Raz de Sein

Just_sayin'

Well-known member
Joined
1 Mar 2014
Messages
1,885
Location
Arrived. But thinking of a bit more east.
Visit site
Go.

Wind is in the right direction. 1.5m swell is, in my opinion, insignificant.

We headed north up from Spain once in a persistent NW5 10 metre swell.

At first the swell was terrifying … one minute you’d be so low you lost boats around you, then so high your nose would bleed but the swell was exactly that.

It actually towered above us as it approached then almost gently lifted us and put us down again.

We were kitted out for a storm. One little bit of water flopped onto the deck.

We laughed.

Nervously.
 

stranded

Well-known member
Joined
3 Dec 2012
Messages
2,391
Location
Lympstone
Visit site
Go.

Wind is in the right direction. 1.5m swell is, in my opinion, insignificant.

We headed north up from Spain once in a persistent NW5 10 metre swell.

At first the swell was terrifying … one minute you’d be so low you lost boats around you, then so high your nose would bleed but the swell was exactly that.

It actually towered above us as it approached then almost gently lifted us and put us down again.

We were kitted out for a storm. One little bit of water flopped onto the deck.

We laughed.

Nervously.
Yeah, done the big swell stuff, and as you say, in the open sea 1.5m is insignificant. But I understand things can get ugly in the Raz in even relatively benign conditions. We’ve loads of time so would prefer to avoid anything too exciting, but do want to get south from this miserable Brest weather.
 

Just_sayin'

Well-known member
Joined
1 Mar 2014
Messages
1,885
Location
Arrived. But thinking of a bit more east.
Visit site
Yeah, done the big swell stuff, and as you say, in the open sea 1.5m is insignificant. But I understand things can get ugly in the Raz in even relatively benign conditions. We’ve loads of time so would prefer to avoid anything too exciting, but do want to get south from this miserable Brest weather.
Then go wide,

Leave Chausée de Sein cardinal to port.
 

Roberto

Well-known member
Joined
20 Jul 2001
Messages
5,377
Location
Lorient/Paris
sybrancaleone.blogspot.com
You can check actual conditions here, and possibly record a small movie of your boat :)

Webcam Pointe du Raz - AUDIERNE INFO
Here you have Hi-Res forecasts for waves and currents
Modèle Iroise - MARC - Modélisation et Analyse pour la Recherche Cotière
Modèles MARS2D Atlantique Nord Est - MARC - Modélisation et Analyse pour la Recherche Cotière

Top right of the page, "Courbe" gives significant wave height forecasts specific for the Raz, or "Spectre" the sea directional spectra (basically, don't go if there are two separate red/orange sectors --> cross sea)

Here you have all combined data, wind sea pressure tide current etc
Océanogramme
 

doug748

Well-known member
Joined
1 Oct 2002
Messages
13,300
Location
UK. South West.
Visit site
Looks like Sunday (or tomorrow, depending) could be the day:


1683835611125.png

With a following wind I might want to go around at slack water - with the tide turning to the south, just in case of a late arrival.

I once met a couple who were so worried they had waited weeks for perfect conditions, they were still wobbling when I left. They had basically spooked themselves.

.
 

john_morris_uk

Well-known member
Joined
3 Jul 2002
Messages
27,864
Location
At sea somewhere.
yachtserendipity.wordpress.com
Go. Go with the tide turning in your favour and you’ll be absolutely fine. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been through. We got there early once and had a wave over the deck but that’s the only excitement I’ve had. Just time it right and it’s a great box to tick.

(Only excitement unless you count the one and only time I shot through the rocks on the inside passage just outside a rock called Trouz Yar. My French friend who’s a very keen sailor said he’d never come sailing with me again if I repeated the exercise. We were slightly early and it was like going down a very slight but significantly perceptible slope of water. Once committed there was no going back but it saved a few miles… and it’s described in the Adlard Coles pilot book. )
 

RupertW

Well-known member
Joined
20 Mar 2002
Messages
10,267
Location
Greenwich
Visit site
What size boat, not a good Idea in a coracle! Otherwise no worries.
You might want to reef the main ready for when you round up S of Raz.
We did it plenty of times in a GK24, sometimes in very big swell. If it’s slack and the wind is not too heavy then a coracle would be fine. It just looks very impressive.
 
Top