English Channel from West to East in Early September: Better French or UK Coast ?

[Franziska]

Hi,

my 10.70m trimaran will be sailed end of August from La Coruna in Spain to Hamburg Germany.

While I will not be onboard, i wonder as beeing the owner, which route is best taken by my crew at the north end of Biskay.

Questions to the experts.

-
Which coast seems to be safer (=less demanding) from a navigatorial standpoint? English or French?
-
Where will they encounter less current setting against them?
-
Is the risk of onshore storms higher on the French or English coast in early September? (High winds are less problematic if you sail along a windward shore as there are less waves...)
-
Is there a side where they have a better chance of having less winds against them?

Many thanks for your thoughts,

Franzi


trimaranaquaris.jimdo.com - Trimaran Aquaris

[Roaring Girl]

Gosh - I haven't done the French side so cannot do a direct comparison. I've done the English side several times. It would be helpful though to know their planned course from La Coruna - ie are they staying coastal and hugging the French coast or will they go straight across to Falmouth? The latter is further but has the benefit of being further from the hard stuff if the wind pipes up and is probably actually quicker.

Both sides have their dangers and their opportunities, what with races and headlands and rocks and so on. I would expect any professional crew to be able to deal with it but it is complex, so check they have the right tidal tables and so on, and know how to use them. Both sides have some serious tidal races which must be managed both to pass them at the right time and possibly at the right distance (especially Portland Bill) - and if they get it wrong either coast will offer a lot of current against them.

Both sides also have lots of harbours and places to hide in bad weather so easy stopping if needed.

There is very little to choose between the two sides in terms of weather - after all once you're off Start Point, France is never more than 70 miles away and any decent size Atlantic depression will cover both sides. I guess you might be marginally more to windward on the english side in a south westerly, but there's only a little in it.

To be honest, if they're a crew with any experience, I'd ask them which coast they know best and expect them to use that one - if they coast hop at all rather than sail right up the middle! And if they do the latter make sure you have a good radar reflector, and preferably radar on board. Whichever route they should have good access to weather forecasts, through (at the minimum) navtex and vhf.

[sestina]

It's worth remembering that all the English harbours of any consequence are all-tide access.

[boatman61]

I generally head straight for Poole once I clear Ushant.... good anchorages in the harbour or Studand if the winds not in the east... good for restock.. big Tesco supermarket 10mins from Quay... Piplers Chandlers on the Quay....
or just for a decent kip after a hard crossing from Finnisterre...
Then straight along the coast to the corner... lotsa hidey holes on the way... till Eastbourne...
Another thing... that time of year winds should be predominantly SW/W....

[pteron]

Pro crew? Neither side should be beyond them. The French side has better food, better wine and far less red tape (that they pay any attention to).

To be honest (don't tell anyone), I'd do the French side. Not that I'm partial to food or wine of course. Not at all.

[edsailing]

I would say it's the skippers decision on which way to go, not yours, as you aren't going to be there. You can't tell them what routing to take.

I know how I would react if an an owner tried to tell me how to do my job.....

[Franziska]

Well, thanks to all for your input.

Got the orientation I wanted.

@Ed

It is NOT a professional crew. And as the owner I have also a bit of duty of care towards my crew. I have the most multihull experience of them amongst that more than 7000nm single handing.
I will definetly not tell them what to do or where to go, but I will surely want to be able to talk to them about the route they take.

Probably this is why I have not asked you ;-) to be part of the crew ;-)

[edsailing]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Well, thanks to all for your input.

Got the orientation I wanted.

@Ed

It is NOT a professional crew. And as the owner I have also a bit of duty of care towards my crew. I have the most multihull experience of them amongst that more than 7000nm single handing.
I will definetly not tell them what to do or where to go, but I will surely want to be able to talk to them about the route they take.

Probably this is why I have not asked you ;-) to be part of the crew ;-)

Franziska

Sorry if I sounded critical - that was not the intention. The point I was making is that the person who is the skipper is responsible for the safety of the crew and the boat and is the one with the duty of care and legally responsible should anything go wrong - not you. That person should be competent to take decisions on where and when to go, taking into account the weather conditions that exist and are forecast.

Yes, by all means make relevant information available to them and use the experience you have to give advice but, ultimately, it must be the skipper who makes the decisions.

I hope all goes well - please let us know how it went.

[Eric50]

Hi everybody,

Knowing each side, I would recommand the english side on a navigation point of view.

French side has less 24hours open marinas or accessible shelters than the UK one, the coast has many dangers and some passages (le raz blanchard, the swinge....) has no equivalent on the UK side.

To make it short.

On the UK side, from Falmouth you can easily skip from one place to the other with your boat, rivers are usually very good shelters and easy to enter (Helford, Dartmouth, Salcombe, Fowey...) and you have plenty of marinas otherwise.

This does not mean that UK is an easy one, the channel area can be difficult both side, some challenges are common as traffic, fog, tidal streams..., etc, etc...

Hope this will help.

[swagman]

Hi,
I've sailed both sides and agree with Eric, heading NE in September I would favour the UK side right up to N Foreland then cross direct to Holland. At this time both sides are experiencing pretty strong winds.
Cheers
JOHN