I posted this in the "Ask All Sailors" forum but got no anwser. Anyone here have some thoughts? How accurate are wind instruments? We just finished a charter in the Apostles. On a very windy day the meter read consistantly between 40-50k with gusts pegging the needle at 60+. We were in a Tartan 33, with double reefed main until the wind persisted above 40k. Then we motored. Waves in the open areas were about 5 feet, mild breaking. Were we really in gale force winds or are these instruments not that trustworthy? Last year we were on a CandC 30 and sailed for 4 hours in winds 40-45k gusting to 55. We flew the jib only and it worked fine on all points of sail, though a bit scarry on the short close reach segment of the trip. Were we really in gale force winds? We never felt out of control with the CandC. We felt very out of control with the Tartan; thus we doused the sail. How accurate are these instruments? How are they calibrated. (Our own boat is a Hunter 23; not good above 20k.)