weatherly

1 9.9

A boat that can sail close to the wind with little sideways drift

adjective
/ˈwɛðərli/

Specialized

: navegable

Compared to older ships, this model is much more weatherly.

Examples

Her weatherly qualities allowed her to outpace the competition around the upwind mark.
This boat is weatherly!
The yacht proved remarkably weatherly in strong winds, keeping her course with ease.
The yacht was very weatherly during the race.
The weatherly ship glided smoothly across the water, showing its ability to sail close to the wind.
Her weatherly design allowed the yacht to maneuver effortlessly around the rocky coastline.
With its weatherly hull, the sailboat could maintain a steady course even in strong winds.

Synonyms

close to the wind

vsweatherly

Specialized

1 9.9

Sailing with the boat pointed almost into the wind to go as directly toward it as possible

highlights ability to sail near the wind while keeping sideways drift minimal

close-hauled

vsweatherly

Specialized

1 9.2

Sailing as close to the wind as possible with sails pulled in tight

focuses on reducing sideways drift when sailing near the wind direction

How Weatherly

weatherly

Specialized

1 9.9

seaworthy

Specialized

4 5.6

Surface Forms

weatherly positive

Morphology

weatherly = weather (semi-transparent) = weather + ly

Formed from 'weather' + '-ly'; the connection to weather is clear but the specific nautical meaning 'able to sail close to the wind' is specialized and not immediately obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Weatherly comes from weather ('wind' or 'storm') plus the ending -ly, and it was used for boats that could sail close to the wind without being pushed sideways. So, weatherly means a vessel able to handle the weather and keep its course.