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True wind

Forum - Electronic Navigation and Communications - True wind
Module Content - Sea Talks1
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Student
Donald Collie
Canterbury, Victoria, Australia
Crew Level 0
Status: Sailor
Qualified days: 0
True wind
Posted 2019, Nov 24 23:04
"True Wind is the wind experienced by a person or object when stationary relative to the surface of the water. If you stop your boat for lunch and float with the tide, the wind you will feel is the true wind. " I am having trouble with this. If you stop the boat and float with tide or current running at say 5 knots to the south and wind at 5 knots from the north, your boat will float at 5 knots southward and according to the definition above, the "true wind" will be zero, when it is in fact 5 knots from the north. Have I missed something?
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Student
Hichem Essaafi
Chamb, Switzerland
Crew Level 0
Status: Sailor
Qualified days: 0
Reply 2020, Nov 20 14:05
Hi, No, I believe you are correct, and in your example: Ground Wind (as explained in the module) = 5 knots from the North True Wind = 0, the Ground wind has been negated by the current. I had some problems myself with this. But I am starting to get to grips with the model.
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Student
Cheryl GreatHouse
portland, OR, USA
Skipper Level III
Status: Big Time Sailor
Qualified days: 90
Reply 2023, Nov 08 09:49
I also find it a bit confusing.
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Student
Hichem Essaafi
Chamb, Switzerland
Crew Level 0
Status: Sailor
Qualified days: 0
Reply 2023, Nov 08 15:19
I believe that "normally" the wind generated by the current should also belong to the Apparent Wind family. It's just that there is no way to assess it using electronic navigation tools, so it is probably a good "electronic" compromise to consider it as a component making up the true wind, which is basically the value you get when the speedometer wheel is not spinning (what Donald refers to when he says "floating with the tide"). But I still find it strange: if I am at anchor, and the current is flowing, my speedo wheel would be spinning, so I would read an apparent wind... ??!!
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