Design Categories - Bella 500 BR Owner's Manual

20. Design categories

Design categories are as follows:
Category A
: This craft is designed to be used in conditions in which wind forces may exceed 8
on the Beaufort scale (ca. 21 m/s) and waves may be 4 m high. In these conditions, category A
vessels are largely self-sufficient. Abnormal conditions such as hurricanes are excluded. The
conditions described may be encountered on extended voyages, for example across oceans, or on
coastal waters for several hundred nautical miles.
Category B
: This craft is designed to be used in conditions in which wind forces are up to 8 on
the Beaufort scale (ca. 21 m/s) and waves may be up to 4 m high (see note below). Such
conditions may be encountered on offshore voyages of sufficient length or on coastal waters, for
several dozens of nautical miles. These conditions may also occur on lakes of sufficient size for 4 m
waves to be created.
Category C
: This craft is designed to be used in conditions in which wind forces are up to 6 on
the Beaufort scale (ca. 14 m/s) and waves may be up to 2 m high (see note below). Such
conditions may be encountered on open lakes, in river deltas, and in coastal waters in moderate
weather conditions.
Category D
: This craft is designed to be used in conditions in which wind forces are up to 4 on
the Beaufort scale (ca. 8 m/s) and waves may be up to 0.3 m high (or occasional bigger waves of
0.5 m). Such conditions may be encountered on sheltered lakes and in coastal waters in fine weather.
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 may be double this height.
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CAUTION!