Wind, sea and art: why this house is called Beaufort

Beaufort is first and foremost the wind. Francis Beaufort, an Irish hydrographer in the Royal Navy, set down in 1805 the scale sailors still use to measure the wind: from 0, calm, to 12, hurricane. On the Westende coast you feel that scale every day. Force 3 is a gentle breeze on the terrace; force 8 is the moment to sit inside at the bar while it rages outside. A bracing walk on the beach, warming up in the house: that is Beaufort.

Beaufort is also art. Since 2003 the Beaufort Triennial has been held every three years, an exhibition of contemporary art along the entire Belgian coast, from De Panne to Knokke-Heist. After each edition some works stay, and so the Beaufort Sculpture Park has grown to more than fifty artworks along 67 kilometres of coast. From the promenade in Westende and Middelkerke you can walk past a few of them: Caterpillar 5bis by Wim Delvoye on the Middelkerke promenade, Olnetop by Nick Ervinck and I can hear it by Ivars Drulle on Westende beach. The ninth edition, Beaufort27, runs from 22 March to 7 November 2027: stay in the house then and the exhibition is right on your doorstep.

In the house the two stories come together: coastal photography and nods to the triennial’s artworks on the walls, and a bar that’s a fine place to sit when it’s force 9 outside. The name says what we stand for: wind, sea and the art of being together.