By The Lee!

Rawson

New Member
I have heard this so many times now and I have no real clue what it literally is. I know it's downwind technique but thats about it.
I have heard people saying to Sail by The Lee when there is a lull?

My current technique is centerboard up, kicker loose, outhaul about 20cms, cunningham off, windward heel and heading more towards mark in gust.

Any help would be much appreciated
Thx
 
It means that the wind flow over your sail is from leech to luff instead of luff to leach. You can do this while sailing downwind withy your boom perpendicular to the boat and a fairly loose vang. When you sail low enough of an angle the wind will actually be comming from the leeward corner of the boat creating a flow over your sail. You can tell when you are doing this because the tell-tales will be flowing toward the luff of the sail.

Pretty quick if you do it right...
 
The reason you wont have heard it too often is most boats avoid it like the plauge. Stayed boats can't get their booms far enough forward and are under danger of crash gybing if they attempt it. Also the air flow to spinnakers is not ideal at all.

The concept i can't quite gather with the laser rig is the air is supposed to flow smother when by the lee, although the air leaving the luff to me seems a very tortuous path.
 
Newbee said:
The concept i can't quite gather with the laser rig is the air is supposed to flow smother when by the lee, although the air leaving the luff to me seems a very tortuous path.

Yeah, you're right that when sailing by the lee the air is exiting the sail past the mast, which isn't clean, but, on the other hand, the airflow is entering the sail across the leech, which is super clean, and, furthermore, the mast, where the air is trying to exit the sail, is absolutely rock steady and is not sagging or hooking or falling off or flipping around....
 
When I'm sailing by the lee and gybe, I have a great deal of trouble getting the sail to go out past 90 degrees. The sail wants to stop well before then, say around 60-70 degrees. I have to stand up and push the sail out. Does anyone else have this problem? I do have some tape at the base of the mast that makes the spar pretty tight in the mast step. I'd hate to take the tape off and find out that's not the problem. I do remember to turn the mainsheet ratchet off. What do you think?

Merrily
 
Merrily said:
When I'm sailing by the lee and gybe, I have a great deal of trouble getting the sail to go out past 90 degrees. [...] What do you think?

How far are you turning during the gybe? Are you sure that "out past 90 degrees" is where the boom belongs on the new gybe? Say your wind angle is 225 and your boom is out to port, (so you're by-the-lee by 45 degrees) and you just whomp the boom over to the starboard side without changing course, then you're on a broad reach, and the boom shouldn't go way out.
 
Chris123 said:
How far are you turning during the gybe? Are you sure that "out past 90 degrees" is where the boom belongs on the new gybe? Say your wind angle is 225 and your boom is out to port, (so you're by-the-lee by 45 degrees) and you just whomp the boom over to the starboard side without changing course, then you're on a broad reach, and the boom shouldn't go way out.

You don't want your boom out past 90 degrees anyway(except if you have to sail a really extreme angle for some reason). That is the biggest misconception about sailing by the lee. It is much faster and more stable to sail with the sail set right at 90. This allows the air flow to attach to the sail. If you put it out past 90 then you do not allow for air flow at all and are not really sailing by the lee.
 
Chris123 said:
Yeah, you're right that when sailing by the lee the air is exiting the sail past the mast, which isn't clean, but, on the other hand, the airflow is entering the sail across the leech, which is super clean, and, furthermore, the mast, where the air is trying to exit the sail, is absolutely rock steady and is not sagging or hooking or falling off or flipping around....

The leech in theory should act as a fine entry for wind, however, it tends to pop and move alot. This movement surely isn't ideal for the 'luff' of the sail no matter what direction wind is moving across the surface.

I also find the discussion about downwind sail trim interesting. One time I routinely let the sail out past 90 degrees is in very light air. In light conditions, you will invariably have to help the boom out; and with it out just past 90, you can heel the boat to weather and gravity will hold it in place.
Also it seems healthy to use >90 when turning sharply by the lee in big waves. In my experience it allows me to avoid plowing into the wave ahead of me, or also to facilitate catching a wave.
 

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