No more wash - white paper rules for the solent?

[tcm]

I wonder if basic rules could be devised for boating in the solent? There are lots of boats, primarily displacement (sailing) and a few higher speed craft causing a load of aggro to the sailors novice and expert alike. It shouldn't need licencsing, nor a whole load of rules but:

1. a 25 knot speed (SOG) limit throughout solent (inside IOW, say). A 10 knot SOG limit within innner zones (hamble, harbours) and within x ? m of shore, and within 100m around each sailboat. Other existing limits all apply too.

2. No use of autopilots when travelling above displacement speed within solent at weekends. And someone on the bridge/helm at all times (bit obvious but anyway...) .

3. Pass in any case by 100m from any sailboat if at above displacement speed, and behind sailboats wherever possible. Colregs still apply viz turning to starboard. This may "orbiting" or stopping, as below.

4 "Avoid" means stopping, oprbiting, or wide deviation of 60degrees from original course.

5. No clever-clever standing-on by sailboats in front of ferries when a tack yonks ago would have avoided this silly situation and now the ferry is hooting.


Above policed by praps 6 or so RNLI inflatable boats (they have loads of loot) who communicate to central station for first offenders, and fine second offenders a load of cash or seize boat or whatever.

Abiding to new rules and penalties (to be decided) to be condition of berthing in/around solent.

Nice leaflets to be funded by RNLI, all the mags publish the rules and yak on about them, so lots of easy newsworthy opportunities for rulebreakers and protesters etc. etc. etc.

I commend this rather qucikly though-up but basically fairly sound set of rules to the panel, for ripping apart.

 

[oldgit]

Is it possible to lay mines in a big circle from Bournmouth to Bognor around the IOW.This would prevent the rest of the world being infected with "Solentitis".Just a suggestion mind?

 

[Guest]

Why are your speed limits SOG? Surely your problems are caused by speed thru' the water?

 

[RayB]

You Raggies!

Yes some power boaters are out of order but then again are you suggesting the rules are equally applied every time a Yottie neglects to display a cone pointing down when under sail and power?

Furthermore, do you even begin to comprehend the pshyics, many power boats when on the plane create more wash at minimum planing speed say 14 knots than at cruising speed say 25 knots.

In Harbour it can be a joke, I slow down for all raggies and the dingies but i get the "slow down" wave from Raggies if I go over 5 knots anywhere, BUT YOU DON'T SEEM TO REALISE THAT I LOSE STEERAGE UNDER 5 KNOTS WHICH IS AN OFFENCE.







"Hopefully that won't be too expensive to fix?"

 

[tonyleigh]

Oh go on! At least a proposal! I just thank the great god Neptune that some invisible perimeter keeps most of them corralled! T'would be a devastating blight on the free and open seas if too many got out.

 

[Paulka]

Hummm!
Have a look at this month PBO's Readers Forum, letter of the month.
It describes exacly what happens to those asking for more regs, more police etc.

In a nutshell: some yachtmen, feed-up of the motor boats, water skiers, jet ski etc. asked the Harbour Commissioners to have a patrol to police the area.

At the end of the first week-end of the presence of the police, the balance looked as follow :
Fines collected from the motor community : 80 £
Fines collected from the sailing community : 600 £

:-(

Is this really what you want?

Good luck.

Paul

 

[RayB]

I rest my case!

"Hopefully that won't be too expensive to fix?"

 

[andyball]

You poor thing......it sounds awful. <g>

 

[RayB]

actually it is a very nice case

"Hopefully that won't be too expensive to fix?"

 

[Langouste]

I have alot of sympathy with your ideas, but having read some of the thread everyone seems to think that this is a solent problem. Have you ever experienced the Swash channel into Poole harbour about half an hour before the Poole town bridge opens! It makes the solent look like the middle of the Atlantic in terms of the number of boats per square metre. Of course most of the offenders are Powerboats and the Poole Commissioners for all the public cries of intention to police the speedsters are hardly ever out with the ray gun.
I have several friends with power boats most well trained but even they have been suprised at what wash can do to a small yacht. I have made several stand on my fore deck as yet another Sunseeker rushes by.
This has been a good lesson for them.

comments?

