I lived in Beaufort for a couple of years. The swim is in the very shallow sound and won't be particularly cold. wetsuits sure, but not too cold. The bike course is mostly protected (i.e not through open salt marsh like IMMD) so probably not especially windy, though there are some fairly developed sections through Morehead City and Havelock. The run will be dead flat and likely not much crowd support aside from the section through "downtown" Beaufort. It's a very seasonal place so not much aside from locals around in early May. All that said, I'm definitely in for the 1/2 and looking forward to racing in a former home town.