sail close to the wind

present singular third person sails close to the wind · participle present sailing close to the wind · participle past sailed close to the wind · past sailed close to the wind

1. intransitivenauticalTo sail in a direction close to that from which the wind is blowing, while still making headway.

   A vessel sails close to the wind, when her head is just so near the wind as to fill the sails without shaking them.

   1846, Arthur Young, James Brisbane, “CLOSE”, in Nautical Dictionary: Containing Explanations of Terms and Phrases used in the Building and Outfit of Sailing Vessels and Steam-ships; in Seamanship, Navigation, and Nautical Astronomy; and in Naval Gunnery: […], Dundee: William Middleton; London: Charles Wilson (late J. W. Norie & Wilson); Hamilton Adams & Co., →OCLC, page 74

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   As the Syrene vvas ſeen to fall to leevvard in the afternoon, the ſignal vvas made to her to ſail as cloſe to the vvind as poſſible.

   1781, [Mouffle d’Angerville], “Appendix. Secret Expedition, from 1758 to 1759.”, in J. O. Justamond, transl., The Private Life of Lewis XV. […], volume IV, London: […] Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 304

   American privateers were beautifully built, and modelled so as to facilitate escape rather than come into close quarters. […] Such a vessel could sail close to the wind or tack suddenly; one pivot gun of long range was carried amidships, and there were plenty of men on board.

   1894, Julian Hawthorne, James Schouler, E[lisha] Benjamin Andrews, “Second Administration of James Madison”, in United States from the Discovery of the North American Continent up to the Present Time […] (World’s Best Histories), volume III, New York, N.Y.; London: The Co-operative Publication Society, →OCLC, section II (Period of Fourteenth Congress. March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817.), page 504

   We scudded blithely over the sea. It was the long-boat we had. She was well-built and sturdy and a good sailer; though sailing close to the wind, it was not strong enough to keel her over too far, besides, to stiffen her, we were all perched to windward.

   1949, Fred W. Ellis, “Explorations and Departure”, in Round Cape Horn in Sail, South Croydon, Surrey: The Blue Book Company, →OCLC, page 206

   Because the Sirius had failed to tack, the wind had blown it backwards onto the reef: the result perhaps of an unexpected shift of the wind, a shoreward current, [Philip Gidley] King's failure to warn [John] Hunter about the current and a bold commander who sometimes sailed close to the wind.

   2016, Graeme Henderson, “The Loss of HMS Sirius, Escort to the First Fleet, in 1790”, in Swallowed by the Sea: The Story of Australia’s Shipwrecks, Canberra, A.C.T.: NLA Publishing, →ISBN, page 56

2. figurativelyintransitiveTo behave in a manner that is on the verge of being dangerous, illegal, or improper.

   [A]ll naturalists have sometimes to sail close to the wind to obtain specimens for their cabinets.

   1906 February 15, Richard Hancock, “A Note on the Araneæ around Yarmouth”, in W[illiam] L[ucas] Distant, editor, The Zoologist: A Monthly Journal of Natural History, volume X (4th Series), number 110 (number 776 overall), London: West, Newman & Co. […]; Simpkin, Marshall & Co., →OCLC, page 60

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   But he received only indifferent remuneration, in those days, and found himself to "sail close to the wind," to meet his current expenses.

   1876, Geo[rge] P. Burnham, “How Reuben Downer Made and Saved It”, in A Hundred Thousand Dollars in Gold. How to Make It. […], Springfield, Mass.: W. J. Holland, →OCLC, page 198

   We have to bear in mind that the present Conventional Tariff sails close to wind as a protection for French industry, and that anything like a serious increase would amount to absolute prohibition.

   1881 June, “The Present Aspect of Our Commercial Relations with France”, in The Nautical Magazine: A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs, volume L (New Series), number VI, London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., […]; J. D. Potter, […]; Kent & Co., […], →OCLC, page 430

   Louis-Philippe was a rare man. […] [A] savvy statesman, cold inside, ruled by the immediate interest, always sailing close to the wind, incapable of rancour or gratitude, pitilessly wearing out his superiority on mediocrities, skilled at proving wrong through parliamentary majorities, those mysterious unanimities that grumble quietly beneath thrones; […]

   2008, Victor Hugo, “Louis-Philippe”, in Julie Rose, transl., Les Misérables, London: Vintage Books, →ISBN, part 4 (The Idyll of the Rue Plumet and the Epic of the Rue Saint-Denis), book 1 (A Few Pages of History), page 682

   Real have sailed close to the wind in the Champions League this season, most notably when they needed two goals to survive against Manchester City in the semi-final with 90 minutes gone.

   2022 May 28, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 0 – 1 Real Madrid: Champions League Defeat Caps Miserable End to Magnificent Season amid Paris Chaos”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 26 May 2023