Q 01/05

Facing forward on a boat, where is starboard?

A) To your right

B) To your left

C) Straight ahead

D) Behind you

Answer · why

A) To your right

To your right is starboard, from Old English steorbord, the 'steer side', because early ships were steered with an oar held over that side.

Q 02/05

Why was the steering oar on early ships placed on the starboard side?

A) Prevailing winds blew that way

B) Roman law required it

C) Most people are right-handed

D) Sails were hung on the other side

Answer · why

C) Most people are right-handed

Most people are right-handed, so a helmsman at the stern held the steering oar on the right; ships then docked on the opposite side, which became the ...

Q 03/05

What was the older name for the port side of a ship?

A) Leeboard

B) Windward

C) Loadside

D) Larboard

Answer · why

D) Larboard

Larboard came from 'ladebord', the loading side; the Royal Navy replaced it with 'port' in 1844 partly because it sounded too much like starboard when...

Q 04/05

Which manoeuvre turns a boat's bow through the wind so the wind moves to the other side?

A) Jibing

B) Heaving to

C) Tacking

D) Reefing

Answer · why

C) Tacking

Tacking turns the bow through the wind; a series of tacks in a zig-zag lets a boat make progress toward a destination directly upwind.

Q 05/05

What is the lowest inside part of a hull, where water collects, called?

A) Bilge

B) Keelson

C) Scupper

D) Bulkhead

Answer · why

A) Bilge

Bilge is the lowest inside part of the hull, where water and spills collect; a bilge pump clears it overboard.