Disclaimer
What the drawings, definitions and numbers on this site are, and what they cannot tell you about a particular boat.
Updated
The drawings are examples
Every boat on this site is a teaching drawing, generated by code from a short table of numbers. It shows where a part sits and what a term means on a typical boat of its kind. It is not any make or model, its proportions are typical rather than measured, and it is not a plan to build, repair or fit anything from.
Words vary
The same word can mean slightly different things to different builders, regions, sailors and powerboaters. Each definition here gives the common meaning with the source behind it, and where sources disagree, the page says so. Your owner's manual or a builder's spec sheet may still use a word in its own way; for your boat, theirs is the one to go by.
Numbers are not your boat's numbers
The dimensions drawn on the site show what each measurement means and how draft and freeboard move as the waterline rises with load. They are not the figures for any real boat. For those, read the builder's specifications and the capacity plate if the boat has one, or measure the boat itself.
Hull speed, wherever the site mentions it, is the traditional rule of thumb for displacement hulls. It predicts no boat's speed and sets no limit on a hull that planes.
Not advice about a boat
No drawing, label or number here says how a boat will ride or handle, whether it is stable, how much it can carry, or whether it suits some water or some use. The site is not a boating-safety course, a buying guide, a survey or a repair manual. Before you buy, load, change or repair a boat, ask someone who can look at it: a marine surveyor, a naval architect, a qualified marine mechanic or the builder. To learn to handle a boat, take a boating course recognized where you boat.
Rules and regulations
Where a definition comes from a regulation, such as a section of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, the page cites that section. Quoting a rule is not legal advice. Rules change and differ between countries and states, so check the current text and the law where you boat.
Responsibility, ads and links
The site is provided as it is. The terms and conditions set out the limits of the site's responsibility. Boat Anatomy is not affiliated with any boat builder, dealer, course provider or government agency, sells nothing and carries no affiliate links. Any ads on the site are chosen and served by Google; an ad is not a recommendation from the site. Links to other websites, mostly the sources behind the facts, lead to pages I do not control.
Found a mistake?
Please tell me, with the page address and, if you can, a source. How this site is made explains how each fact is checked.