Seaton

I've got a Windwatch, and one thing to consider is the numbers you get standing on the beach never look like what you see on SeaBreeze or from the Weather Bureau, which is very frustrating. Always 5-10knts lower.

On a more positive side, it does allow you to ignore the "official" speed and just decide to rig size X when Windwatch says speed Y. I hate it however when your standing there reading it and everyone comes over and asks what the windspeed is, and when you tell them what's on the dial they look at you like you're lying

To be honest, it's a toy and I regret spending my money on it considering how little I use it.

I looked and called around everywhere in Perth, and the distributor has done a great job because all prices were between $190 and $200.

same, a guy in rocko was getting 5-15kn on the beach. umm, no I think it was more like 25-30kn at the time. I think that these are so inaccurate in higher wind speeds that a blind and deaf dog could tell you a more accurate reading . Anyways, Dick Smiths used to sell one for $120 (~25mm fan), and another bigger one for $300 (~50mm fan). I reckon the bigger the turbine in the instrument, the better they are to filter gusts and turbulence. Better still would be one on a vertical axis of rotation (cups-on-sticks), apparently these are better for dealing with turbulence.

Cheers Guys! I've been talked out of it!!! I suppose it works out to how accurate a wind reading would I really need? At $200+ it would be best to grab a 2nd hand sail at either top or bottom end of the quiver spectrum.

Grumpy, I'll certainly never ask a wind-watch holder the gauge speed again. It would give me the irrates to attract that sort of attention when I could be rigging up to get out on it! Being the clumsey pr*ck I am, one of Simon's Dick Smith 50mm fans are likely to take a digit off and a three cup set-up on the roof rack would take the fun out of it!! Tozza was the clincher as I doubt it was 13-18 anywhere in WA on Sunday!

Hardie, I reckon the gauge would have confirmed the forecast 15-20 on Monday am. Was a great sail and cheers for the swap of gear to get idea on volume difference. I'll nail a used 115 - 125L used slalom board come tax cheque time to get a bit more water time! I'll also keep an eye on Graphs for S/E in future!

Thanks once again for your thoughts guys - invaluable advice and experience once again!!!!

Getting gone!!!
Seaton

Funny, Plow, I like the idea. I've got a thick, dusty old meteorology text on the bookshelf and I've dogeared the Beaufort scale page. I enjoy reading about the force of winds that cause newspapers to rustle as well as winds that cripple steel-reinforced structures. But I like the idea of a Beaufort micro-scale. Perhaps Bft4 scatters newspapers, but it takes Bft4.25 to fold open the cover of a Freesail mag, Bft5.7 to blow a discarded pizza box off a plastic bin, Bft 6.2 to tip a half-empty can of coke, etc.

Just to add fuel to the fire, I believe the meters are quite accurate. If you pick a nil wind day and drive along in a car with the meter at arms length out the window with the screen on kph, it is remarkably accurate vs the speedo - even at 10kph.

I can only suggest 2 reasons for the "gap":
1) I'm told the Bureau uses meters on very high poles, and the wind is stronger at higher altitudes. At Garden Island for instance I'm told the anemometer is in the middle of the bridge, which must be 30 metres high at least. Also correlates with plane flights where the pilot comes on and advises the flight is late due to 150knt headwinds - don't get many of them at sea level !
2) You would all have noticed the wind is stronger 200m off the shore with the wind coming off the sea than it is on the shore. Again, we stand on the shore with our toys.

Anyway, it's still frustrating. It does however explain how you read in the English mags where they claim to go sailing in 10knt winds - when my windwatch shows 10knts I can get my Formula up, meanwhile SeaBreeze is showing 15knts +

kecksoff - spend your money on a bigger sail and then use the ageless rule - no whitecaps = no planing.