds of yachting language. Even those colleagues who throw tacks around like a carpet-layer are unlikely to be as clued up as they sound.

Right (or as they say, starboard), let's consult the experts. In this case Peter Lester, Yachting New Zealand coach and former America's Cup challenger with Chris Dickson's Tag Heuer crew in 1992.

Thanks to him, I can now point excitedly at the screen and say things like "They've got an overlap. They're ready to luff."

This rough guide will help you to navigate through the next few weeks.

WHAT'S ON AMERICA'S CUP YACHTS


1. Mainsail: The back sail.

2. Genoa: Forward sail.

3. Mast: 33m high.

4. Boom: Swings over when the yacht changes tack.

5. Hull: Made of carbon fibre.

6. Keel: Keeps the yacht upright. Made of a high-tensile steel fin and a lead bulb.

7. Wings: On the bottom back-edge - or in Team New Zealand's case, the middle - of the bulb are winglets to enhance the balance and performance of the yacht.

8. Rudder: For steering.

9. Bow: Front of the boat.

10. Stern: Back of the boat.

11. Aft cockpit: Where the skipper and tactician stand and the steering wheels are.

12. Spinnaker: Symmetrical sail for use when the wind is behind. Used mainly in winds over 10 knots. Spreads to more than 450 sq m, enough to cover a two-storey house.

13. Gennaker: Asymmetrical sail used mainly in winds below 10 knots.

Other equipment on board: Running rigging: Includes sheets (ropes that control the sails) and halyards (ropes that pull the sails up the mast).

Standing rigging: Stainless steel rods that hold the mast up.

Spreaders: Horizontal pieces on the mast giving it extra rigidity.

Running backstay: Adjustable wire supporting the mast and attached to the stern.

Forestay: The front stay, a stainless steel rod that holds up the mast, and to which the genoa is attached.

Winches: Mechanical drums used to pull ropes to adjust sails.


HOW THE YACHTS GET AROUND


An America's Cup racing course is set so the six legs are directly into or with the wind.

Sailing directly into the wind, upwind or uphill, is impossible. So to reach a mark upwind, the boats have to follow a zig-zag course, known as a beat, pointing as close as possible to the wind.

Each zig and zag direction change is a tack, flicking the bow and sails through about 70 degrees for America's Cup yachts (about 90 degrees for less sophisticated pleasure yachts).

The sailing is much plainer with the wind behind - known as a run. The yachts have their spinnakers or gennakers billowing in front.

Changing direction on a downwind or downhill run to take advantage of changing wind conditions or engage an opponent is a gybe.

Wind is tricky. A fickle friend at the best of times, it is positively promiscuous on the Hauraki Gulf, changing invisibly to favour one part of the course or another.

Picking these shifts is one of the keys to success held by the yacht's afterguard: the skipper or helmsman, tactician, navigator and strategist. It is a science/art that is part computer technology, part intuition, part experience.

RACING TERMS


Windward: The yacht closest to the wind. Can also mean the side of the yacht closest to the wind.

Leeward: The yacht furthest from the wind, or the side of the yacht furthest from the wind.

(These positions become important when the yachts close in on each other. The leeward yacht has right of way, so the windward yacht has to give way.)

Overlap: If the leeward yacht's bow overtakes the stern of the boat in front, it establishes an overlap and gets luffing rights.

Luffing: The rotation of the bow into the wind. An overlapped yacht with luffing rights can force the other yacht to point its bow into the wind, slowing it down. It cannot turn across the overlapped yacht.

Starboard tack: A yacht's course when the wind comes across the right side of the boat.

Port tack: A course when the wind comes across the left hand side of the boat.

(The yacht on starboard tack has right of way when it is on a near collision-course approach with a yacht on port tack.)

Split tacks: When the yachts are on different tacks. Traditionally avoided in match-racing because a wind shift could give one boat a crucial advantage.

Lay-lines: The imaginary upside-down, Vshaped lines on each side of the course representing the shortest distance to the mark without needing any more tacks.

Header: A change in wind direction that forces the boat further away from the mark. Not good.

Lift: A wind change that points the boat closer to the mark. Good.

Broach: When a downwind yacht turns uncontrollably side-on to the wind, pushing its mast over toward the water. Definitely not good.