The extreme case was when the wind blew direct from one to the other; but there was a large space on either side of this line to which the term "weather-gage" applied.

If the lee ship be taken as the centre of a circle, there were nearly three eighths of its area in which the other might be and still keep the advantage of the wind to a greater or less degree.

Lee is the opposite of weather.
[4] See note at end of Introductory Chapter, page 23.
[5] The battle of Navarino (1827) between Turkey and the Western Powers was fought in this neighborhood.
[6] A "containing" force is one to which, in a military combination, is assigned the duty of stopping, or delaying the advance of a portion of the enemy, while the main effort of the army or armies is being exerted in a different quarter..