The classic Gulf situation

The typical sea breeze that blows from 210°-220° and then veers right in the late afternoon. Very likely.

In this situation the start sits west of Castel dell'Ovo, with the gate and the two windward marks towards Capo Posillipo.

In early autumn, though, the temperature difference between land and sea is modest and the breeze is therefore light: the sea holds a high temperature, having stored all the summer heat, while the land is beginning to cool.

Worth underlining that this classic situation, typical of spring and summer, is the one that made the Gulf known worldwide as the Wind Stadium — a nickname consecrated during the highly successful 1960 Olympics and dear to Admiral Agostino Straulino.

Start

West of Castel dell'Ovo

Sea state

With a Libeccio you only find waves offshore: the racing area inshore is sheltered by the Posillipo hill.

An unusual situation for the Gulf

Wind from the south, the Mezzogiorno of the compass rose, exactly from 180°: rare not only for Naples but for the whole Tyrrhenian.

While the other courses assume prevailing winds — those that occur very frequently in a given place — here one of the Gulf's three rare situations has been planned for. The other two are the Levante, the easterly, which in Naples runs into Vesuvius, and the Tramontana from due north, 0°.

It will be far more likely for the wind to blow from Scirocco, SE, around 125°: a situation apparently not planned for.

The course places the start close to the waterfront, with the windward marks towards Capri and Sorrento.

Start

Close to the waterfront

Sea state

This is the situation where wave height is proportional to wind strength, and therefore the one most likely to find a moderate or rough sea.

Similar to course B, in the afternoon

Much like course B, which assumes wind from 220°, while here the wind is from 260°: almost a Ponente.

It too can occur with the sea breeze, after the classic clockwise shift, so in the afternoon. Often the wind has the direction of course B in the morning and this one later in the day.

Start

Course laid as in B, rotated west

Sea state

The course is laid out in a similar way and here too there will be little wave inshore.

The Grecale, typical of winter months

Another wind that is both prevailing and dominant in the Gulf — dominant meaning those that blow very hard in a given place.

It is however a situation typical of the winter months, unlikely to occur on a late-September afternoon.

The course would be rotated 180° with respect to B and D, with the start near the Posillipo hill and the windward gate close to Castel dell'Ovo.

Start

Near the Posillipo hill

Sea state

Depends on how hard it blows.