Beaufort Wind Scale

Force 0 = calm, less than 1 kt of wind. Flat seas:    That was the 2009 Long Pac with Nat and Heather

Force 1 - light air - 1 to 2 kt of wind - Ripples without crests. Still wind vanes. That's typical of a midwinter drifter on San Francisco Bay

 

Force 2 - light breeze - 3 to 6 kt of wind - Small wavelets. Crests of glassy appearance, not breaking. Wind felt on exposed skin.    This is quite typical of light winter sailing on San Francisco Bay. The Sunday of the Big Daddy 2011 had this kind of conditions.

 

Force 3 - gentle breeze - 7 to 10 kt of wind - large wavelets. Crests begin to break; scattered whitecaps .

 

 

Force 4 - moderate breeze - 11-15 kt of wind - top end of the genoa for Elise - Small waves with breaking crests. Fairly frequent whitecaps.    These are great practice conditions as a preparation for heavier air conditions. This is what we raced in, in the afternoon of the Meebo offsite this year.

 

 

Force 5: fresh breeze, wind at 16 - 20 kt - moderate waves of some length. Many whitecaps. Small amounts of spray.  

This is the minimum we would encounter in the summer on San Francisco Bay and what we had at the beginning of the Double-Handed Farallones Race this year.

 

Force 6: strong breeze, wind at 21-26 kt - White foam crests are very frequent. Some airborne spray is present.   - this is what we had for most of the DHF Farallones in 2011 - this is what we had finishing the Long Pac under the bridge in 2009 and this is very typical of San Francisco Bay 

 

Force 7: high wind, moderate gale, near gale, wind at 27–33 kt. Sea heaps up. Some foam from breaking waves is blown into streaks along wind direction. Moderate amounts of airborne spray. On land, it would take an effort to walk against the wind.  - Late afternoon, heading into Point Conception, this is what we had during Coastal Cup 2010. This is also what we had in squalls during Pac Cup 2008.

 

Force 8: gale, fresh gale. winds at 34 - 40 kt - moderately high waves with breaking crests forming spindrift. Well-marked streaks of foam are blown along wind direction. Considerable airborne spray.   - this is what we had for most of the time at Point Conception. Elise can still have her heavy spinnaker up downwind and a full main in these conditions. The more wind, the more stable she becomes (up to a point) and surfing down waves is awesome.  

 

Force 9: strong gale, wind at 41 to 47 kt. high waves whose crests sometimes roll over. Dense foam is blown along wind direction. Large amounts of airborne spray may begin to reduce visibility.   . This is what we had at the Express 27 Nationals in Santa Cruz, and the type of gust we had off Point Conception heading into Santa Barbara. Apparently, there were a few gusts like this on Saturday during the Double-Handed Farallones (which would explain why we would have needed a smaller headsail and why we will take one next time in order to keep pointing!)

 

Force 10: storm - whole gale. Wind at 48 - 55 kt - very high waves with overhanging crests. Large patches of foam from wave crests give the sea a white appearance. Considerable tumbling of waves with heavy impact. Large amounts of airborne spray reduce visibility.  This is what was announced a couple of times this past winter, and pretty common of the worst storms that will sweep across San Francisco. In 2007, the Express 27 Nationals were held in 45 kt sustained wind speed, gusting into the Force 10. Force 10 is also the strength of the wind during the tragic 1979 Fastnet Race. We would not put a spinnaker up downwind, unless it was a heavy shy kite and pretty stable seas. We would probably consider reefing the main downwind. Depending on sea conditions, we may not want to be running at all, facing the waves might be safer. Upwind with a triple-reefed main and a storm jib and weight on the rail, Elise might probably still sail in these conditions but would require pretty constant attention.

 

Force 11: violent storm, wind at 56 -63 kt. exceptionally high waves. Very large patches of foam, driven before the wind, cover much of the sea surface. Very large amounts of airborne spray severely reduce visibility.    - this is the type of wind that the boats encountered during the 1998 tragic Sydney Hobart race. I have not sailed in this kind of storm - it is probably something where I would want to heave to, make sure I have plenty of sea room and maybe deploy a sea anchor - or run with a drogue behind the boat. Elise as a super light displacement boat and a fin keel does not heave to very well, although we did demo it during the 2009 spinnaker cup with Heather as we had to rescue the spinnaker at some point and we were both needed, allowed us to park the boat without requiring the auto-pilot, and Elise behaved remarkably. With a bridle to prevent jerking and with both a headsail and a mainsail used to heave-to, (or rather a backed storm jib and a triple reefed main) Elise may actually be quite comfortable on the water that way. The main concern would be if a few tons of water decides to crash on deck...Things may start to break too if you don't balance things correctly (like put a headsail up without anything on the other side of the mast to balance the rig)

Note that I would actually start worrying a bit more about things on land with this kind of wind...It is likely that trees could fall and things would be flying around and could just hit you or something...Open waters may not be the most dangerous place to be in this kind of situation.   (and if this was the next 3-day forecast, I would not go out, so the likelihood of me not being in open water on a boat is pretty small...)

 

 

Force 12: hurricane force winds at over 64 knots. Huge waves. Sea is completely white with foam and spray. Air is filled with driving spray, greatly reducing visibility.   During the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race, the boats in the eye of the storm recorded 80 knot-winds, so definitely a Force 12 storm. Boats broke, rigs were lost. I have never encountered these conditions. This would be serious serious damage on land...