In a message dated 9/16/04 4:01:30 AM, Bob asks: << Does anyone know what the actual force is on various boats in hurricane force winds? How much does the force differ when the wind is on the bow, abeam, etc? I have seen 60 knot winds on berthed sailboats abeam; the boats were heeled over perhaps 10 degrees.I might add that it was difficult to walk on the docks. I am sure it is possible to calculate these forces, but, has anyone actually measured them? Is the force of the wind a cubic function of the velocity? For example, if the wind velocity increases 2 times, does the force go up eight times? >> Wind drag on a boat is a function of the projected area at right angles to the wind, the square of the wind speed, the density of the air, and the dimensionless coefficient of drag which depends on the shape of the boat. Drag coefficients have been determined from wind tunnel tests. Some representative drag coefficients are: Open parachute (or efficient spinnaker) = 2.0 Hollow hemisphere, concave to wind = 1.7 Flat rectangular plate = 1.28 Wires, cylinders, masts = 1.0 Cargo ship, wind dead ahead = .95 Fishing trawler, wind dead ahead = .9 to 1.05, depending on superstructure, outriggers, etc. Streamlined passenger vessel = .70 Recreational trawler = .70 to 1.2, depending on superstructure, masts, outriggers, etc. Sphere = .47 Hollow hemisphere, convex to wind = .38 Modern automobile = .26 to .35 Airplane = .09 Using Area in sq. ft., wind Velocity in knots, and the U.S. Standard Atmosphere for air density, the equation for Drag in lbs. can be written as: Drag = .00339 x Coefficient of Drag x Knots^2 x Area In a 20 kt. wind, a boat with an area of 100 sq. ft. at right angles to the wind with a drag coefficient of 1.0 will have 135.6 lbs. of wind pressure on its surface. The drag goes up as the square of the wind velocity. A conservative way to estimate frontal area is to multiply the beam by the height of the superstructure. An even simpler way is to multiply the beam by 3/4 of the beam. By this calculation, my Willard has about 100 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 40 has 160 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 47 has about 195 sq. ft. of area. A Nordhavn 72 has 330 sq.ft. of area. For each 100 sq. feet of area: 20 Kts = 136 Lbs. 40 Kts = 542 Lbs. 60 Kts = 1220 Lbs. 80 Kts = 2170 Lbs. 100 Kts = 3990 Lbs. 120 Kts = 4882 Lbs. 140 Kts = 6644 Lbs. 160 Kts = 8678 Lbs 180 Kts = 10984 Lbs. The answers to your specific questions are: The force is much greater on the beam than on the bow because of the greater area exposed to the wind. Wind forces have been measured innumerable times in wind tunnels and in actual hurricane conditions. That's how the coefficients of drag were determined. The results correspond to the figures I have given. The force increases as the square of the wind velocity. Larry Z