Design Categories - BENETEAU OCEANIS 45 Owner's Manual

2.3

DESIGN CATEGORIES

Category A: At high sea
The boat is designed to sail in winds that may exceed Beaufort force 8 and in waves of a significant height of 4 metres and more.
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
The boat is designed to sail in winds not exceeding Beaufort force 8 and in corresponding seas (waves of a significant height of less than or equal to 4 metres).
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
The boat is designed to sail in winds not exceeding Beaufort force 6 and in corresponding seas (waves of a significant height of less than or equal to 2 metres). You may meet
with such conditions in exposed inland waters, in estuaries and in coastal waters with moderate weather conditions.
Category D: In sheltered waters
The boat is designed to sail in winds that may exceed Beaufort force 4 and in waves of a significant height of 0,5 metres and more.
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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Design categories and displacement