spinnaker

UK/ˈspɪnəkə/US/ˈspɪnəkɚ/

nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,941 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: spinnakers

A spinnaker is the big balloon sail flown when running downwind. Hoist the spinnaker, the spinnaker filled, a spinnaker pole.

It is enormous, light and flown ahead of the boat rather than along it, and getting one up and down cleanly is the hardest routine job in racing. A collapsed spinnaker in a gust can broach the boat entirely.

Definitions of spinnaker

1nounspinnakerThe big balloon sail flown when running downwind.C2
“As the wind swung behind them, the crew raised the spinnaker and the boat surged forward.”

spinnaker is a sail.

Practised in Sea & Sailing

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spinnaker in the wild

A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind).
Spinnaker
Used when sailing downwind, it is a cross between a genoa and a spinnaker.
Gennaker
The gennaker is rigged like a spinnaker but the tack is fastened to the hull or to a bowsprit.
Gennaker
The Spinnaker Tower reflects Portsmouth's maritime history through its design and is named after a spinnaker, a type of sail that balloons outward.
Spinnaker Tower
An asymmetrical spinnaker is a sail used when sailing between about 90 and 165 degrees from the angle of the wind.
Asymmetrical spinnaker

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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