The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the west indies .. they are the northern islands of the lesser antilles chain and are situated where the northeastern caribbean sea meets the western atlantic ocean .. the name of this island group dates from previous centuries, when sailing ships were the sole form of transport across the atlantic ocean .. because of prevailing currents and winds, the fastest route west across the atlantic to the new world from africa brought sailing ships to a point that was halfway south on the lesser antilles chain .. this area became the dividing line between what are now known as the windward islands and the leeward islands .. in the west indies, the prevailing winds, known as the trade winds, blow from the southeast to the northwest .. when sailing ships arrived, what are now known as the leeward islands were downwind, or (in the lee of the wind) to them .. i other words, these islands were (leeward) to the sailing ships when they arrived in the west indies, and could be reached from that arrival point by simply sailing with the wind .. this was in contrast to the windward islands further south, which were upwind from the sailing ship's point of arrival, in other words (windward) and had to be reached by sailing against the wind..