How do Sea Breeze Convergences Work?

Sea Breeze Convergences are one the most fun ways to fly hundreds of kilometres around New Zealand, and many other soaring sites around the world. We explain how they form, what to look for to find them, how they flow around the terrain, and show where to fly under them.
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00:00 What are convergences?
00:37 How a Sea Breeze Works
02:05 How they sneak inland
03:35 Flying the Sea Breezes
08:27 Puretrack.io
08:46 Why I love convergences

[@hedonzx822]

Thanks Tim for taking us with You; great teaching by a good instruct😊r

[@PureGlide]

Thanks for watching! Glad you're enjoying the videos

[@Will-ui7dv]

Super useful to have this visualised and explained with examples. I've always heard it talked about at the club but it hasn't really stuck in my head!

[@PureGlide]

Great to hear!

[@Gianky640220]

Nice complement to the Convergences video!

[@PureGlide]

Thanks!

[@user-ow6tt1xz2m]

Thank you for that. Flying at German Northseacost, we have lot of see breeze too. No, I understood in detail and where to look at the convergence. LG

[@PureGlide]

You are welcome!

[@sloboniface]

Very interesting - thanks. However, I was just starting to eat my lunch when you were talking about Dags! 😂

[@PureGlide]

Just be pleased I showed the wrong end of the sheep

[@comeflywithlee433]

Great video and a great way to learn whilst watching you fly it while talking about it.

[@PureGlide]

Thanks for the feedback

[@jstjern1]

Brilliant! Just reading vol.2 by G Dale. This video is the perfect complement. Or the other way around. Excellent footage and narrative

[@PureGlide]

Wow, thank you! Actually I should have read it first to make sure I covered everything haha

[@adrianflower3230]

Beautiful time lapse and very helpful descriptions, thanks for sharing 👍👍

[@PureGlide]

Thanks Adrian

[@soaruk3697]

Used extensively in the UK for long distance cross country flights - surprising how far they penetrate inland sometimes.........

[@rederos8079]

Right, apparently I've flown in some quite strong convergence without realizing it was convergence

[@PureGlide]

I flew right through it once without knowing what it was. Couldn't find any thermals on the other side and landed out... got my 50km badge though!

[@rederos8079]

@@PureGlide Nice! I'm yet to get it, wasn't brave enough to try it with an K-8b that day :D

[@johnmclaughlin1377]

"We've got coasts on every side of the island" :)

[@PureGlide]

lol I'm so stupid

[@charlieirvin5898]

finally a convergence video!!!!!

[@PureGlide]

Finally :)

[@janschatteman3873]

An island with coasts on all sides?? Unheard of! 🤣 Irony aside, great post!

[@PureGlide]

lol thanks!

[@KestrelYI]

This was an excellent lesson. Thank you very much for making this video.

[@PureGlide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@SpeedBlake]

i was flying out at whenuapai on saturday and a great sea breeze convergence came right over the field, ended up having to change runways but it gave great lift

[@PureGlide]

Awesome :)

[@HighOnYouDroneBoy]

Another great informative video! Thanks! :)

[@PureGlide]

Thanks, cheers!

[@stumackenzie8492]

Another fantastic vid Tim !. Thanks so much !

[@PureGlide]

Very welcome

[@Flying2ZC]

Purchased a car that had DAG as its last three letters and blissfully ignorant to it until I met up with a Kiwi diver :-( who set me straight. never felt the same about that car!!!! Great article it was very useful. we get plenty of seabreeze on the coast.

[@stumackenzie8492]

HAA ha ha …. What a bugger

[@PureGlide]

Haha

[@GC987]

Great diagrams & graphics - Kudos !

[@PureGlide]

Thanks Graeme!

[@gregcorbett3289]

Great video. Read a bit about them and seen a few diagrams, but it's a completely different thing to see it visualised like that. Haven't flown along one since moving to a club near the coast so that's the goal for this season

[@PureGlide]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Mikinct]

Have you glided any other places besides NZ, if so where? What place would be on your bucket list of places to try & glide next?

[@PureGlide]

Hi yeah done some flying in Australia, but not since starting the KZbin channel sadly!

[@PureGlide]

Would love to fly in Europe at some stage, and the US

[@Mikinct]

@PureGlide any particular areas in Europe or what locations on the US? With the right wave you can cross the Atlantic. Might also need a Perlman Glider as well. Lol

[@Paul-vh6ul]

Interesting that Dags indicate convergence. I'm looking forward to your discussion of convergence that is not caused by sea breeze.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah the dags only happen when one side has much moister air than the other. Cheers!

[@peterusher1964]

Great videos ! I love 'em. General question : The scenery for New Zealand has been upgraded in MSFS, plus we've got gliders now ! Can you include in you description the name and ident of the airfields you fly from please.

[@PureGlide]

Yeah good idea, sure thing! Just ask the question on any videos if you want to know. This particular video I flew from Taupo, out to the west coast of NZ. Also check the flight track, I normally put that in the description

[@TijsVsN]

Hello there! Ever heard of dune running (hellingvliegen/hellingen in dutch)? It is a way to stay in the air for ours with no more than 150 meters! Might be interesting for you.

[@PureGlide]

I may have dabbled :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6W7oGV-mK6Xnbc

[@TijsVsN]

@@PureGlide That are some large dunes!

[@Johan-ex5yj]

Absolutely brilliant explanation, thanks Tim! 😃👍 With the sea breeze front usually not a straight line, it would probably be impossible to find and stay in it on a blue day, when there are no clouds to guide you?

[@PureGlide]

Sometimes it is in a straight-ish line, depends a bit how high above the terrain the cold air is. But yes if you can't see it, it'll be very difficult to use it! You can't really judge how far it has pushed inland without some sign. Usually with the moist ocean air there will be something to see.

[@Johan-ex5yj]

@@PureGlide In the absence of cloud indicators your Hawk may be able to help find the change in wind direction, which marks the position of the front.

[@christopherbernhardt]

Hey I saw the tow upset video but I'd figure you'd reply here more likely. Why not tow with the air brakes engaged? Not a lot, but if you have adjustable breaks - at the lowest notch. That way the rope is always pulling you straight behind the aerotow?

[@PureGlide]

Yeah you can use the brakes while being towed if needed. That would increase your drag, reduce your lift, and keep you from climbing above the tow plane. We use it sometimes on long x-country tows when we aren't climbing. If we're towing to climb, you'd avoid the airbrakes. Cheers!

[@Jim181059]

Do you need to take more care than usual with lookout? May be a higher risk of someone coming the other way, and in a straight line, than normal?

[@PureGlide]

Yeah absolutely! It's a bit like flying close to a ridge, you never know what's around the corner.

[@Mike-01234]

I was wondering if it's typical of glider owners to put their glider back in the trailer after each flight and rig it again when want to fly again. How long does it take to setup a glider from being stored in a trailer? I ask because we have a commercial glider business it's an hour away if I were to buy a glider and get my license, I would have to store it in the trailer. I'm referring to a single place glider I know a two place takes two people the wings are heavier and longer.

[@PureGlide]

I don't have a hangar at the moment, so bring it out for a contest or a weekend. I have outdoor covers I put on to store it overnight. It takes about an hour to rig and set up to fly, and half an hour to de-rig.

[@genec9560]

Curious, are there VFR Cloud separations concerns?

[@PureGlide]

Sure are, I made a video about it here kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaHao5evq8-saa8