|
| |
Sailing conditions in Malletts Bay.
Many folks are wondering what the weather is going to be like in Vermont
in August. Depending on the weather systems, we could see air
temperatures from anywhere between 60 and 95 degrees. Most likely
though, the air temperature will be a comfortable 75-80 degrees. Last
year the air temperature in VT never broke 90!
The water temperature on Lake Champlain in August will be about 80
degrees. So most of the sailing will be in shorts and a t-shirt, or a
spray top if it is windy.
There will be two sailing areas in Malletts Bay for the North Americans.
The primary sailing area for the Women's, Junior's, and Master's North
Americans will be the "Inner Bay" and the primary sailing are
for the NAs will be the "Outer Bay."
The Outer Bay is a nearly circular bay 4 1/2 miles wide, that is almost
completely separated from Lake Champlain by an auto causeway to the
north, and a railroad fill to the west. With an average water depth of
70 feet, this configuration provides an excellent body of water for
racing Lightnings with "wind appropriate" wave heights and
minimal powerboat traffic.
The Inner Bay is also a circular bay, but is only a little over 1.3
miles across. There is a large peninsula "Coates Island" that
extends into the bay and can effect the wind on that part of the bay.
The "Inner Bay" course area will feature very flat water, and
shifty sailing conditions
The wind speed for August on Lake Champlain averages about 10 knots.
Winds generally blow from the south-southwest 46% of the time. The next
most frequent wind direction is North-Northwest at 22% of the time.
Westerly winds are a distant third, with Easterly winds almost never
occurring. Winds are calm less than 15% of the time. As usual anything
can happen when you host a regatta and this spring we sailed two
straight days of our spring regatta in an easterly wind.
Typically, winds will be out of the south ranging anywhere between 7 and
20 knots. On warmer days, winds may shift to the west bringing late
afternoon thunderstorms across the lake from New York.
In the Outer Bay, the "typical" day will have us sailing in a
southerly breeze, that starts out at around 4-5 knots and will build to
about 8 knots by late morning. Expect the breeze to build to about 12
knots and die back down late in the day. The breeze will be fairly
steady with small 5-15 degree shifts, but be prepared for the occasional
larger, more permanent shift.
In the inner bay, the southerly will be very puffy and shifty, but the
sailing will be fun and fair. You'll need to pay close attention to the
shifts.
Shifty, puffy Northwest winds accompany cold fronts which typically last
for three days. Day one will be strong winds most of the day, but
getting lighter late in the day. Day two will start out moderately, but
will be very light by mid afternoon, and there will be no sailing or
possibly a light afternoon southerly wind on day three.
West winds are usually very unstable and occur very infrequently, but
when they do anything can happen. Hopefully, we will not see winds out
of the east.
There is no thermal or sea breeze, and the sailing conditions will be
dependant upon the local weather systems. Overall you should expect a
variety of conditions for the regatta.
|
|