 

[stamfordian]

I ,am relativly new to coastal boating and can,t understand all this fuss about wash it seems to me the main problem is not the wash but the absolute inconsideration of people ;reggies or powerboaters for other people,s enjoyment of thier boating experience,if powerboaters and raggies just thought of other people before acting like they owed the sea everybody would get on better .The word "roadrage"comes to mind or should that be "washrage".Anyway if you have a power boat you know how much wash you produce at certain speeds (yes i know i got fist from raggie bankholiday and i,ve only got a <1/2 ton boat).so the moral is:
If you don,t want big brother to stamp on a SO FAR unristricted pastime,and introduce restrictive rules(which will cost YOU), go by this moral:Alittle bit of tolerance goes a long, long way...and is a lot cheaper!!

Alittle bit of tolerance goes a long way

 

[numenius]

Time and again when reading this forum, I thank God I don't live down South! Why on earth can't you all just get on? We pass each other up here (NE Egnland) whether sail or motor (I'm the latter, but I've friends in both "camps") with a wave and a smile and consideration. I've NEVER seen the type of things which seem to happen there all of the time. Serious question - is this a different sort of North/South divide?

http://members.lycos.co.uk/boaty1965/index.htm

 

[stamfordian]

Here ,here....

 

[webcraft]

Re: RayB - no steerage under 5 knots

So -

You maintain a minimum speed of five knots in harbours and marinas do you Ray?

If you have no steerage under five knots I would suggest there is something seriously wrong with your vessel.

- Nick

BlueMoment.Com
http://www.bluemoment.com

 

[Twister_Ken]

There's certainly a sense of freedom when the Needles Channel lies to the east, of the Nab Tower to the north.

 

[tcm]

Re: Not raggie

I can't easily be described as a raggie, but I and others would enjoy sailing more in the solent were it not for the wash. Most of my boating is in southern france on a powerboat, www.diana23.com.

I do comprehend physics, at least including the abilty to control a boat at 5 knots or less - indeed much much less if turning against a tide. You'd understand the probolems of wash, which are much worse and more dangerous ...if you were on a sailboat, perhaps? If your can see them waving at you to slow down - are you too close?- i think so, sometimes.

Losing steerage isn't an "offence". Putting cones up/down doesn't affect others, and a sailboat under power is usually recognisable. This isn't an issue of obeying rules for the sake of rules. It's an issue of having some policeboats out.

Okay, if one was hammering up the solent at 30 knots in a powrboat and saw a policeboat...would the powerboat slow down? or would the sailboat doing 8 knots in the opposite direction wonder if he'd done something wrong? My bet is that the powerboat would be first to guess that perhaps a bit less speed would be a more sensible idea, and that there is somebody who can do something about it.

Anothr example: a sloent harbour entrance on a Sunday morning. Powerboats clear the entrance, and power up on to the plane - stright thru sailboats getting sails up. A policeboat would slow them down and suggest perhaps staying at lower speed until away from the general area. Doesn't need licensing, nor does it mean the end of freedom as we know it or any such pious concerns.

 

[tcm]

do powerboats know how much wash they produce?

My almost certain beleif is that they/we (i'm mostly power) don't. The wash develops laterally much more slowly than their forward motion, so they'd have to stand on the aft deck with binocs to check how much they'd kicked someone around.

 

[tcm]

Re: Not north-south divide

the solent (and parts of poole harbour as others mentioned) provide a very special area of open wind yet protected sea. But this and other factors (proximity to SE conurbations) attracts far more boats in a confined area than anywhere else in the UK. With low boat densities out of season, or even midweek, there's no problem. In season and esp at weekends there is a big problem.

Exhorting people to "just get on" hasn't work nor will it ever work IMHO.

There's effective coastal policing in the med which does not require local licencing, with boats registered from uk, france, italy and so on all subject to local policing of the tyep I describe.

 

[tcm]

tolerance

You sound very tolerant and knowledgeable. I would say that a half-ton boat produces a relativeley tolerable wash. Not so with larger 40'+ powerboat which are becoming the norm.

I was careful to suggest a no-cost option. Policing in the med is often thru voluntary bodies, with a far more diverse range of internationally registerd boats. in the UK there is a fabulously rich charity in the form of the RNLI which could be empowered to do the policing against an inconsiderate few in favour of the more tolerant many.

 

[tcm]

Re: SOG

I take your point. SOG is speed-gunnable, and can presented as fact to a skipper, without any ah but see....

I'm assuming that the mostly +- 2knot tides can be disregarded for boats doing 10 knots over under the limits, none of which have attracted comments. The major wash problems aren't cured by a reduction/difference of two or three knots: they need skippers of faster boats to miss by a long way rather than a little bit.