Rules for rounding the Raz de Sein.

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doug748

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The photo of the yacht off Portland Bill has prompted me to ask what people feel about rounding the Raz.
I have only made this passage a few times so have little to contribute, except that I normally try to arrange dead slack water, no wind, no swell and sunshine. I do find that the almanacs are a bit doom laden, and little help when conditions are not ideal.
To get the ball rolling. This summer, on passage from Benodet I had the chance of saving a day by rounding the headland in one shot. I was apprehensive bacause there was a swell (moderate or less), the tidal flow was at its max (going north and neapy though) and the wind was 10 to 15 knots (across the tide, probably nearer 10 than 15). I went for it and got a bit of a wigging but little or no water came on deck. With the tide under me it was short and sweet and I saved my day
Any experiences to add?
 
In good conditions you can pass through any time, with a little rock and roll and spray. We always aimed to do Camaret to Benodet/Concarneau or Glenans and vice versa as one leg without using Audierne (St Evette) as a stopover.

'Good conditions' means avoiding really strong winds, strong winds against tide or against big swells (the French predict swell heights and directions in their forecasts). Going against the flow is a no-brainer regardless unless a fast mobo, when if that gave wind and tide together it might be a better idea anyway.

We used to work out the gate times for whichever way we were going and then fit those into other parameters to decide departure times to suit passing through with the tide, but not necessarily at slack. Going south to and rounding Penmarc'h for Benodet area it can be better to pass through the Raz even around half tide south because then at Penmarc'h you will have a favourable flow up to Benodet area. Otherwise in Audierne Bay or south of Penmarc'h the tides are mostly ignorable. Going north the only consideration in good conditions was getting though and clear before the tide turned south.

In bad conditions then slack water going the right way (it never really is slack BTW) is best and northbound especially that might mean a stopover if the timing is wrong in St Evette anchorage outside Audierne an about 8mls from Pointe Du Raz. We chickened out once in a NW6 headed north and waited for the next tide slack in St Evette.

The almanacs have every right to be a bit doom laden IMO because it is a seriously wild place if you get it wrong, but you can nevertheless relax the constraints IF conditions allow.

One tip is to have approach wpts clear north and south then two more set to pass the point on a track going due N/S true, not too close to La Vielle, and avoiding the shallower rough bottom areas marked, going between two that are from memory SE of the point.

Another tip is to be aware of FOG which can appear in an instant as the tide turns (so at slack when most will be aiming for..) because cold water gets thrown up from the deeps and meets warm moist air up top. This is very common even on days when the Pointe Du Raz is visible from up by Camaret.
 
Pointe du Raz

Bonjour Anglosaxon Friends !
We have petrol now in Redon , its wonderful to shop with le auto once again .
Raz is pronounced "RARR" if you don't know that already .. I like "RAZZ" though ! its more in keeping with those razor sharp rocks on the Pointe .
Its the French Lands End you know , Ancient Gauls and Celts saw this as the end of the world , a place from where to pass from life to "the other place" easy to see why on a stormy afternoon.
Can't see us going around there again , getting too settled in my comfort zone .
Good luck to you all on your transit of this wild but beautiful coastline :)
 
Did an article in YM over 10 years ago on lessons learned. Took Ronhilda through in August in bit of a SW blow with big atlantic swell. We had a horrid night beating up to the Raz 3 reefs and small jib and had to go south of Ille de Glen. Actual Raz was ok and a relief with wind with tide but when we got north and out of lee of Ille de Sein we were almost beam on to underlying swell. Life got interesting and I bottled it after boom when into water and we duely bore away and toddled off to Morgat to shelter out the blow and mop up diesel from a split can in the rear lockers - still can remember the sink today.
Same storm required a couple of rescues out in Biscay if I recall.
Spectacular waves against the Lighthouses and Rocks, take your camera.

Brian
 
I may be a little blase about it, but having grown up playing in and out of the Raz it really isn't as bad as often written about. Provided you plan carefully, it is very little different to Land's End or the Portland Race. Have a good look at what any fishing boats are doing - most tend to hold position and let the tide push the fish into the net rather than actually trawling, so that will give you a good idea of how things are running.

If you're ever really in doubt, call up "Semaphore Point du Raz" on Ch16 and they'll tell you what's what.

But aim to get through in order to visit Audierne, not avoid it :)
 
I wasn't so much avoiding Audierne but hurrying by on our way farther south or homeward bound north, limited time limits the choices! In our case too deep draft made Audierne more hassle, but we did anchor a few times at St Evette. It is quite possible to double the Raz and the Four northbound from St Evette on one tide to L'Aberwrac'h which is a useful plan B when timing the Raz from say Concarneau/Benodet area otherwise makes for anti social hours of departure, or indeed if playing catch up after weather delays.
 
Sadly (honestly) the only time we overnighted IN Audierne we were given a freebie by the HM because we were towed in from the Raz by Audierne lifeboat, no wind, spring tides, failed engine and tide had turned back north taking us back towards the nasty bits.:mad:
DSCF0461.jpg
 
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chanelyacht said:
I may be a little blase about it, but having grown up playing in and out of the Raz it really isn't as bad as often written about......
Click to expand...

Certainly I was very impressed with a small French yacht in front of me. He sailed right through under spinnaker, don't ask me how he kept any wind in the thing.

Bonjour FB122,
Had a grand time on the Villaine this summer. Redon was excellent but too hot for me in June. I had to retreat and anchor in the river.
 
chanelyacht said:
I may be a little blase about it, but having grown up playing in and out of the Raz it really isn't as bad as often written about. Provided you plan carefully, it is very little different to Land's End or the Portland Race. Have a good look at what any fishing boats are doing - most tend to hold position and let the tide push the fish into the net rather than actually trawling, so that will give you a good idea of how things are running.

If you're ever really in doubt, call up "Semaphore Point du Raz" on Ch16 and they'll tell you what's what.

But aim to get through in order to visit Audierne, not avoid it :)
Click to expand...



Certainly it's pretty benign most of the time, but conditions can degrade very very quickly in those bodies of water. That's really the issue. The only people it's likely to catch with their pants down are those that haven't been at sea much. Anyone with experience will know when things are about to go pear-shaped.
 
Robin said:
Sadly (honestly) the only time we overnighted IN Audierne we were given a freebie by the HM because we were towed in from the Raz by Audierne lifeboat, no wind, spring tides, failed engine and tide had turned back north taking us back towards the nasty bits.:mad:
DSCF0461.jpg
Click to expand...

The HM then ? Would that have been my good friend Jean Louis ?
 
Roberto said:
this is the "live" version :)


http://www.pointeduraz.info/


better during daylight hours of course, though by night one can see the various lighthouses lights
Click to expand...

I found it very easy at night, superb lights. Fog was 'interesting' and somewhere I have a pic of la Vielle where only the very top bit shows through the fog. no real problem with the tides if southbound as that carries you away from the hard bits of rock, but there is often a little French boat sneaking round the wrong way, tight on the corner in the contrary current there and they rarely had a decent radar reflector and/or one mounted right way up. I caught a decent sized bass in there too one calm day when just drifting through.
 
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