1st Channel Crossing as Skipper

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woody001

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Hi,

Bank Holiday weekend i will be "racing" to cherbourg! First time with CRCC which should be cool.

I will be skipper this time, for the first time x channel.

Do any of you have any tips? Whats the best passage plan?
How can i make this passage as quick as possible?
We will be leaving at 6am by chimet/west pole (chichester habour)
I will be leaving at 6am on friday 27th.

Kind Regards as always!

simon
 
good effiort at getting other forumites to do some nav for you by giving us the time of departure, date and intended destination - i'm sure you'll be a fabulous success as skipper! Your only mistake was that we have to guess it's saturday.

Leave early, arrive early is the best plan.
 
[ QUOTE ]
good effiort at getting other forumites to do some nav for you by giving us the time of departure, date and intended destination - i'm sure you'll be a fabulous success as skipper! Your only mistake was that we have to guess it's saturday.

Leave early, arrive early is the best plan.

[/ QUOTE ]

" Outside Assistance" ?????? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
not Cricket is it /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
If the departure point and time are fixed then there are very few choices left. What speed do you expect to average?

Most of us reckon on a 12 hour crossing - which means that the tides cancel themselves out over the course of the crossing so the course to steer is the same as the bearing of cherbourg from the point of departure. Hold that course until 2-3 hours out of Cherbourg then adjust if necessary (depends a bit on wind direction).

Don't get caught downwind and downtide of Cherbourg - it can be very depressing /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Hi Simon
You'vr probably been across before. So crossing not new, just being skipper. Remember NOT try to do everything yourself. Be fresh to make decisions. You really know what to do. Over the week keep your eye on the weather. Good planning gives your crew confidence. But bring your team (crew) on board with your plans and ideas and dont be affaid to ask for help if you know someone has experince in your crew. Your the 'team leader' know your team members strengths and use them.
The weather is the key.
If you want to make a quick passage motor or go by ferry. Just enjoy the experince.
Check your tide table for leaving at 0600 and the tide flows east and west judge your speed per hour and of set east or west of a direct passage. adjust your heading accordingly check your position each hour and adjust your course/heading accordingly. Try to arrive uptide and upwind to run with the tide to the harbour entrance.
Good Luck
 
Don't let your own aspirations and wishes for a first time crossing as skipper, or your influential and hopeful crew, cloud your decision as to whether to go or not if the weather is doubtful. As skipper. you have to be sensible. But have a beer for me over there. . . and all the very best!!! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Thanks guys - what would i do without the knowledge of you lot, i'll talk you thru my plan.
TCM - no i was using this forum to produce a passage plan! I posted to pick up tips my more knowledgable people.
- you remember? I was the young chap on tom's boat, we had a few beer's together! You been up to much?
 
I'll be sailing/racing across with CYC so I might see you there. Keep a close eye on the tides. Study the tidal directions before you go, and work out the best way to gain any advantage over the fleet. I'll need to disagree with Bedouin who says the tides cancel each other out over a 12 hour cycle. For example the tide bends round the IOW, and if you start on the flood and sail too close to the Island, you'll find yourself fighting an adverse tide. It's all on your charts. As every man and his canine pal has said, do not make your final approach to Cherbourg downtide. You'll only do it once. If you see me there feel free to come aboard for a beer. Good luck.
 
ah , hiya there. "the young lad on tome's boat" - yep that is very specific indeed, depite there being about 12 people on board at one point.

You are of course doing absolutely the right thing to get oodles of help/opinion and so on. Mind you i spect tome will be knackered without you hm? It's about 12 hours so you should get away without needing sleep - but if poss i wd set off before 6am. Been before? I always chuck the thing on the first pontoon on the right, cram it up a bit, smaller boats on the far side perhaps, saves a lot of poncing about on wobbly pontoons further in. Also, attempting to call them on vhf is a hiding to nothing - just drive in a dump it seems best. You can do the documents the next morning, no sweat. Remeber to take a hose pipe and make it a decent one with massive french water pressure.

Hope you get a good price for tome's boat, but don't be too greedy.

Meself recently, I took boat back to Nice via Gib which was a moderate epic but eventually all ok. Unusually for everyone you met, i have kept my clothes on outdoors too, at least in Cowes. I also washed the boat as well! Weird eh? Obviously that won't have happened much on tomes boat but it involves mops and well anyway, don't worry...

Oh yes, one more thing being without tome, you'll needto learn a whole new set of restaurants. See, all the ones that tome goes to - they're flippin ghastly! yes! So go to the yacht club in cherbourg and NOT any of the horrid other places you may have been to before. Cafe de Paris is also permitted and one or two others.

Finally, don't forget to take a big stick to beat off any other forunites and if you hear any securite warnings - they're complete codswallop as well. Have fun!
 
Sail for the predicted wind so when it shifts, you are not trying to climb up it again - not a lot of people know that! Could win you the race. I made my first single handed solo crossing as skipper last year from Audierne to Penzance and found the biggest problem was fatigue so would look in that area of how to minimise it and its effects.
 
So you\'re skipper. But what\'s your job?

If there;s a better navigator than you aboard let them do the nav. If there's a better helmsperson,let them drive. If there are better trimmers, let them pull the string.

You have three jobs as skipper.

1. Captain under God and all that. Certain decisions are yours alone. On a X-channel trip, predictable decisions points are potential incidents with big ships, stress of weather, crew sickness or injury, not enough wind, close quarters situations with competitors, calling sail changes, responding to any emergency with other vessels Your call on all those.

2. Motivation. Your prime role if all goes well is to keep the team working at better than 95% concentration. Every 10th of a knot matters when you're racing. Keep them always looking for more boat speed.

3. Buy the beer when you arrive.

Good luck.
 
Just take a look at the tidal flow chart, I think (I don't havea chart with me) you should start earlier to get the best benifit of the ebb tide around Bembridge ledge and St Caths, there can be 2 or 3 knts of tide running there, it can be a great advantage to a fast start. Get it wrong and the sight of Bembridge ledge can be real boring!
 
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See, all the ones that tome goes to - they're flippin ghastly!

[/ QUOTE ]

Nowt wrong with the Baan Thai lad! Just because they didn't give us any menus, I reckon they took one look at us and decided we weren't fit to choose.
 
<If you want to make a quick passage motor or go by ferry>

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What an extrordinary statement! My quickest channel crossings under sail have averaged speeds the boat could not even attain under motor in smooth water and I would expect that to be the case for the majority yachts which are not designed to be motor sailors. I don't think a Sweden Yachts 38 (form the bio) is the latter.

I am also not sure that further down in your response whether you are suggesting that he should be altering course to counteract the hourly drift. If so, that is the slowest way to make a crossing as you will always be pointing the bow into the current. That is definitely not the way to win a race!
 
He can't start any earlier ... its a RACE ... and got a specific start time (6:00) .... too many cruisers around here to get a really sensible answer .... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Simon

We're going over Friday morning also. We will leave earlier at 4 am to make the most of the tide and daylight hours. Some good advice on here.

Once clear of Bembridge it's time for skipper to get some rest, then be available for the first shipping lane so work out your watches to suit.

When you're about 20 miles out from Chbg it's time to concentrate on the nav and especially tides. You should aim uptide Cherbourg and watch what's happening with the tides all the time. If you get it right, you'll glide in without any big course changes.

See ya Cherbourg, good luck and enjoy
Tom
 
The Baan Thai - right then

hm, but i didn't see lots of people saying ooh tome wot an excellent excellent place you took us to. Indeed one person ran outside and took his clothes off which is a fairly dramatic protest really, you gotta admit?...
 
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