Quick answer: Under World Sailing Race Management Policy, races will not be started in an average wind speed above 25 knots, measured over a 5-minute period. Once a race is underway there is no automatic wind threshold for abandonment. From that point the Race Officer judges by safety and fair racing.
You're on the committee boat. The forecast promised 15 knots. What's actually out there is nudging 28 and gusting harder. The fleet is rigged, ready, and watching you.
Start, postpone, or abandon?
It's one of the heaviest calls a Race Officer makes, and it isn't really about a single number. It's about what that number means in the conditions in front of you.
The Official Wind Limit: What World Sailing Says
Under World Sailing Race Management Policy, a race will not be started in an average wind above 25 knots, taken over a 5-minute period.
That 25 is the baseline, not the whole story. Then the exceptions start. The foiling classes get a longer leash; iQFOiL and Formula Kite race on up to 30. The skiffs go the other way, and on a 49er or 49er FX you'll often shave a knot or two off, more like five when the sea's up and the gusts turn vicious. Youth and junior fleets tend to sit tighter still. That one gets set locally, by the national authority, and it lives in the Sailing Instructions rather than your memory, so read them before you leave the dock.
New to race management? The 25-knot limit governs the start. Once racing has begun, nothing trips automatically. Abandonment becomes a judgment call built on safety and fairness.
It's Not Just the Number, It's the Context
Ask any experienced Race Officer. Twenty-five knots on flat water in a steady breeze is one race. Twenty knots over three-metre swell with the wind snapping around is a different animal entirely. The rule hands you a ceiling, not a manual.
So walk yourself through it before you commit. Is the breeze genuinely steady, or is that tidy 15-knot average sitting on top of 25-knot gusts? Think about the sea, too. Steep chop under a shifting breeze will punish a fleet that the same wind speed over clean offshore water wouldn't trouble at all. And think about who's racing, because a 470 fleet behaves nothing like a Laser Radial fleet, never mind an offshore keelboat. Can the tail of the fleet cope, or only your front runners? Have you even got the boats out there to run this safely: patrol, marks, finish?
If any of that gives you pause, hold off. You can always start late. You can't un-sink a boat.
How to Measure Wind Speed Correctly Before the Start
This is where committees quietly cut corners, and it costs them. One number off a masthead unit on the committee boat won't cut it. The boat's rocking, the mast sits high, the shoreline bends the air. All of it nudges the figure.
So build a little routine instead. Take a run of readings, one a minute, from about forty minutes out. Walk the boat down the line while you're at it, because the pin end and the signal boat rarely read the same. Hold the anemometer out at arm's length, or raise it on a monopod above deck level, clear of the boat's own windbreak. And average over the full five minutes, not a snapshot. One peak gust doesn't postpone a race. A sustained average does.
One practical note: a 360 degree cup-style anemometer beats a traditional vane type on a committee boat, because you don't have to aim it into the wind to get a reading. On a moving boat in a shifting breeze, that matters. We use the Windie 360: raise it on a monopod above deck height, read it, log it.
The same readings feed your line: setting a square line from the mean wind direction.
The Decision: Start, Postpone, or Abandon?
Before the start:
- Wind below limit, steady: start as planned.
- Wind near the limit and building: postpone, wait 15 to 20 minutes, reassess.
- Wind above 25 knots average: AP flag, postpone.
- Wind above the limit with a worsening forecast: consider calling the day.
- Wind wildly gusty even if the average is low: postpone until it settles.
After the start: the committee cannot abandon a race simply because the wind climbs past the pre-start limit once racing has begun. The question changes to: can we still manage this race safely? Abandon (flag N, or flag N over H, three sounds) when conditions have turned unsafe, the course is blown out and unfair, or the mark boats can no longer hold position.
What Happens to Races You Abandon?
Under Rule 32.1, a race abandoned after the start doesn't count. It can be re-sailed later in the series, but only if the Sailing Instructions allow it and the schedule has room. That's exactly why starting in marginal conditions you then abandon mid-race is so costly. Better to postpone early and start clean.
Document Everything
Whatever you decide, write it down. Time of each reading, average wind speed, sea-state notes, the flag sequence, and the reasoning behind the call. If a protest lands, your notes are the record. A good Race Officer ends the day knowing every decision was defensible, not by feel but by data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What wind speed is too high to start a sailing race?
World Sailing Race Management Policy caps the start at an average of 25 knots over a 5-minute period. Some classes differ: iQFOiL and Formula Kite allow up to 30 knots, while 49er and 49er FX fleets typically use a lower limit in heavy seas.
What happens if wind increases after a race has started?
Once racing is underway there's no automatic wind threshold forcing abandonment. The Race Officer judges whether conditions have become unsafe or the course is no longer fair. Abandonment is signalled with flag N (three sounds), or flag N over H.
What is the difference between postponing and abandoning a sailing race?
Postponement (AP flag) delays a start that hasn't happened yet; the race is started later. Abandonment (flag N) cancels a race already begun. Under Rule 32.1 an abandoned race doesn't count and may be re-sailed if the Sailing Instructions allow.
How should a Race Officer measure wind speed before a race?
Best practice is a reading every minute for 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled start, using a handheld anemometer at arm's length or on a monopod above deck, taken from several positions along the line and averaged over five minutes.
What flag does a Race Officer use to postpone a race due to wind?
The Answering Pennant (AP flag), flown with two sound signals. When a start becomes possible, AP comes down with one long sound and the sequence begins.