Round the Island Race - Walking the Course part 2

Today navigator Mike Broughton takes us from the Needles to St Catherine's

Atherfield Ledge - Probably creates the greatest menace for yachts along the south west of the Island and has proved the graveyard for several ships over the years. Sticking out between Brightstone Bay and Chale Bay, it is easy to get attracted by gains close to the shore and over look Typet Ledge, The Mexon and The Bench that together form the worst of Atherfield Ledge and extend 500m offshore. Each year these rocks get a bashing on the Round the Island race day. Two years ago, while trading tacks close to a new Farr 40, a gain was to be had for the boat that ventured closest to the shore in the 12 knot SE wind. Just prior to the Ledge, we tacked off a little earlier than usual, while the Farr 40 continued inbound another four boat lengths on starboard tack. I was just starting to answer the question as to why we had wimped out early, when there was a huge bang. We turned around thinking our neighbour had broken her mast. The mast was intact, but the rudder was momentarily out of the water as her keel struck Typet Ledge stopping her dead from seven knots. She had already tacked, but got caught on her exit.

Monitor the opposition - Get the crew on the rail working for you whether it is looking for a particular mark, or keeping an eye on the opposition. Get one of the crew to take bearings of the opposition, with a hand bearing compass. Monitor boats on both sides of you and get the person taking the bearings to report just the relative trends, of whether you are gaining or losing. If you are losing out, do something about it - is the problem, weed, sail trim, tide, less wind, etc?

Chale Bay to St Catherine's Point - You can sail quite close to the shore past Blackgang Chine and onto Watershoot Bay, just short of the Point. There are several rocks in Watershoot Bay, though close in. Shag rock is the largest of these, though it is pretty obvious and close to the shore. It is here that the favourable eddy runs out and you hit the full brunt of the strong tidal stream running south of St Catherine's Point. It is usually here that the tacking/gybing action begins in earnest as you work to cheat the tide. If you are lucky enough to get here in favourable tide, aim for about 600m offshore, where the tide is very strong, but often kicks up a nasty sea.

Parts three and four of this series follow on madforsailing.com