What does Three sheets means?

I recently discovered that hilarious show, And there is an episode where Zane is close to explain the meaning of three sheets but doesn't.

I googled it, looked throught this forum and still haven't found an explanation about the name of the show.

Will someone enlighten me?

Your google fu must suck....

Derived from sailing ships. The 'sheet' in the phrase uses the nautical meaning of a rope that controls the trim of sail. If a sheet is loose, the sail flaps and doesn't provide control for the ship. Having several sheets loose ("to the wind") could cause the ship to rock about drunkenly. Before settling on the standard usage of "three sheets", a scale used to be employed to rate the drunkenness of a person, with "one sheet" meaning slightly inebriated, and "four sheets" meaning unconscious. A better description relates this phrase to a square rigged ship sailing on the wind, on a bowline as they say. With the three windward sheets hauled all the way forward, in or to the wind, the ship will stagger like a drunken sailor as she meets the waves at an angle of 60 degrees to the beam. For loose sheets to have this effect there would have to be six loose sheets, three to windward and three to leeward. Also, unless all the upper sails secured to the yards were also loosed having the course sheets loose would not produce any change in a ship's motion except to reduce its forward speed a bit.

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three sheets to the wind is an old sailors term for an unsecured sail causing the ship to rock and heave back and forth - like a drunk man walking.

Well, originally 'Three Sheets' wass short for 'Three Sheets to the Wind'. This is a nautical term for how many sails you have open to the wind. The more sails (sheets), the faster you go. To call someone 'Three Sheets' is to call them very drunk. I can only imagine that there is supposed to be some correlation between the two, but I'm not sure what it is.

Edit. Didn't read the previous posts. I guess I misunderstood the nautical usage. There you go.

Do i get points for not using google??

Revvy said:

Your google fu must suck....

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Obviously! Lol Thank you all.

It's NOT the sail, it's THE ROPE!

Don't be taken aback to hear that sheets aren't sails, as landlubbers might expect, but ropes (or occasionally, chains). These are fixed to the lower corners of sails, to hold them in place.

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Solve the problem and watch Dave Attell's Insomniac. As Drinking Made Easy derives from 3 Sheets, 3 Sheets is derived from Insomniac. Much better in my view.

Revvy said:

It's NOT the sail, it's THE ROPE!

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As I was taught, if you want to get really technical about it, it's not called a "rope" either, but a "line." The term "rope" on ships (or at least on sailboats) generally refer to ropes that are 1" or thicker, generally used for securing ships to harbors. "Lines" are ropes that are smaller, and are used throughout a boat.

A "sheet" (main sheet, jib sheet, etc) is a "line" that controls the (main, jib, etc) sail.

However, this (slightly) contradicts info on wikipedia, which claims that "rope" refers to raw material, "line" refers to a rope with a purpose, and "cable" refers to thick ropes.

0verdrive said:

As I was taught, if you want to get really technical about it, it's not called a "rope" either, but a "line." The term "rope" on ships (or at least on sailboats) generally refer to ropes that are 1" or thicker, generally used for securing ships to harbors. "Lines" are ropes that are smaller, and are used throughout a boat.

A "sheet" (main sheet, jib sheet, etc) is a "line" that controls the (main, jib, etc) sail.

However, this (slightly) contradicts info on wikipedia, which claims that "rope" refers to raw material, "line" refers to a rope with a purpose, and "cable" refers to thick ropes.

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You beat me to it!

However, this (slightly) contradicts info on wikipedia, which claims that "rope" refers to raw material, "line" refers to a rope with a purpose, and "cable" refers to thick ropes.

Exactly. A rope becomes a line when it is put to work. It has nothing to do with size.

CGVT said:

A rope becomes a line when it is put to work.

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But if the work the rope did was not directly related to the boat, it was still rope. If you tied a box, it was tied with rope. If you used a rope to send it to another boat, that rope was a line.

Zuljin said:

But if the work the rope did was not directly related to the boat, it was still rope. If you tied a box, it was tied with rope. If you used a rope to send it to another boat, that rope was a line.

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That's been my understanding too.

