Thar she blows...

Towards the start of the 19th century, Sir Francis Beaufort of the British Royal Navy devised a scale of wind force. Had he been an agility competitor, it might have been called the Bowfort Agility Wind Scale and looked something like this.


Cartoon: Kim Blundell

 0. Calm - No breeze at all. 30 degrees on the course and not a breath of air... but it doesn't stop the collies.

 1. Light Air - Direction of wind shown by smoke drifting from someone else's BBQ. You will find your dog there.

 2. Light Breeze - The aroma from the burger van lures your dog out of the ring.

 3. Gentle Breeze - Fumes from the rubbish skip start to overcome these camped down wind.

 4. Moderate Breeze - Dust is raised and blows loose paper across the ring and scares your dog.

 5. Fresh Breeze - Lee Windeatt signs into The Agility Forum.

 6. Strong Breeze - Jump poles and wings fall down like dominoes. Whistling heard in the tannoy system.

 7. Near Gale - Small dogs may be launched into space from the seesaw. Dogs have been known to be blown onto the contact points.

 8. Gale - Wind is difficult to run against - another reason why you did not go clear.

 9. Severe Gale - Slight structural damage may be done to the score tent, scattering tables and chairs and score sheets around the showground.

10. Storm - Considerable structural damage, flattening the Show Secretary's marquee and possibly the Show Secretary, too.

11. Violent Storm - Shows may be cancelled. Very rarely experienced.

12. Hurricane - Caravans may be blown into the sky and land somewhere over the rainbow... somewhere like Kansas!

Do feel free to add your own storm force examples. Email them to Agilitynet

Thanks to Sue White for permission to use the Whirlwind AC logo and to Lee Windeatt for his good humour

Adapted from an original idea from John Leslie.

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