Editing Strake (section)

{{Short description|Structure in watercraft construction}}
{{otheruses}}
[[File:Gokstadskipet1.jpg|thumb|A clinker-built Viking [[longship]], whose overlapping planks constitute "strakes".]]
[[File:Garboard strake illustration for the article "Strake".jpg|thumb|right|Garboard strakes and related near-keel members]]
[[Image:strake.png|right|thumb|Diagram of typical modern metal-hulled ship’s exterior plating, with a single strake highlighted in red]]

On a vessel's [[Hull (watercraft)|hull]], a '''strake''' is a longitudinal course of [[Plank (wood)|planking]] or [[Plate (metal)|plating]] which runs from the boat's [[stem (ship)|stempost]] (at the [[Bow (ship)|bows]]) to the [[stern|sternpost]] or [[transom (nautical)|transom]] (at the rear). The '''garboard''' strakes are the two immediately adjacent to the [[keel]] on each side.

The word derives<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]] -"Strake" (from Old English "{{lang|ang|streccan}}", stretch), ''nautical'': each of the several continuous lines of planking or plates, of uniform breadth, in the side of a vessel, extending from stem to stern. Hence, the breadth of a plank used as a unit of vertical measurement of a ship's side,(late Middle English).</ref><ref>[[Collins English Dictionary]] - "Strake" (also called "streak") ''nautical'': one of a continuous range of planks or plates forming the side of a vessel.</ref> from  traditional wooden [[boat building]] methods, used in both [[Carvel (boat building)|carvel]] and [[clinker (boat building)|clinker]] construction. In a metal ship, a strake is a course of plating.