MC

FWIW, on every ship that I have been stationed (5), and small boat stations for that matter, all rope was called line. We never called anything that wasn't wire, rope. We called it a coil of line, the barrel we had in the fo'c'sle that had scraps of line in it was "the **** line barrel" ("Go get a piece of line out of the **** line barrel and secure that box") the coils of extra line that were in the line locker were line. Mooring line, hogging in line, tow line, monkey line, cage line, cross deck line, etc etc. We called wire rigging wire rope or just cable. (i.e. wire rope is used to replace the boom cable)

(30 year Master Chief Boatswain's Mate, USCG)

SJGR! (shi* just got real)

CGVT said:

FWIW, on every ship that I have been stationed (5), and small boat stations for that matter, all rope was called line. We never called anything that wasn't wire, rope. We called it a coil of line, the barrel we had in the fo'c'sle that had scraps of line in it was "the **** line barrel" ("Go get a piece of line out of the **** line barrel and secure that box") the coils of extra line that were in the line locker were line. Mooring line, hogging in line, tow line, monkey line, cage line, cross deck line, etc etc. We called wire rigging wire rope or just cable. (i.e. wire rope is used to replace the boom cable)

(30 year Master Chief Boatswain's Mate, USCG)

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Ok, I guess you might out-rank me, with my 3 years' small recreational sailboat experience.

(Not that we disagreed, but it certainly sounds like you know what you're talking about - I'll defer future nautical term corrections to you. )

So there are other sailrs on the forum here that have had no problem with the definition provided? As I recall from , oh , last weekend when a sheet is loose your sail is loose and flapping, this much the wikipedia got right but when your sheets are loose, the boat doesn't rock about drunkenly, it stops. Your sails flag about but without tights sheets they provide no power to the boat, so the more sheets loose the slower the boat.

And to the wind just doesn't make sense meaning Loose, Everything in sailing in windward (to the wind) or leeward (away from the wind) So three sheets to the wind is three sheets secured on the windward side of the boat. When your jib sheets and mainsheet is secured on the windward side of the boat you are sailing not standing still.

Old sailing vessels mostly had three masts (speaking about ships, not small vessels) but most from caravelles to ships of the line had a main mast, mizzen mast, foremast. Each had a sheet so if three sheets were to the wind, the boat would have all sails set and be at maximum speed.

Yes I am a nerd.

I dunno nuttin' about sails, but I do a bit about motorboating.

And three sheets to me also means cotton fuzzy pj's on the wife and no chance for motorboating anything.

mbauer013 said:

So there are other sailrs on the forum here that have had no problem with the definition provided? As I recall from , oh , last weekend when a sheet is loose your sail is loose and flapping, this much the wikipedia got right but when your sheets are loose, the boat doesn't rock about drunkenly, it stops. Your sails flag about but without tights sheets they provide no power to the boat, so the more sheets loose the slower the boat.

And to the wind just doesn't make sense meaning Loose, Everything in sailing in windward (to the wind) or leeward (away from the wind) So three sheets to the wind is three sheets secured on the windward side of the boat. When your jib sheets and mainsheet is secured on the windward side of the boat you are sailing not standing still.

Old sailing vessels mostly had three masts (speaking about ships, not small vessels) but most from caravelles to ships of the line had a main mast, mizzen mast, foremast. Each had a sheet so if three sheets were to the wind, the boat would have all sails set and be at maximum speed.

Yes I am a nerd.

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I admit a bit of confusion about the described situation as well - but I'm not familiar with square-rigged sails, or how they work (as opposed to Bermuda rigs.)

But (if you're talking about Bermuda rigs) I think you have it backwards with respect to which sheets you want held fast. The sheets you want tightened are the leeward sheets, with the mast (or forestay for the jib) bracing the windward side of the sail.

With respect to square-rigs (which I believe would have been the rigging referred to for the phrase in question): Because square sails don't have a windward mast or stay, in order to sail properly (I would assume) all sheets would have to be made fast - ie: both the windward and leeward sheets. If the windward sheets were loose, the sail wouldn't just flog like in a Bermuda rig with loose leeward sheets - instead, the sail would (I think) collapse on itself, as the wind pushed the sail to leeward.

