Starboard is the right-hand side of a boat when you stand on board facing the bow. It pairs with port, the left-hand side, and the two words exist because “left” and “right” change meaning depending on which way a person is facing, while starboard and port are fixed to the hull. A beginner needs to know that starboard is right and is marked by a green navigation light; an experienced sailor knows that being on starboard tack, with the wind coming over the starboard side, confers right of way over a boat on port tack, and that this single fact shapes tactics from the first beat to the final rounding.
Where the word comes from
Early Northern European ships were steered with an oar or board hung over the right-hand side of the stern, because most helmsmen were right-handed. This was the steer-board, and the side it hung on became the steerboard, then starboard, side. The other side was laid against the quay for loading, so it was called the larboard, or loading, side. Larboard and starboard sounded too alike to be shouted safely in a gale, so the left side was renamed port, after the side that faced the port when moored. The mnemonic that port and left are both short words, and that port wine is red like the port light, has helped generations of new crew.
Starboard tack and right of way
A boat is on starboard tack when the wind is blowing over her starboard side, which means her mainsail and boom are carried out to port. Under the Racing Rules of Sailing a port-tack boat must keep clear of a starboard-tack boat, and under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea the same principle applies between two sailing vessels with the wind on different sides. The rule is defined by the side the boom is on rather than by the direction the boat is heading, so a boat running dead downwind with the boom to port is on starboard tack even though the wind seems to be coming from astern.
This is why the starboard-tack approach is so valuable. A boat on starboard tack coming into a crowded start line, a windward mark or a crossing situation holds her course and lets the port-tack boats sort themselves out. Skilled racers plan the whole leg so that they arrive at the critical point on starboard. Cruising sailors should hold the same knowledge, because it tells you at a glance which of two converging yachts must give way, and because the confident, early, obvious alteration by the give-way boat is what keeps everyone comfortable.
Starboard around the racecourse
- The start: most fleets approach on starboard tack along the line, and the starboard end is the committee boat end. A boat starting on port has to cross the whole starboard fleet and is rarely wise.
- The windward mark: the starboard-tack layline is the safe approach because boats on it have right of way over those tacking in from port.
- Roundings: courses are usually sailed with marks to port, so a boat gybes onto starboard for the run and approaches the leeward gate with right of way over anyone still on port.
- Hails: the call “starboard!” is the accepted way to alert a port-tack boat that you are holding your course. Hail early and clearly.
Navigation lights and buoyage
At night the starboard side shows a green sidelight covering an arc from dead ahead to 22.5 degrees abaft the beam. Seeing another vessel’s green light means you are looking at her starboard side, so she is passing from your left to your right or you are on her starboard bow. In the IALA A buoyage system used in Europe, green marks are left to starboard when entering harbour; in IALA B, used in the Americas, the colours are reversed and red is kept to starboard, hence the phrase “red right returning”.
Frequently Asked Questions about Starboard
How do I remember which side is starboard?
Port and left both have four letters; starboard is the other one. Green is the starboard light, red the port light. Once you have sailed a few times the words stop needing a trick.
Which tack am I on if the wind is dead astern?
Look at the boom. If the mainsail is out to port, the wind is treated as coming over the starboard side and you are on starboard tack. If the boom is to starboard, you are on port tack.
Does a starboard-tack boat always have right of way?
Between two sailing vessels with the wind on different sides, yes. When both are on the same tack the windward boat keeps clear, and a sailing vessel must still keep clear of vessels she is overtaking, of vessels constrained by draught and of those not under command.
Starboard is one of the first words a sailor learns and one of the most powerful. It fixes a side of the boat, it defines a tack, and it decides who holds course and who bears away. Know which side you are on at every moment and half of the rules of the road take care of themselves.