Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by chewxy on Wednesday April 19, 2023 @05:42AM (#35626217)

Cars are small and for the most part everyone in the car faces the same direction as the car itself. When you have a ship, you have 3 frames of references to contend with (self, ship, cardinal)

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Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by sergiosgc on Wednesday April 19, 2023 @05:53AM (#35626276)

Four, actually. You also have the wind frame of reference, which is actually the most important (for sail boats). You don't turn left or right, you turn upwind or downwind.

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Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by HPsquared on Wednesday April 19, 2023 @06:17AM (#35626405)

For wind there is leeward (downwind) and windward (upwind). I don't think there are common terms for the 2 crosswind directions though?

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Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by sergiosgc on Wednesday April 26, 2023 @08:05AM (#35712374)

I'm not familiar with sail vocabulary in English, but in Portuguese there is only downwind (sotavento) and upwind (barlavento). Functionally you don't need the other two, so I imagine it's similar in English.

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