Excuse my ignorance but...

cardinal_mark

cardinal_mark

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Can anyone explain the principles of running by the lee?

I've searched high and low for references but so far without joy.

Mark

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The principles are generally to avoid doing it. It refers to a situation where eg the main is over on the wrong side as can happen if you have a preventer rigged on a downwind passage. Without the preventer, you would have an uncontrolled gybe.

A gaff rig is much more tolerant of running by the lee than a bermudan.

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the further you can let your boom go out, the less risk of an accidental gybe, a modern rig with swept-back spreaders only allows the boom out about 45 degrees so a gust from the lee side or a slight wander off course can easily get the wind behind the main and gybe it. a gaff rig with the gaff sagging well off to leeward is less likely to gybe. we fortunates with unstayed rigs can just let the main out as far as we like and can run up to maybe 40 degrees by the lee without risk. (see my piccie on the left)

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If your course is not dead downwind (say 10 degrees off) then you will probably be able to pole the genoa out to 'windward' when goosewinged and so avoid sailing by the lee at all.

If you have the wind dead aft you will inevitably end up running by the lee occasionally . . . on a cruising boat with straight spreaders, as long as there is no rolling and you don't let it get more than 10 - 15 deg by the lee you should be fine.

Downwind sailing requires far more concentration than upwind, however, and it is generally good practice to rig a preventer, especially if there is a bit of a following sea. (And remember to rig it so it can be released from the cockpit). A helmsperson with very good wind awareness and concentration is essential.

We ran 5 miles dead downwind from the bottom of Shuna back to Balvicar last weekend in 20-25 knots true wind with poled out genoa and full main . . . the sea was flat and the wind fairly steady, and we had no problems, even though we were occasionally sailing as much as 10 deg by the lee. We were doing five and a half to six knots all the way and had a fabulous sail.

If you are aware of what is happening you shouldn't get caught out.

Now if someone can tell me how to sail downwind in a heavy swell in a F3-4 I would love to hear it . . . lighter winds aft of the beam were our main bugbear on our trip round Ireland last Summer.

- Nick



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Good god man, is it a boat or a windsurfer?

What you are proposing is unthinkable for us staid types.

- Nick

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Is there any limit on the number of turns that you can put into your mast (i.e. lights etc on slip rings), or is it limited to cable turns or a phisical stop at say 180 degrees

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when the mainsheet gets wound rounf the foot of the mast you have to stop!

makes tricolours and wind instruments a problem though.

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'Bugbear' is a word used to describe something which causes any kind of concern from a serious problem to a mild mild concern. Simply, it's a 'problem' or 'difficulty'.

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The way we do it is with twin headsails and no main. This is far more relaxed than running with the main up, or even worse, a spinnaker.


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I don't know whether you have the answer you sought.
Running by the lee is what happens when the wind comes over the side that the main is set on.
Sometimes in narrow channels it can be used in a calculated risk scenario - if trying to clear a promotory or obstruction. As Webcraft said - with a poled out headsail it is possible to sail well past what would have been the gybe point for that sail.
We do it quite a lot and don't have a problem - having said that its always more exciting in a dinghy. By exciting I probably mean you heighten the risk of the occurance of a capsize!

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>regards
Claymore<font color=purple>
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Thanks, got it!

The reason I asked was that a Sailing / Seamanship scenario (you know, those little passage riddle things) in YM a few months ago was describing, I think, a cross channel passage with a following wind and mentioned something along the lines that 'Bob knew the advantages of running by the lee' etc etc. Bob might have done but I didn't - and it doesnt sound like there are many on passage, perhaps apart from as a means of conducting psychological stress tests on the helm!

I presumed in that scenario it was posited as a means of holding a more direct course until the wind backed / veered - can't remember the details but I'm sure the answer suggested that Bob was a raving nutter or something similar.

Mark

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Thanks, got it!

The reason I asked was that a Sailing / Seamanship scenario (you know, those little theoretical passage riddle things) in YM a few months ago was describing, I think, a cross channel passage with a following wind and mentioned something along the lines that 'Bob knew the advantages of running by the lee' etc etc. Bob might have done but I didn't - and from the sound of it the advantages seem thin on the ground for a crusing yacht on passage.

I presumed in that scenario it was suggested as a means of holding a more direct course until the wind backed / veered - can't remember the details but I'm sure the answer suggested that Bob was a raving nutter or something similar.

Mark

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not confusing it with 'lee-bowing' the tide perhaps? that has definite advantages when crossing the channel.

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Lee bowing sounds more likely to me but you can put the main on the "wrong" side by rigging a preventer that keeps the boom on one side only.

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No, I'm pretty sure it was running by the lee... but then, with the subtle cocktyail of age, gin & wine, the memory can play a few unexpected tricks. Just changing the odd word here and there mine manages to keep me totally in the dark as to what really happened!

Mark

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