Evening all,
Took this video whilst sailing through the Hurst Narrows (The Western gap between mainland England and the Isle of Wight) after a 12 hours of sailing from Dartmouth. Just missed the tide gate so wind over tide. Hope you enjoy it.
Wow! Question is, ‘did you enjoy it’?
Gerald
Absolutely. Though I was a little worried about the kite surfers zipping a round. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able avoid them. And how the hell do you work out what tack they’re on? The reach to Hurst I wasn’t so keen on. Strong wind and a lee snore.
A friend, sailing a large, long keeled cruising yacht with spinnaker set, was approached by a small dinghy racing for the line. The dinghy skipper shouted “Starboard!”; the crewman on the foredeck of the unstoppable cruiser poked his head under the spinnaker and advised “**** off!”. Sensibly, the dinghy did, and remained floating to sail another day.
One advantage of the wishbone rig is being able to call ‘starboard’ when carrying the main by the lee on the port side, though I have never had the nerve to try it! The previous owner claimed to have won valuable seconds when racing whilst other skippers mulled over the confusion of terminology.
Kite surfers in deep water just have to take their chance; if they lift off they are technically flying boats, and should show an all-round flashing yellow light, according to the ColRegs!