Valencia sailing conditions: April 2007. The facts The big question Is Valencia a bad venue, or is...

Valencia sailing conditions:

April 2007

The facts

The big questionIs Valencia a bad venue, or is April 2007 just an extremely bad month?

This is the data we use for wind analysis– Most accurate data available– MDS weather buoys 2005-2007– Puertos weather station 2000-2004– Puertos station calibrated to buoys– Data used from 15:00-17:00– Wind limits 7-23 knots

1.1) STATIONS LOCATION : PORTPuertos station

Valencia: percentage of sailing days

Year April May June

2000 93% No data 96%

2001 87% 87% 83%

2002 93% No Data 88%

2003 88% 74% 81%

2004 81% 88% 89%

2005 93% 94% 93%

2006 90% 87% 90%

2007 50%

Auckland: percentage of sailing days

Analysis conducted by CSIRO Criteria: 12:00-15:00 7 – 23 knots

AXYS Buoy Jan. 2001 – Mar. 2003 35 – 50% sailing days in summer months in

Auckland

Endeco Buoy Jan. 1997 – Mar. 2000 35 – 55% sailing days in summer months in

Auckland

Valencia:consecutive non-sailing

daysYear April May June

2000 1 No data 1

2001 3 2 4

2002 1 No data 2

2003 2 3 2

2004 3 2 1

2005 1 2 1

2006 2 2 1

2007 7

April 2007

WS avg from 3 to 5pm on the NC (April 2007)

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

11.0

12.0

13.0

14.0

15.0

16.0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Day (1 to 23 of april)

TWS

(kn)

Race

Almost 11 consecutive days !

LVC Start

Race Race

Summary

April 2007 was an extremely bad month with almost half the number of sailing days than usual

Analysis has been done with the best available data and would stand up to independent scrutiny

Suitability of Valencia as a sailing venue should not be judged on one extremely rare meteorological event

What makes wind in Valencia?

Gradient Vs Sea breeze Need favorable gradient wind for sea breeze

– Southerly gradient gives the strongest sea breeze

– North-easterly gradient gives weakest sea breeze

Thermal effect, especially over the mountains– Warm over land, cool over sea

Atmospheric ‘block’

Occurs mainly over Europe in the winter and spring

Stable pattern – hard to break Position can change

– It makes a significant difference to the weather

Very hard to predict when the ‘blocks’ form and when they will disappear!

2007 2006

H

L

L

L

Surface pressure different from normal

Temperatures different from normal (15-21 April)

Valencia/Manises, Spain

Any Questions?