Phil in SF quoted His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (Temeraire, #1)
Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise …
The men had already been through one nasty gale as a crew and knew their work; fortunately the wind was not contrary, so they might go scudding before the gale, and the topgallant masts had already been struck down properly.
— His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (Temeraire, #1) (8%)
new vocabulary: scudding & topgallant
scud: move fast in a straight line because or as if driven by the wind
topgallant: The section of a square-rigged sailing ship's mast immediately above the topmast