According to Linternaute, the french expression, “Avoir le vent en poupe” has the following origins:
Avoir le vent en poupe est une expression datant du XIVe siècle. Elle utilise le “vent en poupe”, qui souffle à l’arrière du voilier, le poussant vers l’avant. L’image est ici reprise pour symboliser qu’une personne est favorisée par les circonstances et qu’elle a de grandes chances d’avoir du succès.
If translated:
“To have the wind astern” is an expression that dates from the 16th century. The expression makes use of the “wind astern”, which blows the back end of the yaught, pushing it forwards. The image is used here to symbolise the fact that somebody is favoured by their circumstances and has great chances of success.
This explanationis more than ample to our needs, however, the phrase “to have the wind astern” is seldom used in English and tends to preserve only its nautical meaning, much more common are the following:
- To have the wind at your back
- To be on the crest of a wave
- To have the wind in your sails
The french word “poupe” quite literally means:
stern