Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
Been talk for as long as I can remember, but the local lifeboats want it left it there to get some practice in on RTIR day.
Probably seahorses living in it as well.
Probably seahorses living in it as well.
Yacht lost on Shingles
- Thread starter Aardee
- Start date
Lady Campanula
N/A
Speaking of 'old boilers', Jimi, good evening to you.
The wremnants of the wreck of the SS Varvassi, carrying a cargo of tangerines, remain on the seabed around the shallow reef that is part of the underwater extension of The Needles.
Their main claim to continued fame these days lies in their powerful magnetic attraction for expensive, Round-The-Island-type, expensively-navigated racing yotts. One of the great Southern England spectator sports is to gather on the cliff-tops and in adjacent waters, on RNLI lifeboats and in media-throng helicopters, to watch the monstrous 1500-plus fleet that is the RTIR swirl down the Needles Channel, last half of the ebb-tide under 'em, no way back, and see a bundle, a 'cluster', of 'em run hard onto the old boiler that still lies wedged there.
Usually one of the leading racing yotts has first go - er, stop - to a pleased roar of approval from the excited crowd, graunching, lurching, heeling to a halt. Within minutes, others have run hard onto the first one, unable or unwilling to steer away. The tearing sound of tortured glass layup and trooper-swearing crewmen and owners carries downwind for miles....
....every year.
As for the other side of the Needles Channel, where lies the Shingles Bank, there lies is a classic and very well-reported trap for unwary yotties of varying flavours ( wee racer, big racer, topsail and yard types, mo-beasties ). One needs to picture the pent-up volume of water squeezing down out of the west Solent, past Hurst and down the relatively narrow Needles Channel.
Some of it spills west into North Channel, some more recycles as an eddy on the eastern side and feeds back into the main, powerful ebb-stream. Further down, this stream is constricted and constrained from achieving full potential speed by the relatively shallow underwater 'road block' ahead of it that is The Bridge. That 'back-pressure' causes some of the water, thousands of tons of it, to be squeezed sideways. It cannot escape effectively to the east, 'cos there are sticky-up white chalk obstructions there, so it squirts sideways to the west - right over The Shingles bank.
As the covered depth decreases on the lower half of the ebb, the surface water going there from the western third of the main channel runs much faster, and anything floating there - in the western third of the main ebbstream - is set hard towards the hazard.
The process is fairly fundamental. So also is the 'avoidance' remedy.
Ludd
Well-Known Member
A very well done to you! I hope you ,or somebody like you,is around if I get caught out!
As we all can be(except the armchair experts on here!)
kacecar
Well-Known Member
Thank you, RioRib, for your first hand account and for adding some facts to the thread. And welcome to the forum.
Tommyrot
Well-Known Member
Thanks for letting us know, and well done for being as useful as you could possibly be.
After all the conjecture and finger pointing, your post seems to have gone unnoticed.
Skysail
Well-Known Member
They have even put a traffic controller on the Varvassi.....
BelleSerene
Well-Known Member
That's second hand. [you pedant - Ed.]
But a good point, and a good story, and very sensibly done.
Boo2
Well-Known Member
sailorman
Well-Known Member
use the North Channel is an option
Ludd
Well-Known Member
No ,the answer is to sail on the west coast of Scotland ---constant sunshine,no dangerous tidal races,REAL traditional harbours with alongside berthing,NO Solent sailors!
OK OK,I'm only trying to NEEDLE you!
lw395
Well-Known Member
I think the Goose Rock Old Boy's Association might challenge that latter statement?
RTIR can be scary. The time honoured advice for judging distance off is pretty useless when there are so many yachts between you and the lighthouse that you cannot see the island, let alone the old CG lookout. Then the boat next to you hits goose rock and pivots on its keel into your path. Meanwhile the current takes you straight across the Varvassi, as you lose all power in the lee of the J120 fleet. Almost worth getting up at 4am for!
lw395
Well-Known Member
If you are likely to run aground in the Needles Channel, your chances in the North Channel are no better, although the North Channel gives you a better angle for hitting Christchurch Ledge. It's the real world out there!
bitman
Well-Known Member
i did, ATF3, in the Netherlands, Ericsson
Lady Campanula
N/A
RTIR - The Most Dangerous Boat Race On The Planet?
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
... or you can avoid it by going aground trying to find your way into Christchurch Harbour.
FB122
Well-Known Member
Well done Rio
Great first hand account of the rescue operation Rio well done its nice to know the Great British Boating Public are always willing to help .
Not the best of places for a grounding and I certainly agree that its a very dangerous area especially on the Ebb Spring tide and a SW swell talk about running the rapids !!
It makes us all think how important sheltered little anchorages are on the South Coast when things get rough .. Studland South Bay comes to mind and even thats under threat from people who have no idea of the dangers sea goers face off our coast .
Great first hand account of the rescue operation Rio well done its nice to know the Great British Boating Public are always willing to help .
Not the best of places for a grounding and I certainly agree that its a very dangerous area especially on the Ebb Spring tide and a SW swell talk about running the rapids !!
It makes us all think how important sheltered little anchorages are on the South Coast when things get rough .. Studland South Bay comes to mind and even thats under threat from people who have no idea of the dangers sea goers face off our coast .
sailorman
Well-Known Member
Studlands -Anchor due to press of weather
kunyang
Well-Known Member
I must admit to losing my engine in light wind in a very similar position. My wife was helming with no wind while I was below working on the engine. I had to ask for a tow in the end as I was travelling at 5knots very near the bank, with no chance of getting the anchor down. There for the grace of God go I.
ChiPete
Well-Known Member
RioRib, thanks for the info and please accept a hugely deserved HUZZAH! for your excellent actions. May your winds be favourable and your tides be fair (yes, I know you're a Mobo but I don't know any motorised blessings!). Oh, and welcome to this den of iniquity - grab a beer, pull up a chair and enjoy!