Regardless of whether the sails are flogging or collapsing, I would also think that a depowered sailboat on high seas would still bob and weave quite a bit, as it wouldn't have any directed motion, and would be at the mercy of the waves. This jives with my understanding of how sailboats behave while hove to.

With only a few years' experience sailing (in Kansas, no less - no ocean sailing for me) I could certainly be wrong, though...

0verdrive said:

I admit a bit of confusion about the described situation as well - but I'm not familiar with square-rigged sails......

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I'm a homebrewer and a sailor (USCG 100-Ton, ASA Instructor Evaluator, charter captain, cruiser, ...) and I used to crew on a barque rigged ship named the ELISSA. There are a number of conjectures about the origins of the "Three Sheets..." expression, but none I know of which have been proven to be the definitive answer. The "traditional" (tall ship) sailing community loves to debate the origin of such terms in great detail ad-nauseum (I would rather be sailing).

This would be a lot easier to explain, and comprehend, with a diagram, but here goes...

One such conjecture, of tall ship origin, has to do with the "head sails" -- those are the sails rigged the furthest forward on the the ship (these BTW are "fore-and-aft" rigged sails not "square sails"). On some types of sailing rigs, a "barque" rig included, there are three such head sails. Each is controlled by its own set of "sheets"....the proverbial "three sheets". When sailing at a relatively narrow angle to wind, the sheets on the "leeward" side (down-wind side) of the vessel will be hauled in tight (these loaded sheets are called the "working" sheets). In this configuration, these sails, and sheets, slightly over lap each other. If the boat is sailed at too narrow of an angle to the wind, the sails, starting with the forward most sail, will begin to "luff" (flap in the wind), if you continue to bring the boat even "closer" (narrower angle) to the wind, each sail in turn will begin to luff. If you continue turning, so that the "bow" (front) of the boat passes through the wind, and the wind is now on the same side as the "working" sheets the sails will become "back winded" (the wind is on the "wrong" or "back" side) and....the "working" sheets will now be on the windward side of the boat...or so to speak "...to the wind...". Thus, this attitude, could be described as "Three Sheets to the Wind". This is not normally a desirable sailing attitude, and sometimes occurs due to the "helmsman" (the person steering the boat) not being sufficiently attentive to his duty...which could of course be because he is drunk AKA "Three Sheets to The Wind".

In the attached picture of the ELISSA you can clearly see the three "head sails" in proper "trim" ie: not "...three sheets to the wind..".

This all ties back to beer of course, because he could have been dipping into the historically significant cargo of "IPA".

If you want to try this theory out then pick up a case or two of "ELISSA IPA" produced by St Arnold Brewing Company of Austin, TX. A portion of the sales go to support the good ship ELISSA. They make a lot of other tasty brews too. The idea for this product was originated by home brewers who were members of the crew of the ELISSA....and of course would never get "Three Sheets to The Wind" except while on "shore leave".

See http://www.saintarnold.com/beers/elissa.html for more on ELISSA IPA.

For more on the ELISSA see http://www.galvestonhistory.org/Texas_Seaport_Museum.asp.


See it all ties neatly together...drunken sailors and beer!

GilaMinumBeer said:

I dunno nuttin' about sails, but I do a bit about motorboating.

And three sheets to me also means cotton fuzzy pj's on the wife and no chance for motorboating anything.

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You motorboatin son of a *****! You old sailor you!

Curtis2010 said:

I'm a homebrewer and a sailor (USCG 100-Ton, ASA Instructor Evaluator, charter captain, cruiser, ...) and I used to crew on a barque rigged ship named the ELISSA. There are a number of conjectures about the origins of the "Three Sheets..." expression, but none I know of which have been proven to be the definitive answer. The "traditional" (tall ship) sailing community loves to debate the origin of such terms in great detail ad-nauseum (I would rather be sailing).

This would be a lot easier to explain, and comprehend, with a diagram, but here goes...

