old sailing saying wind before rain let the topsail remain

[askingmuchof]

My mother said her sailing ancestors handed down an old saying from before the 1850s which went, "Wind before rain, let the topsail remain." She said that it meant that when wind preceeded rain, the storm would be mild and of short duration and it was advisable to leave the topsail. Has anyone heard of this or any similar saying?

[paddywak]

Not heard of that one asking, but one that comes to mind is "Mares tails & mackerel skies make tall ships sail low" refering to a type of cloud formation (Altocumulus ?) which was regarded as indicating very stormy weather when a sailing ship would be well advised to reduce sail