Wind Strength on RTI

[bedouin]

Basking in the glorious sunshine of Sunday morning (why oh why couldn't Saturday have been like that - it would have made an excellent race into a real classic) I was discussing the race with the owner of the boat moored next door.

He was saying that he was surprised to see some boats without reefs in - as he was seeing windspeeds of up to 30 kts. I replied that I didn't need a reef since I only saw wind speeds of about 18-20 knts. We know that we were in about the same piece of water at the same time as we had passed about 6 feet behind his stern (in the leg from Needles to St Caths).

What sort of wind-speeds did other folks observe round the back of the island?

I have suspected for some time that my instruments underread at the higher end of the scale but it is very difficult to calibrate. We did compare our instruments with the above neighbour in the marina with wind speeds around 10 kts and found them roughly comparable.

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[boatless]

Didn't look at the windspeed at all, but were on light spi, number one and didn't even use the flattener on the main. Had to free kicker twice in the first half of the fort to finish leg. So, 30Kts? I doubt it, much more like 20 max as you say.

<hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.

 

[StugeronSteve]

Not RTI, but highest wind speed we recorded on Saturday Poole passage was 26knts. Saw 30knts off Lepe on Sunday afternoon though.

<hr width=100% size=1>Semper Bufo

 

[StephenSails]

Chi Met was saying 22 knots on Saturday afternoon and I think it may have been a little bit in the lee of the island on the wind angle so maybe people saw gusts of 25-27 knots?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.yachtinguniverse.com>http://www.yachtinguniverse.com</A>

 

[rwoofer]

I saw up to 24 knots on the St Cats. I definitely had to reef, but then no-one was sitting out and the main is very difficult to play in the gusts due to the set-up.

RB

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[jeffro]

sailed back from Bologne to Folkestone on Sunday 2 reefs in the main and most of the genoa furled saw gusts of up to 38 knots .One of my quicker crossings!

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[Aardee]

Highest we saw was 24kts approaching St Cats...

<hr width=100% size=1>"I am a bear of very little brain and long words bother me" - A A Milne.

 

[Spacewaist]

Watching from comfort of my computer, the local conditions on the YBW Weather and tides pages showed highest gust at St Kats at about 26/7 knots from memory. With tide and boat spead in the right direction that conceivably could have been 30+kts apparent. But mean windspeed was much lower 18-20Kts.

I was only looking because of my own confident prediction of 35Kt gusts based upon a synoptic prediction on Thursday last week.

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[Stemar]

I don't know what it was in knots, but I was on a little 21ft Janneau lift keeler and it was a bit more than we really wanted round the back - the reefed main and the self-tacking jib was more than enough, we were struggling to depower enough in the gusts.

Great fun, but I need a few days to recover before I do it again!

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[Aeolus_IV]

My feeling (on reflection) is that there was only occationaly more than 20 knots going on. We sailed without a reef, and tried our full sized spinaker on the leg to the forts, though couldn't hang onto it once we rounded the corner....

Jeff.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://users.swing.be/FDB/centurion/index2.html>Centurion 32 Web site</A>

 

[davel]

On the beat down to St Cats we had pretty consistent Apparent Wind of 23-24 knots so a true speed of circa 18.

<hr width=100% size=1>Dave L.

 

[pwc51]

Don't always be to sceptical of a high wind strength when in the race. I was crewing a few years back in a light weather RTI race. In fact so light it finished at Bembridge Ledge! We did howeer need to reef for 10 minutes when near St. Catherines - not a decision taken lightly, we really needed it! Yet speaking to others, I found no one who experienced these conditions.

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