What to know about sea breezes

In this report for Yachting World, Simon Rowell explains everything you need to know about the development of sea breezes:

Sea breezes are the sailor’s savior on hot, still summer days when the country is sitting under an enormous high pressure system with very little overall pressure gradient.

As the sun’s energy reaches the surface it’s absorbed by both sea and land, but because the land is solid this energy only reaches the top meter or so (depending on the exact nature of the surface) and therefore the land warms more than the sea (we’ve all had “Ow, ow, ow!” moments running across the beach).

During the morning the land will heat up – a rise of about 3-4°C more than sea surface temperature is sufficient to get it going – and by mid-morning the air above the land will have started to warm up and expand. – Full report