Round the Island Race - Walking the Course Part 3

Mike Broughton's tactical and navigation advice on the course between St Cat's and Bembridge

Sandown Bay, in or out? - If in doubt, go out! Unless you can make it directly to Bembridge, my strong advice is to avoid the bay, due to the lighter winds. The high ground on each side of the bay, Nansen Hill at Dunnose (221m) on the south side and Culver Cliff with its day mark on top at the north end do a good job in reducing the wind in the bay itself.

Also westerly winds are slowed by the friction of the land and hills, prior to making it over the town of Shanklin. It is often shortly after Dunnose, that those boats going offshore and finding the new seabreeze have made big gains. The tide turns in a favourable direction off the SE part of the Island around 1415.

Always take a free ride! - Usually, there is a reach on one of the legs of the Hoya Round the Island Race. In windy conditions, there is almost always a free ride to be had on the quarter wave of a larger yacht. The gain can be huge in windy conditions for the smaller yacht and it is well worth sailing aggressively to manoeuvre to gain the free 'tow'. It is best to get in close, ie on the first of the quarter waves.

Wind shadow - In winds from the west or southwest, beware going too close to Bembridge Ledge. The wind shadow from Culver Cliff is significant, even in strong gradient winds (see the diagram). By just tracking a little further out to sea, there are big gains to be made when the wind is from the west. In easterly winds, the area can also experience light patches as the wind detaches from the sea to make it over the top of Culver Cliff.

Bembridge Ledge - Is well documented as a hazard and extends nearly half a mile offshore. Well known yachts, such as Barracuda of Tarrant and Admiral's Cup yachts are not the only ones to have come to grief on the Ledge, but also one of Her Majesty’s submarines, that ended up high and dry there in 1968 ( HMS Alliance, now at the Gosport museum). A common mistake has been to mis-identify West Princess as a buoy in poor visibility and turn to port.

Also watch out for Cole Rock due east of the Lifeboat House. Two years ago Nokia won her class by a large margin and made a big gain going close into Bembridge on the north east side, to make the most of the tidal eddy that starts around 1430 this year, while the stream out near Warner Shoal is still foul.