Talk:Weather gage

OED sez "gage" is more common than "gauge", so I bowed to its authority. :-) Stan 16:20, 16 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Match racing tactics?[edit]

Is the reference to the America's Cup boats seeking the weather gage correct? I thought the idea of the circling was to maintain a leeward position, because that gives you rights to push to opponent over the start line early. RoySmith 8 July 2005 11:34 (UTC)

I think you are right. Leeward boat has rights, so a favored tactic is to luff up your opponent either to force him over early or to slow him down, allowing you to bear off and gain speed just before the start. It doesn't always work that way though, and it is unfavorable to be below your opponent after the start unless you can point higher (not usually a factor in one-design racing, but could be a factor in America's Cup). Generally requires you to tack early to find clean air.

From what I've seen the main point of the circling before the start in match racing is to draw a foul. Toiyabe 18:07, 15 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Illustrations?[edit]

I figure some pictures would be an excellent means of demonstrating the points effectively. 68.225.240.87 10:10, 15 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Merriam Webster's says "gage" is a variant of "gauge", so I changed it throughout.

"Bismarck" and weather gage[edit]

"The weather restricted the visual range to much less than the gun range, therefore regarding the apparent advantage of being upwind for firing projectiles with increased range, it was quite the reverse. It was even detrimental, since to surpass the thick vertical armour of those days the best approach was to make the shells dive almost vertically over the less protected horizontal decks, and given the parabolic trajectories of the shells, firing against the wind would make them fall more vertically."

"Hood" has an advantage to hit "Bismarck's" horizontal armour firing upwind, nevertheless "Bismarck" did it to "Hood" firing downwind - paradox... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.75.247.226 (talk) 12:08, 16 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That wind could have any significant effect on the trajectories of large, high-velocity shells has always sounded dodgy to me, and I've now found a source indicating that the change in angle is on the order of a tenth of a degree for every ten knots of wind. So I've removed this. I'm not clear on how one would cite a source within the page for something that isn't in the page, so if someone wants to update the page to include the above source in the appropriate way, feel free. Cjs (talk) 09:21, 10 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

For fear of being headed[edit]

"... is constrained to trim sail as the relative wind moves forward and cannot point too far into the wind for fear of being headed"

For the benefit of us landlubbers, I wish someone would explain what "being headed" means and why it is to be feared.

50.0.242.165 (talk) 22:41, 17 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]