What or where is the nastiest wind against tide situation?

dancrane said:
...but I'd like to read anybody's thoughts on this, and on the worst wind-against-tide situation they've encountered.
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I don't think it's just relative velocity that matters. Flow across the sea bed, through different depths and around obstacles will have an effect and so might the propagation speed of surface waves.

Worst I have ever been in - which does not necessarily mean particularly bad - was round the Mull of Oa at the SE corner of Islay. Yeuch. It's the only time I have ever had trouble with a towed rigid dinghy, which before I started tying it alongside on the high side (I was single handed, so tacking was fun) sank our times.
 
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The worst I have personally experienced is coming out of Stromness via Hoy Sound with a F4 over a spring tide.

I'm sure the Pentland FIrth can be worse, but I don't intend finding out.

- W
 
I'm sure not the worst around, but the worst I've sailed in was in The Swinge betwen Alderney & Burhou N bound against a S Bound 1/2 tide and a SW F4 or so. Got timings wrong for sure. My daughter was below and knocked out of her bunk when we hit a standing wave in the overfalls and she thought and it felt and sounded as if we had struck a rock and a lot of green in the boat. Just stopped dead. And this was as close in to the Alderney side as we dared for the least disturbed water.
 
I would suggest:
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Portland Race and the Shambles are up there by UK standards...

Although the real winner? the Cape of Good Hope must be a top contender......

If I recall correct Cape Horn is just nasty without the current going the wrong way!
 
snooks said:
Going through the Macdonnell race off Rathlin in more wind than was forecast coming from the north with the tide coming from the south wasn't one of my better ideas.

Three waves the size of big coaches all with crests bearing down on us from 3 different direction is something I never want to repeat.

....
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I have a video I took of a friend's yacht when we went through there together once. The waves were incredible and there are times when you can see right under their boat ! The bravery/naivety/stupidity of youth - I would not dream to go through in those conditions now. It is on Hi-8 - I must find a way to post to Youtube.
 
onesea said:
I would suggest:
Stormy-weather.jpg

Portland Race and the Shambles are up there by UK standards...

Although the real winner? the Cape of Good Hope must be a top contender......

If I recall correct Cape Horn is just nasty without the current going the wrong way![/QUOTE

The film ' The Cruel Sea ' with the corvette pitching half out of the waves was filmed at Portland as they couldn't find anywhere else rough enough to simulate the north Atlantic on the winter convoys !

I'm not saying Chichester is the roughest place in the world but with a spring ebb against a strong Southerly wind it's a bit dicey - nb Chichester Harbour is not in the Solent per se, so the fetch is all the way from France or even America.

I met a chap who'd sailed singlehanded across the Atlantic, on hearing we were from Chichester he exclaimed " don't people get killed there ?! That's the roughest place I've ever seen ! "

I'm sure there are places like Portland Race and the Raz De Sein etc even nastier, it just deserves respect.
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blackdogsailing said:
My worst true wind against tide was just off Cap de la Hague with a sw'ly against the ebb. Chris
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+1 for that one. Turned back but then noticed, when standing on deck to get a better view , that the trick is not to cut the corner but go out a bit.
Still gives one a shudder to think about though.

Raz de Sein can be bad but it is a little shorter than the Chenal du Four so I think that one might be high on the list

What surprised me on my single handed trip round UK last year was the number of rough headlands we have round this coast.
I passed most in lightish winds but still got the odd hammering

Here on the east coast the roughest bit is probably off Ramsgate & then there are no real headlands for a long way north
 
For the Uk my vote would be for the Pent land Firth. Can't think of anywhere nastier in the UK.
Corryvrechan got to be up there.

Though I have to admit to being quite surprised by the strength of flow of Portland Bill, Torr head and many of the others.

The Maelstrom up in Norway is supposedly quite spectacular.

A few local to me.

The Columbia Bar.
Nahwitti Bar North end Vancouver Island.
Cape Mudge
Ripple Rock gone now. I believe its no longer the world biggest non nuclear explosion.

I hear New Zealand has some impressive bars. and places where the wind is against the tide.

The Cape of Good Hope is impressive but Between 6 and 20 miles off the East coast of South Africa from about Richards Bay down to the Cape where the Aghulas Current flows, in the Southern Winter. Probably wins the prize as the worst. At least it has my vote.
 
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The Shannon Estuary can get pretty bad being a huge body of water ebbing into a prevailing Atlantic westerly .Not nice at all, especially the Tarbert race where conventional navigation marks get capsized and they have to use catamaran buoys.
 
Crossing the Gulf Stream between Florida and the Bahamas in a norther - wind against tide on an oceanic scale. I'd think the Aghulas current against heavy wind off the east coast of South Africa would be quite bad.
 
onesea said:
Although the real winner? the Cape of Good Hope must be a top contender......

If I recall correct Cape Horn is just nasty without the current going the wrong way!
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Having been round both a number of times I would agree :D
Waves so high & conditions so bad that its hard to explain in detail, you have to see it for yourself.
But I wouldn't recommend it :D
 
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