Round The Island - without the other 1,778 yachts

The annual "Round The Island" race, Isle of Wight that is, was held on 20 June this year, see link: http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk/web/code/php/main_c.php?map=rir09&ui=rir2&style=std&override=&section=home&page=home

I have had an ambition since I acquired Misty to sail her round the course non-stop solo which in straight lines in just over 50nm. Having previously sailed round in a smaller boat but overnighting in Keyhaven and Bembridge which split the route into 3 more manageable legs, I hoped that Misty could do it in one. The route is shown below:

To sail round the island in one go you need at least 12 hours daylight, reasonable weather, fairly strong winds and favourable tides. The tides are more vital than the wind in a small sailboat - West-going down the Solent and through Hurst Narrows turning to East-going round the South of the Island then back to West-going as you re-enter the Solent from the East. Not much to ask really.

I have had the boat ready for some time and earlier this week a "window of opportunity" presented itself so at 0700 on Monday I left the pontoon and motored out of the Hamble against the flood tide which was on the nose until Calshot Spit. I didn't keep a log so the times are taken from the photograph time stamps. 0745 - Hamble Point buoy and up with the sails with a good wind from the West for a beat down towards Cowes. The first hazard can just be seen coming up the Solent: A supertanker turning round the red buoy and up into Southampton Water forced me further East than I really wanted to go. I'll take the bow and pull - whilst you take the stern and hang on. The next leg was particularly tedious. Although the tidal stream was favourable the strong flow into a Westerly Force 4 created an uncomfortable chop across which I had to tack too many times to relate and for about 3 hours in order to reach the Hurst Narrows.

1047 - Met this Severn Class Lifeboat entering the Solent: When I looked it up I expected it to be the Yarmouth boat but no, 17-02 is "The Will", a relief lifeboat whatever that means, presumably some sort of reserve vessel. 1048 - Meanwhile on the port side I was passing Fort Albert, still tacking close inshore but now free of the Solent. 1128 - Closing on Alum Bay which is a short distance from the Needles. Look closely and you can see the chair lift which takes holidaymakers down the cliff to the beach and back up. The geology of the Island is fascinating, just look at the different colours in the rock strata. 1141 - On the final starboard tack to round the Needles still with a Westerly Force 3-4, ideal. 1145 - Needles rounded, although the tide hasn't changed yet I'm now making good progress at about 4kts on a broad reach towards St Catherine's Point, a run of about 13nm. 1226 - Looking back, no turning round now; enjoy the ride, look at the wake! 1436 - St Catherine's Point Lighthouse, Southernmost tip of the Island. The tide had now turned to help all the way up the East coast back to the Solent and I saw 5.5kts over the ground on the GPS. At the end of this post there is short movie clip of the approach to St Catherine's. Although you can pass very close to the point there is huge amount of turbulence as the tide rushes past the headland so I kept about a mile offshore. Since the tide was now with the wind (force 5) and had not yet gathered full speed the chop was not too bad. Actually the wind had now backed to a good old Southwesterly so it was a case of easing the sheets for a 5nm run up towards Ventnor.

1518 - Ventnor. There is new small harbour called Ventnor Haven which would have been a possible bolt-hole should conditions have turned nasty. They didn't so left hand down a bit and onwards past Sandown Bay towards Foreland and Bembridge.

1546 - This is the small town of Shanklin at the Southern end of the bay.

1635 - Whitecliff Bay just North of Sandown Bay. I saw this from the opposite direction in a recent sail.

1701 - The Bembridge lifeboat station again, still Work In Progress. It looks as though they are constructing a deepwater pontoon at the end of the jetty to replace the slipway.

1708 - Approaching Bembridge with St Helens Fort on the right.

1808 - Back in the Solent off Ryde but didn't expect a royal reception - this is the "Queen Mary 2" outbound.

1842 - Here's another! This is the Cunard's latest, "Queen Victoria" also on her way out of the Solent.

The last leg was against a force 4-5 with the tide also from the West until 1935 and so it took what seemed like ages after the previous down and cross-wind legs of the journey. I resisted the temptation to start the outboard until back in Southampton Water when I gave in to sheer boredom and falling darkness at about 2030. Returning up the Hamble River in the dark was and interesting experience. The channel is very well marked and lit but there is so much superfluous light from the shore, marinas and other moored yachts that I would not have liked to try it in the dark for the first time.

Slept well at the pontoon that night then spent the next couple of days gently day-sailing from an anchorage at Priory Bay near Bembridge. Here is the promised move clip from St Catherine's Point:

Reviewing the trip, the plan more or less worked out, the wind at force 4-5, occasionally 6 was a bit more than forecast but I never felt threatened and Misty behaved impeccably. She doesn't self-steer very well and so it was a bit of an endurance test but well worth the feeling of freedom once out into the Channel South of the Island. I did not meet a single other yacht en-route.

Looking at this year's Round The Island race results the cruising yachts returned times of 10 to 12 hours between the start and finish off Cowes. The Contessas always do well in their class but second was a 22'7" Hunter Sonata completing the course in 10hrs 30mins. Although Misty didn't strictly cross the line her time would have been well under 12 hours so she did pretty well considering she is only 17'3", has no spinnaker and has bilge keels. She could probably give a good account of herself in the right conditions with a crew of 2 and full outfit of sails but the race times vary considerably from year to year as the weather dictates. This year's times were fairly poor so not a very good benchmark. One of the big problems, and which I experienced, is that if you make good times on the legs round to Bembridge the tide will not have turned and will be from dead ahead on the final leg up the Solent back to Cowes.