In Biscay, residual surface (10 m) currents on the shelf are predominantly due to salinity gradients coming from the river outflows and wind regimes. The model developed at IFREMER for the French shelf of Biscay is forced by real measurements of river outflow and wind. The model outputs for the period 1985-2000 allow for the typology of currents. Flow fields are no trivial objects: at each point of the model grid and each moment of the model output the data is made of a vector with particular direction and intensity; this vector is correlated in time with the vector at the same point occurring some time before and after; it is also correlated in space with vectors occurring in the vicinity of the point considered. At each point we considered the annual hodograph of the current, i.e. the annual vectorial sum of the current at the point. We constructed a particular distance between hodographs which represented a compromise between differences in orientation of the current as well as differences in its intensity. We performed a hierarchical classification of hodographs using this distance. Types of hodographs were then mapped geographically and differences between years quantified. A general flow towards the south was evidenced except in areas under the influence of the river outflows. Years could be classified using the flow field typology. The analysis could serve as a basis to incorporate indicators of the flow field in studies on recruitment variability to quantify the impact of larval drift.