Winch A thing like a barrel with gears inside powered by a removable handle inserted in the top. You wrap a rope three times round it and wind the handle, which gives you sufficient mechanical advantage to pull in sails, mooring ropes, very large fish, etcetera… an indispensable device which has made sailing accessible to the indolent.
Windlass
(or anchor winch) A winch mounted on the foredeck for the sole purpose of releasing and recovering the anchor. Love and cherish this machine… its wellbeing is utterly crucial to the success of your Mediterranean holiday!
Yawl A two masted rig where the aft mast is shorter than the forward one, and is positioned aft of the rudder-stock. The aft sail is used for balancing the rig more than driving the boat. Sweet to look at, but makes the stern of the boat rather complicated.
Zephyr Very light wind, especially one just starting.
Zincs. Zinc anodes, sacrificial soft-metal ingots attached below the waterline to draw galvanic corrosion away from more important bits of metal. If a boat is ‘showing her zincs’ or ‘rolling her zincs out’ she is either heeled or moving excessively, so that the anodes can be seen above the waterline (Actually I was just chuffed to get a couple of ‘Z’s’ into the glossary! J )
The Trojan Walrus Page 31