One such conjecture, of tall ship origin, has to do with the "head sails" -- those are the sails rigged the furthest forward on the the ship (these BTW are "fore-and-aft" rigged sails not "square sails"). On some types of sailing rigs, a "barque" rig included, there are three such head sails. Each is controlled by its own set of "sheets"....the proverbial "three sheets". When sailing at a relatively narrow angle to wind, the sheets on the "leeward" side (down-wind side) of the vessel will be hauled in tight (these loaded sheets are called the "working" sheets). In this configuration, these sails, and sheets, slightly over lap each other. If the boat is sailed at too narrow of an angle to the wind, the sails, starting with the forward most sail, will begin to "luff" (flap in the wind), if you continue to bring the boat even "closer" (narrower angle) to the wind, each sail in turn will begin to luff. If you continue turning, so that the "bow" (front) of the boat passes through the wind, and the wind is now on the same side as the "working" sheets the sails will become "back winded" (the wind is on the "wrong" or "back" side) and....the "working" sheets will now be on the windward side of the boat...or so to speak "...to the wind...". Thus, this attitude, could be described as "Three Sheets to the Wind". This is not normally a desirable sailing attitude, and sometimes occurs due to the "helmsman" (the person steering the boat) not being sufficiently attentive to his duty...which could of course be because he is drunk AKA "Three Sheets to The Wind".

In the attached picture of the ELISSA you can clearly see the three "head sails" in proper "trim" ie: not "...three sheets to the wind..".

This all ties back to beer of course, because he could have been dipping into the historically significant cargo of "IPA".

If you want to try this theory out then pick up a case or two of "ELISSA IPA" produced by St Arnold Brewing Company of Austin, TX. A portion of the sales go to support the good ship ELISSA. They make a lot of other tasty brews too. The idea for this product was originated by home brewers who were members of the crew of the ELISSA....and of course would never get "Three Sheets to The Wind" except while on "shore leave".

See http://www.saintarnold.com/beers/elissa.html for more on ELISSA IPA.

For more on the ELISSA see http://www.galvestonhistory.org/Texas_Seaport_Museum.asp.


See it all ties neatly together...drunken sailors and beer!

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Thanks for the great explanation! I don't know about the others, but I was able to follow along, and the explanation with the head sails makes sense.

Beautiful ship, btw - makes me wish I was sailing!

I thought it meant having to hang 3 sheets up on the clothes line after a hard night of drinking and puking...

Yours makes sense to, though.

0verdrive said:

I admit a bit of confusion about the described situation as well - but I'm not familiar with square-rigged sails, or how they work (as opposed to Bermuda rigs.)

But (if you're talking about Bermuda rigs) I think you have it backwards with respect to which sheets you want held fast. The sheets you want tightened are the leeward sheets, with the mast (or forestay for the jib) bracing the windward side of the sail.

With respect to square-rigs (which I believe would have been the rigging referred to for the phrase in question): Because square sails don't have a windward mast or stay, in order to sail properly (I would assume) all sheets would have to be made fast - ie: both the windward and leeward sheets. If the windward sheets were loose, the sail wouldn't just flog like in a Bermuda rig with loose leeward sheets - instead, the sail would (I think) collapse on itself, as the wind pushed the sail to leeward.

Regardless of whether the sails are flogging or collapsing, I would also think that a depowered sailboat on high seas would still bob and weave quite a bit, as it wouldn't have any directed motion, and would be at the mercy of the waves. This jives with my understanding of how sailboats behave while hove to.

With only a few years' experience sailing (in Kansas, no less - no ocean sailing for me) I could certainly be wrong, though...

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Yep as soon as I posted it I realized I had gotten it backwards, I still don't think the original reference was right. Then I read how it was probably Robert Louis Stevenson who coined the phrase and not a real sailor anyway so I doubt it is a true nautical reference, but rather a made up one from his books.

I just don't think the movement of a depowered sailboat is durnken in any manner except on maybe small lake waves. Even when hove-to its more of a sliding back and forth movement, not stumbling or jerky. Anywho,

0verdrive said:

Thanks for the great explanation! I don't know about the others, but I was able to follow along, and the explanation with the head sails makes sense.

Beautiful ship, btw - makes me wish I was sailing!

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You're welcome, glad it worked for you.

I like this particular explanation too, but of course it is very hard to authenticate such things.

What we call a sail (conning tower back in the day) on submarine is made of steel and all our working ropes are line and the only sheets are on your rack.