THE BEAUFORT SCALE

OF WIND VELOCITY

Beaufort Number	Wind Velocity knots	Seaman's Term	Sea Condition	Wave Height
0	0-1	Calm	glassy-smooth, mirror like	smooth
1	2-3	Light air	Scale-like ripples	ripples
2	4-6	Light breeze	Small, short wavelets with glassy crests	1/3 ft
3	7-10	Gentle breeze	large wavelets, crests begin to break. occasional foam	1-2 ft
4	11-16	Moderate breeze	Small waves. some whitecaps more frequent foam	2-3 ft
5	17-21	Fresh breeze	Moderate longer waves. better formed, many whitecaps, much foam, some spray	3-4 ft

The Race Committee should observe sea conditions at the start during and at the finish of the race, and determine an average Beaufort Number for that race. Round off knots to nearest whole number or MPH to nearest tenth to determine Beaufort Number if anemometer is used. Care should be taken in observing that wind strength approximates that of the race course.

Wave height is dependent on water depth and length of time that the wind has been blowing. These are typical heights for lakes, bays, and estuaries. The above conditions and wave heights should prevail after the times indicated. Don't neglect the effect of large numbers of powerboats on enclosed bodies of water in estimating wave heights.

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