Sea Breezes

Sea breezes are onshore winds created when temperature differences between land and water form pressure gradients, with warmer land creating lower pressure that draws in cooler air from the water. Understanding sea breezes gives sailors a strategic advantage in predicting wind shifts. There are four distinct types based on the morning's "synoptic gradient" wind:

1. the pure sea breeze (forms after calm periods when morning winds are directly offshore),

2. the corkscrew sea breeze (strongest type, forms with sideshore morning winds from W-NW and spirals down the coast),

3. the backdoor sea breeze (forms with difficulty when morning winds are from NE-E, with more variable behavior), and

4. the synoptic sea breeze (occurs when morning winds are already onshore).

Each type has predictable patterns of formation, strength, and directional shifts throughout the day that sailors can anticipate and use to their advantage on the racecourse.