(of a ship) liable to drift to leeward when sailing close to the wind.
Example sentencesExamples
Rivers demanded shallow craft, so the Orkney-man in the service built his river boats with ‘flat floors’ which made them very leewardly; but he retained the high bow and stern posts of his island fishing boats, and their two sharp ends.
A vessel in which the loss of ground downwind is minimal is described as weatherly, as opposed to leewardly.
Cambria was generously given the weather end of the line but as the signal was given the wind changed and made her the most leewardly boat, resulting in a poor start.
A smaller sailing ship with the same relative proportions as a larger ship was doomed by the mathematics of the situation to be a more leewardly ship.
I have the honour to inform you that the Honourable Company's steamer ‘Nemesis,’ under my command, was obliged to part company with the fleet, being light, and consequently very leewardly.