Gale force for coastal areas, between and . The definition is very non-standard. A common alternative definition of the maximum is . The most common way of measuring wind force is with the Beaufort scale which defines a gale as wind from to . It is an empirical measure for describing wind speed based mainly on observed sea conditions. On the original 1810 Beaufort wind force scale, there were four different "gale" designations whereas generally today there are two gale forces, 8 and 9, and a near gale 7: The word "gale" is derived from the older "gail", but its origin
Offshore wind power needed. Hywind is the world's first full-scale floating wind turbine, installed in the North Sea off Norway in 2009. Hywind Scotland, commissioned in October 2017, is the first operational floating wind farm, with a capacity of 30 MW. Other kinds of floating turbines have been deployed, and more projects are planned. Although the great majority of onshore and all large-scale offshore wind turbines currently installed are horizontal axis, vertical axis wind turbines have been proposed for use in offshore installations. Thanks to the installation offshore and their lower center of gravity, these turbines can in principle be built bigger than