It's always blowing 20 the day before or the day after a regatta over here. It's blowing 20+ right now! They just had a distance race out of Tampa Bay last Saturday, it blew 25+, the guys who won the Tybee 500 won the race on an Inter 20, but no F16's entered. Story on www.1design.net under Macho Man Stories if you are interested, but your point is well taken, the "average wind" (if there is such a thing) in the whole of the US is only 8 knots. It blows harder up north and lighter in Florida and California. I don't think it ever actually blows 8, just 2 or 26, which might average out to 8.