Rear, in the boat

AFT

Think of the opposite direction from where the captain usually stands to steer; it’s also a term used in aviation for the back section.

"Rear" here is a definition hinting at the back of something, and "in the boat" signals we’re looking for a nautical term. The wordplay is straightforward—"aft" means the rear or back part of a ship, so it fits both parts of the clue perfectly. It’s a common crossword trick to pair a general word like "rear" with a specific context like "in the boat" to point to a specialized term.