February 6

Winter sea breeze, friend or foe? – News – 33rd America’s Cup

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Indeed there are very many weather situations which could nullify any inherent design advantage, particularly in chilly February. Matthew Sheahan of Yachting World has become a keen observer of the Valencia weather, not only as on site meteo guru all the way through the 32nd America’s Cup, but now from regular visits here to observe the two giants testing and trialling. One reason Valencia was chosen for the last edition was for its reliable sea-breeze, the thermally generated summer wind. One common misconception is that in winter, like now, there is no sea breeze. But he warns, that the summer friend may prove to be a winter foe on the race courses for the 33rd America’s Cup“The first thing is that in winter there is not as much daylight, which means there is not as much time for the land to heat up, and to exert its influence – that is to suck in the air.” Sheahan suggests, “That is a problem in the winter.  Whereas in the summer there are very long days with plenty of time for the land to heat up and for the sea breeze to get going. The downside, if you like, is that in the summer the water is warm as well. And to generate a sea breeze you need a difference in temperature, you do not necessarily need it to be hot. You just need a difference in temperature between the land and the sea. In the winter because the sea is cooler, we do get sea breezes here, but the problem here is that the day is a lot shorter then the sea breezes are weaker. They are more fickle, but really few people seem to have much experience of it here.” “What would be ideal though, would be no sea breeze at all, because in fact the sea breeze is more of a problem. The 32nd Cup was run on sea breezes, but the courses were much, much shorter, 2-3 miles.” But with such a large course area, as much as 40 miles offshore in the extremities, the difference in wind strength as you move offshore may be considerable:

Full article here www.americascup.com

Interesting article from someone a lot more knowledgeable than me about the weather. His point about the window of wind between early morning and noon is interesting. Check out this forecast. If this is accurate then the winds at 10 am will be perfect for a great race.


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