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catalac08
Guest
now that many sites and met office give base wind speed and gusts how does this equate to a beaufort wind force - looking yesterday at a forecast of 9 knots gusting 28 knots. What does this really mean?
Bilgediver
Well-Known Member
Just a different scale so you will need a crib card to translate to Beaufort scale
Kochi
Well-Known Member
The Beaufort Scale measures mean wind speed. A mean speed of 9 knots would be the top of a F3. Thursday pm in the Solent we had a F3/4 with some very strong gusts which came from nowhere which may have touched 28 knots.
liverpool
Well-Known Member
I find it very helpful to know likely strength of gusts as well as the generally prevailing wind strength (whether quoted as knots or beaufort scale) so I can try and be prepared for the max strength likely eg quite happy having the spinnaker up in F3 but not if 28 knotgusts likely!! Hope for the best but plan for the worst.
Nico
Well-Known Member
Beaufort scale is about sustained wind speeds, rather than mean. So 9 knots gusting 20+ is still a three. BUT that doesn't tell you about the gusts. It can't tell you everything. You sometimes hear people saying that the wind is gusting force 6 or whatever, but this is a bit of a nonsense since the scale is about sustained wind.
Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
In a sailing sense the wind speed and gust speeds must be more useful.
I was criticised for using a hand held wind meter a couple of years ago, but as far as I am concerned it created a relationship in my mind between wind speeds and their effect on my sailing.
Beaufort scale is less use on a lake where sustained wind speeds are less likely and the sea state is less relevant.
Different lakes and different wind directions alter the point at which chop forms white horses, so that's not a clue to wind speed.
Knowing the real speed and what effect it will have on my boat is safer.
If you're setting off on a passage it may be different, I don't know, but I still think knowing the true predicted wind speed and possible maximums must be better.
I was criticised for using a hand held wind meter a couple of years ago, but as far as I am concerned it created a relationship in my mind between wind speeds and their effect on my sailing.
Beaufort scale is less use on a lake where sustained wind speeds are less likely and the sea state is less relevant.
Different lakes and different wind directions alter the point at which chop forms white horses, so that's not a clue to wind speed.
Knowing the real speed and what effect it will have on my boat is safer.
If you're setting off on a passage it may be different, I don't know, but I still think knowing the true predicted wind speed and possible maximums must be better.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Here in the Med I often see yachts enter harbour with blown-out sails. Big yachts, as well....60'+. You often get gusts around headlands that can blow to 3 or 5 times the normal windspeed. In the UK think Lizard, Land's End. In Europe think Finisterre, Cape Trafalgar, Straits of Gibraltar, Cabo de Gata..... Bonifaccio, Messina,...... When it looks gusty be sure that you can let the sheets fly in an instant, or reef well down. Or put the canvas to bed and motor. I'm a coward and tend to motor when in doubt.