Course

Course can refer to:

Course (sail)

In sailing, a course is the lowermost sail on a mast.

This term is used predominantly in the plural to describe the lowest sails on a square rigged vessel, i.e., a ship's courses would be the foresail, mainsail, and, on the rare occasions in which one is shipped, mizzen.Gaff-rigged vessels may use the term (for the lowest sail rigged aft of each mast), but are more likely to refer simply to a mainsail, foresail, etc. A Bermuda- or lateen-rigged yacht, whether sloop, cutter, ketch or yawl, would not usually be described as having a course.

References

Course (navigation)

In navigation, an object's course is the direction over the ground along which the object is currently moving.

Course, track, route and heading

The line connecting the object's consecutive positions on the ground is referred to as the ground track. The track the object was intended to follow is called the route. For ships and aircraft, the route is represented by the great circle line that connects the previous waypoint with the next waypoint. The responsibility of a navigator is to make the track coincide as much as possible with the route. The direction of the route is called the route course. "Course" exceptionally, and arguably erroneously, may also refer to the route, such as in a course deviation indicator, in which case it no longer constitutes an angle but rather a line. The direction of the great circle line that runs from the current position to the next waypoint is called the course to steer, or the bearing to that waypoint. The tracking angle is the angle between the course to steer and the course. The heading is the direction to which the "nose" of the object is pointing, its orientation.