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Wraysbury Lake Sailing Club
94a Welley Road
Wraysbury
Staines
Middlesex, TW19 5EP

Clubhouse No.
01784 483044

Courses at 15% discount for members##

Welcome to our Sailing section

Our sailing activities fall into these groups:

1. Sunday series races
2. Optimist training and racing
3. Youths on Boats activities
4. Summer Wednesday evenings
5. Training
6. General cruising.

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The Beaufort wind scale

Wind Force	Knots	WMO	Appearance of Wind Effects On the Water	Appearance On Land
0	Less than 1	Calm	Sea surface smooth and mirror-like	Calm, smoke rises vertically
1	1-3	Light Air	Scaly ripples, no foam crests	Smoke drift indicates wind direction, still wind vanes
2	4-6	Light Breeze	Small wavelets, crests glassy, no breaking	Wind felt on face, leaves rustle, vanes begin to move
3	7-10	Gentle Breeze	Large wavelets, crests begin to break, scattered whitecaps	Leaves and small twigs constantly moving, light flags extended
4	11-16	Moderate Breeze	Small waves 1-4 ft. becoming longer, numerous whitecaps	Dust, leaves, and loose paper lifted, small tree branches move
5	17-21	Fresh Breeze	Moderate waves 4-8 ft taking longer form, many whitecaps, some spray	Small trees in leaf begin to sway
6	22-27	Strong Breeze	Larger waves 8-13 ft, whitecaps common, more spray	Larger tree branches moving, whistling in wires
7	28-33	Near Gale	Sea heaps up, waves 13-20 ft, white foam streaks off breakers	Whole trees moving, resistance felt walking against wind
8	34-40	Gale	Moderately high (13-20 ft) waves of greater length, edges of crests begin to break into spindrift, foam blown in streaks	Whole trees in motion, resistance felt walking against wind
9	41-47	Strong Gale	High waves (20 ft), sea begins to roll, dense streaks of foam, spray may reduce visibility	Slight structural damage occurs, slate blows off roofs
10	48-55	Storm	Very high waves (20-30 ft) with overhanging crests, sea white with densely blown foam, heavy rolling, lowered visibility	Seldom experienced on land, trees broken or uprooted, "considerable structural damage"
11	56-63	Violent Storm	Exceptionally high (30-45 ft) waves, foam patches cover sea, visibility more reduced
12	64+	Hurricane	Air filled with foam, waves over 45 ft, sea completely white with driving spray, visibility greatly reduced

Why the weather is important

Why the weather is important As a dinghy sailor you soon learn that knowing the direction and strength of the wind is vital to becoming a good sailor. For many boats there are adjustments that can be made, some before you go afloat and some you make on the move, that are needed to get the most from your class of dinghy. Each class has its own foibles, and most have guides for setting up your boat. In the early stages of your sailing you seek moderate wind strengths. Sufficient to get you moving, not enough to cause you problems. Ideally a Force 2 (4 to 6 knots) of breeze. However, anything on the Force 1 to 3 range (1 knot to 10 knots) will do. So here are some weather resources to help you decide what this weekend is likely to be. I'd welcome feedback and comments on the links provided, please use the contact form.

Weather links

Hot links	Description	Comment
uk.weather.com	Next 3 days in half day summary format.
weather online.co.uk	Next 3 days in one easy picture, little wind information
Consult the BBC weather for Staines	Next 5 days 'at a glance'.
and the BBC weather for Heathrow	Next 5 days 'at a glance' plus next 24 hrs in 3 hour intervals.
Windguru	A Czech site based on larger sailing clubs. Click for the Queen Mary SC forecast for the next seven days.
XCWeather	Site intended for small aircraft flyers. Hover your mouse over Heathrow for a five day wind direction and strength indication.
Met Office forecast, SE England	London & South East England: forecast. Days 1 & 2, 3 to 5 and 6 to 15.
Inshore waters, SE England	Met Office inshore waters forecast from North Foreland to Selsey Bill. (Margate to Chichester)
Metcheck	Three hourly segments, easy to understand & up to date
Synoptic charts	The next set of links give show weather maps with isobars and fronts. these are more technical to understand but tell you a lot more.
Today's chart	Met Office charts from the German "Weather Central" site
Tomorrow's chart
The next day (Today + 2)
Today +3
Today + 4
Next 9 days quick summary

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