BENETEAU OCEANIS 50 NEW Owner's Manual page 14

Category A: At high sea
This craft is designed to operate in winds that may exceed wind force 8
(Beaufort scale) and in significant wave heights of 4 m and above.
This craft is largely self-sufficient. Abnormal conditions such as
hurricanes are excluded.
Such conditions may be encountered on extended voyages, for
example across oceans, or inshore when unsheltered from the wind
and waves for several hundred nautical miles.
Category B: In open sea
This craft is designed to operate in winds up to Beaufort force 8 and the
associated wave heights (significant wave height up to 4 m, see Note 1
below).
Such conditions may be encountered on offshore voyages of sufficient
length, or on coastal waters when unsheltered from the wind and waves
for several dozens of nautical miles.
These conditions may also be experienced on inland seas of sufficient
size for the wave height to be generated.
Category C: Near to the coast
This craft is designed to operate in winds up to Beaufort force 6 and the
associated wave heights (significant wave height up to 2 m, see Note 1
below). You may meet with such conditions in exposed inland waters,
in estuaries and in coastal waters with moderate weather conditions.
General specifications
Category D: In sheltered waters
This craft is designed to operate in winds up to Beaufort force 4 and the
associated wave heights (occasional maximum waves of 0,5 m height).
Such conditions may be encountered in sheltered inland waters, and in
coastal waters in fine weather.
NOTE:
- The significant wave height is the mean height of the highest one-
third of the waves, which approximately corresponds to the wave height
estimated by an experienced observer. Some waves will be double this
height.
- The creation of different design categories results from the need to
distinguish between different levels of risk according to the construction
of the boats.
The parameters for the characteristics are established to define the
conditions of navigation which each category may encounter; they
serve purely to evaluate the boat designs and are not to be used to limit
the geographical areas in which these boats may operate..
- One boat may be classed in several design categories at the same
time, each with their different maximum capabilities.
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