Sailing Terminology in Perspective
Article by Phil Truitt
Boats and the water have been for me both a dream and a reality—never having a chance to enjoy either early in life. I am a combat veteran of this country and with a very proud unit. Upon our return I and many others wondered what to do and where to go. There are a number of ways it can happen to you, but many of us felt a desire for both peace and adventure. A friend introduced me to mountain climbing, which I got into heavily. The same friend later bought a nearly derelict Snipe and took me for my first sail. That was about 50 years ago. Though mountains are no longer where I seek adventure, both of these pastimes encourage a bit of reflection on mortality.
All sports have their own vocabulary, and sailing has been around so long it has a lot. The vocabulary is meant to be practical and useful—hence the terms port and starboard. Temptation to become a bit inflexible seems to be part of the scene. Yawl, for instance, is such a term. The earliest use of the term I have run across is in referring to a pulling boat used as a tender for a sailing ship—a boat with no rig at all, at least part of the time. I think partly due to racing rules of the mid 20th century, people often claim it refers to a vessel with a mizzen mast stepped aft of the rudder post. Small boat folks like ourselves should be familiar so-called "canoe yawls," which have overly busy attempts to control a rudder that is indeed aft of the mizzen. I’ve seen very literate folks say that the size of the mizzen itself may be a better dividing line. I submit that we have enough dividing lines without getting exercised this way.
The same debate applies to terminology for sloops and cutters, but I ask the same question: might someone die if the term choice doesn’t fit our sense of propriety? We shouldn't abandon proper vocabulary, but lets just continue to learn where possible without acrimony.
I would like to note that sloops with three or even more headsails were around before any of us. Cutter is another term worth discussing—a term that like yawl, has been used to describe a tender. In a single-masted sailing vessel it normally refers to a mast stepped closer to amidships, and usually has sails on at least two headstays. Knowing this I sometimes cringe when terms like “cutter ketch” show up, usually referring to a ketch with double headsails, but again not a life-threatening issue. Editors of small publications have to wade through this stuff every day and often know in advance where the friction will show up. Happily for me our dear editor here has been able to endure. I hope that continues. •SCA•
It happens every year, while hanging out at the Festival in Port Townsend a series of savants will come by with gleam in their eye and point out that my Eun Mara is really a ketch. I've learned to shrug and say that Iain Oughtred called it a "canoe yawl" and that is good enough for me.
I thoroughly enjoy this kind of discussion, especially when we are having fun with it.