Sailing site investigation through CFD modelling of micrometeorology

Abstract

To have a prior accurate knowledge of the local wind currents on a water body is of crucial importance for the performance of the sailing team. In the recent years, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has proven itself a powerful tool in atmospheric modelling. By solving the Navier-Stokes equations and with correct description of the atmospheric boundary layer and turbulence at the domain boundaries, the local influences of the shore topography and the obstacles on the wind flows can be investigated in detail. Two examples of the use of CFD (Fluidyn PANWIND software) are presented here. The first one shows the coastal wind analysis of 2012 Olympic sailing site of Weymouth, UK. The local wind effects due to the harbour and hill have been determined and compared to observations of wind velocity and direction for several wind conditions.The second example required to model the wind over the training base of the French Sailing Teamin Brest, France. This landlocked bay, surrounded by two steep hills and linked to the Atlantic Ocean by a strait, emphasizes the need for a CFD simulation of the wind which provided the patterns of wind around the racing areacompared with empirical observations.