THE STRENGTH OF WIND

As we get ready to head out for a day’s fishing or sailing, checking the weather forecast is as much a habit as a cup of tea. Finding there will be the odd shower is useful but learning that the 10-knot wind in the morning will increase to 20 knots later is more meaningful, and experience tells us what to expect. Listening to the Coastguard’s ‘now-casting’ reports from around the coast adds greatly to our decisions whether to go out or when to head into shelter.

But how much do we actually think about the effect of the afternoon’s 20 knots compared with the morning breeze? What does it mean in practical