Quote:
Originally Posted by rickm505  A lot of wind? Hell, I don't even hit my max hull speed unless it's blowing in the low 20's. Where exactly do you sail that 18 knots is a lot of wind??  |
I don't mean it's a gale, I mean it is above average, and so you can't assume that your boat will average over a long time what it averages in 18 knots of wind. We are considering the question of average speeds on this thread-
Here for example is Lahaina, Hawaii, a fairly windy place, in mph:
LAHAINA-KAPALUA AP AWOS |PHJH|1996-2006| 14.4 15.1 14.9 16.7 15.7 16.9 17.1 16.8 15.8 15.1 14.2 14.6 | 15.6
The different wind speeds are monthly averages, 15.6 mph is 13.5 knots, which is the annual average for Lahaina. (I sailed across the Pacific, and it goes from zip at the equator to a pretty stiff blow sometimes in the trades, not counting gales, but the average isn't all that high.)
Here's an interesting link:
http://www.gipsymoth.org/weatherpics...therimage1.gif
It shows the wind speeds encountered in a fall / winter crossing in the NE trades in the Atlantic. Even in November and December, it doesn't look like it averaged 18 knots.