Lee-Bow..... Windsurfers...etc (Dons tin hat)

I'm really sorry for giving the hornet's nest a poke, but I was watching my son do the Round Hayling windsurf race yesterday.

The current was flooding strongly at the entrance to Langstone Harbour with a light SSE breeze. Beating out was a real challenge. Watching my son, on a port tack he did something with his feet on the board (no idea what!) and he pointed 5 degrees higher, then suddenly was tracking 15 degrees higher and faster compared to the boards around him.

He did it again on starboard beating into the current along the seafront.

Whilst it may not be 'the' thing others have claimed on here, it certainly is 'a' thing.

Edited by GarethT - 15 Sep 19 at 4:20pm

Nooooooooooooooooo! Just when the forum was getting busy again...

Didn't we work out that that GRFs Lee bow isn't the same as the classic one (which doesn't exist) and is actually taking the correct tack first to use the tide?

Totally agree. It’s ferry gliding.
Just about getting set up right but does not allow anything more than that.

Well you learn something new everyday.. Nice after all this time to pick something up from here, I'd never heard that expression 'Ferry Gliding' had to go and look it up in fact and it talks about berthing boats using the current applied to one side of the bow opposite to the direction in which you need the craft to dock with the power keeping the craft on station, so I can see how the description would apply.

However all those formative years ago, dating back to discussions I used to enjoy with Eric Twiname (I wrote articles for a magazine he was editor of) the term he used was tidal lee bow, so you'll have to forgive me for assuming y'all might understand that.

The fact that some offshore cruising authors rather like the doctors destroying the mmr jab for notoriety, debunked the 'myth' of lee bow is their loss, not ours, it is a fact particularly in the sort of water we as racing dinghy sailors often participate on with tidal curves, varying speeds according to depth and flow channels, it is another fluid like the air we use in the sail, it's a 2nd dimension that can be every bit as important in propelling the boat around fixed marks, so I really don't get why there is even controversy around the subject.

But thanks for the 'ferry gliding' description, I think it's a bit confusing so I'll stick to my tide on the lee bow for now, it is easier to discern on a racing windsurfer it's taken me these fifteen odd years to manage to get anything like that same seat of the pants feel and even now it's a very dull sensation unless it becomes so powerful the difference between wiring and not wiring for example occurs, but even then to the uninitiated that could just be confused with a lifting gust, so it's easy to understand how folk miss it.

Originally posted by iGRF The fact that some offshore cruising authors rather like the doctors destroying the mmr jab for notoriety, debunked the 'myth' of lee bow is their loss, not ours, it is a fact particularly in the sort of water we as racing dinghy sailors often participate on with tidal curves, varying speeds according to depth and flow channels, it is another fluid like the air we use in the sail, it's a 2nd dimension that can be every bit as important in propelling the boat around fixed marks, so I really don't get why there is even controversy around the subject. But thanks for the 'ferry gliding' description, I think it's a bit confusing so I'll stick to my tide on the lee bow for now, it is easier to discern on a racing windsurfer it's taken me these fifteen odd years to manage to get anything like that same seat of the pants feel and even now it's a very dull sensation unless it becomes so powerful the difference between wiring and not wiring for example occurs, but even then to the uninitiated that could just be confused with a lifting gust, so it's easy to understand how folk miss it.