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sailing around Britain, Why clockwise?
Hi, I've been invited to sail around Britain next summer with a mate,
however at the moment we are thinking of going anti clockwise, so as to sail into the wind (west) for the shortest period of time. The north coast is significantly shorter than the south and there are many more marinas on the south coast to bolt into should the weather turn, so we think this sounds reasonable. The rest of the UK sailing population obviously thinks differently, which has lead me to ask you good fellows to share this knowledge. As we see it the east and west coasts will be much the same or am I missing something?... Do tell... |
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#2
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jimmy bittlestone wrote:
Hi, I've been invited to sail around Britain next summer with a mate, however at the moment we are thinking of going anti clockwise, so as to sail into the wind (west) for the shortest period of time. The north coast is significantly shorter than the south and there are many more marinas on the south coast to bolt into should the weather turn, so we think this sounds reasonable. The rest of the UK sailing population obviously thinks differently, which has lead me to ask you good fellows to share this knowledge. As we see it the east and west coasts will be much the same or am I missing something?... Do tell... It is essentially a matter of luck. But if you are missing anything, it is the fact that summer weather can often contain a lot of northwesterly and that makes a passage up the east coast a flog all the way. But the weather seems to be changing. I don't think you can rely on the prevailing wind being southwesterly as you once could. If I were doing it, I'd be reading the weather charts for a week or so before leaving, look for the trends, and not decide which way to go till I dropped the lines. That approach would at least give me an easy first five days for which the forecasts are generally reliable. After that, it's luck. |
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#3
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#4
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"Len" wrote in message news:1096871533.DnSMUe9HirvlrEDzq1/vpg@teranews... On 3 Oct 2004 11:41:02 -0700, (jimmy bittlestone) wrote: ---------------snip The rest of the UK sailing population obviously thinks differently, which has lead me to ask you good fellows to share this knowledge. As we see it the east and west coasts will be much the same or am I missing something?... Do tell... Just my 2 cents worth... have you looked into the almanacs to find out if south current is as strong as north current on the west coast? Luck, Len S/v Present Go clockwise!! Here's why:- Starting at Land's End (in the far SW):- 1 The tides in the Irish Sea are basically circular, going N nearer Ireland, then S along Welsh coast, with N-going being best. (Sorry, I don't know about the West coast of Ireland). 2 The Gulf Stream goes clockwise round Scotland and down the North Sea - quite weak, but it's there. 3 In the West, the prevailing winds are SW at all times of year. However, NW to NE winds are very frequent in the North Sea. 4 The South-flowing tide around North Foreland (in the far SE) flows much longer than North-flowing tide. 5 The English Channel is likely to be pig, whatever, because the prevailing wind is SW, but there are loads of places to go to, so you can always wait for a wind. If you can do long passages, go South of the Isle of Wight, as the W exit of the Solent is not easy, and it is horrendously busy there. Sailing anti-clockwise is for masochists! Christine from England - who would love to do the trip one day! |
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#5
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Sailing anti-clockwise is for masochists!
I'm no masochist but did have a very good trip anticlockwise round Britain, up N Sea and down the west of Ireland. There was a real advantage on the East coast. The tides are say 1 hour later each day, but as we travelled north the HW times are earlier! Therefore these two cancelled out. We left each port/river at a comfortable time each morning, sailed with the tide, arrived at the next river in time to catch the full flood up the river, anchor for a pint and down the river to stay the night. It worked a treat. There is another peculiarity off the NE coast. It is possible to catch a contrary tide inshore during the flood (south) and the use the ebb in your favour i.e. you always have the current with you. We had good weather, SW wind was no problem on the east coast but a real benefit Ireland back to the south coast (Poole) Give a try and good luck! -- Regards, |
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