How ever you can increase the chances of a vertical flight on slower rockets by tilting the rocket WITH the wind, it seems counter-intuitive, but with slow, rockets the weathercocking can help to push the rocket toward vertical as it gains velocity.
Like Steve and Rich mention, pointing the rocket a few degrees downwind is the proper way to do it. How many degrees? One gets their rocket into a simulator and they sit there and run sim after sim after sim getting the hang of what it takes to get the velocity at the apogee as low as one can get it at various windspeeds. Why do all this work? Well, if flying cardboard rockets can determine an optimal delay for motor deployment if not using electronics and secondly it helps avoid zippering because of
a low velocity deployment. I disciplined myself to do this for various rockets I use a magnetic anomaly detection unit for apogee deployment. The angle varies for a north-south or east-west deployments and by necessity I want to try to get the rocket to
stop, flop over and deploy. Yeah, that's the ideal but highly unlikely. Trying to achieve it and get as close to it as possible really helps. I've had 14 flights on MAD apogee deploy cardboard rockets and there isn't a single notch, rip, tear, or even hint of
a zipper in the ends of the cardboard sustainers. If the wind is such that one is angling upwind to get the rocket to land onsite, one shouldn't be flying the bird that high. Besides too much angle and weathercocking in an overstable rocket will lead to
a high speed deployment and zipper. How do I know? Been there, done that many years ago and learned my lesson. Well................ Only time I will bend that rule is if the angle is towards the flightline. Big no, no. In that case I point it one degree upwind (into the wind) and use a shorter delay or I fly a fiberglass rocket and put the cardboard ones away. Kurt