Resolution
Well-Known Member
Imagine a fine weekday during Cowes Week. The wind is a fresh 15 knots from the South West; the spring tide is flooding past Cowes at 3 knots. You are skippering a 35 foot cruiser racer with all systems working and an experienced and able crew. You are competing in a race, the current leg of which is down wind down tide from Lepe Spit to pass to the South of South Bramble.
As you pass Lepe Spit you observe a ship, a car carrier by the look of it, in the vicinity of Ryde Bank and coming towards you. At this point you are sailing deep with the asymmetric spinnaker up and doing a healthy 10 knots SOG. Being Cowes Week there are yachts all over the Solent and several of your own class nearby, so you are totally alert as to rights of way and the need to avoid infringing any other racers.
You ask your tactician / navigator to watch the ship for a moment and gauge whether any change of course might be advisory.
He does some quick mental arithmetic. The ship is just over one nautical mile from the start of the Precautionary Area, so assuming it is doing 10 knots SOG it will reach the PA in just over 5 minutes. As the tide is flooding, it will probably turn slightly to port just after passing Prince Consort. At this point the Moving Prohibited Zone (1,000 metres in front, 100 metres to each side) will start to exist and will extend 2/3rds of the way to Gurnard and perhaps 150 metres to the North of the Prince Consort – Gurnard line. According to the Harbour Master’s chartlet, the ship will only start the big turn to starboard when it is just about up to Gurnard, nearly a mile (5 or 6 minutes) after reaching Prince Consort. That is in 10 or 12 minutes.
By this time, your little yacht will have covered 2 miles and be passing South Bramble, leaving the Precautionary Area. At no time will you be in the predicted MPZ.
So you hold our course.
5 minutes later, the situation has changed. The ship does not seem to have made the predicted jink to port, indeed as it passed Prince Consort it gave a long blast on its foghorn, followed a moment later by repeated blasts. Has it started its turn to starboard already? If so, you are right in the way.
The HM patrol boat is hurtling over in your direction, blue lights flashing, and the guys inside seem to be gesticulating wildly at you.
Time for a change of course. Quickly. A crash gybe is inadvisable with this much wind and anyway would put you on a parallel course with the tide pushing you down onto the ship. Better to harden up as much as you can and simply pass the ship on its port side as it turns to starboard, easily staying the 100 metres away. You are not yet in the exclusion zone ahead of the ship, so no rule has been broken.
One minute later this is not looking good. The ship seems to be holding its original course due West, reducing speed but not turning. Even luffed up as hard as the kite will take and heading almost due South, the tide is pushing you down and you are on a collision course. The ship’s bows are VERY big and VERY close. Brown trouser time. In desperation you fire up the engine, slam the morse control right forward and with screaming engine and flogging kite clear the bows by a whisker. The ship is now turning hard and disappears off up Thorn Channel.
No physical damage, but of course a race disqualification and an earful from the HM.
What did you do wrong?
As you pass Lepe Spit you observe a ship, a car carrier by the look of it, in the vicinity of Ryde Bank and coming towards you. At this point you are sailing deep with the asymmetric spinnaker up and doing a healthy 10 knots SOG. Being Cowes Week there are yachts all over the Solent and several of your own class nearby, so you are totally alert as to rights of way and the need to avoid infringing any other racers.
You ask your tactician / navigator to watch the ship for a moment and gauge whether any change of course might be advisory.
He does some quick mental arithmetic. The ship is just over one nautical mile from the start of the Precautionary Area, so assuming it is doing 10 knots SOG it will reach the PA in just over 5 minutes. As the tide is flooding, it will probably turn slightly to port just after passing Prince Consort. At this point the Moving Prohibited Zone (1,000 metres in front, 100 metres to each side) will start to exist and will extend 2/3rds of the way to Gurnard and perhaps 150 metres to the North of the Prince Consort – Gurnard line. According to the Harbour Master’s chartlet, the ship will only start the big turn to starboard when it is just about up to Gurnard, nearly a mile (5 or 6 minutes) after reaching Prince Consort. That is in 10 or 12 minutes.
By this time, your little yacht will have covered 2 miles and be passing South Bramble, leaving the Precautionary Area. At no time will you be in the predicted MPZ.
So you hold our course.
5 minutes later, the situation has changed. The ship does not seem to have made the predicted jink to port, indeed as it passed Prince Consort it gave a long blast on its foghorn, followed a moment later by repeated blasts. Has it started its turn to starboard already? If so, you are right in the way.
The HM patrol boat is hurtling over in your direction, blue lights flashing, and the guys inside seem to be gesticulating wildly at you.
Time for a change of course. Quickly. A crash gybe is inadvisable with this much wind and anyway would put you on a parallel course with the tide pushing you down onto the ship. Better to harden up as much as you can and simply pass the ship on its port side as it turns to starboard, easily staying the 100 metres away. You are not yet in the exclusion zone ahead of the ship, so no rule has been broken.
One minute later this is not looking good. The ship seems to be holding its original course due West, reducing speed but not turning. Even luffed up as hard as the kite will take and heading almost due South, the tide is pushing you down and you are on a collision course. The ship’s bows are VERY big and VERY close. Brown trouser time. In desperation you fire up the engine, slam the morse control right forward and with screaming engine and flogging kite clear the bows by a whisker. The ship is now turning hard and disappears off up Thorn Channel.
No physical damage, but of course a race disqualification and an earful from the HM.
What did you do wrong?
