How to win in Ramsgate Week.
The Peter Jackson guide to sailing in Ramsgate
(Please note the author takes absolutely no responsibility for the authenticity of any of the content, although he can remember writing it!) Thank you to Peter Jackson for sharing it with us.
Local Knowledge
Introduction
The coming of CHS and IRC has given a major boost to numbers racing on a proper measurement rule around the country. Ramsgate has been one to benefit. A popular holiday resort before the days of foreign packages the elegant town went into decline for a couple of decades. The ‘Viagra’ that revived it was partly the Royal Harbour and development of the Marina, now giving an 800 berth capacity. The development of viagra itself at the local Pfizer plant probably also helped a little with the economy.
An hour from the M25 and a few hours from France and Belgium the Marina was bound to be popular. The Royal Temple Yacht Club, started by lawyers at the Temple Steps in London, has now been there well over 100 years. Famous for originating the 1 Ton Cup (an RTYC boat beat the French in the Med.) the club has over 200 boats, around 40 with IRC ratings. The RTYC was Ian Flemings secret wartime subterfuge base but now, reputedly, no club in the country has more foreign visitors.
The record time racing to France is 3hrs 20minutes. It was set on a day Robin Knox Johnson on ‘Suhali’ refused to go on the grounds it was too windy! The fleshpots of France are surprisingly only raced to a few times a year, most racing being a few hours on Sunday mornings. This trend for shorter courses, reflected in the success of the ‘Sail East’ championship, seems to come from the large contingent of ex dinghy racers gravitating to big boats. Ramsgate has been well placed for this with eight busy dinghy clubs from Whitstable to Downs providing talent.
IRC racing in the South East was hit by tensions a few years ago when the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association (EAORA) fleet polarised between those wanting a short regatta based series and they who liked longer offshore stuff. The ‘Sail East’ championship was born, a series of weekend events from Ramsgate to Felixstowe. The odd people weren’t speaking for a bit but sailors are pragmatic types and co-operation quickly prevailed. Many enjoy both series, EAORA still goes strong and Sail East opened up a new market with around 80 boats competing in 2002.
Ramsgate Week is a long established regatta week, Ted Heath having won it on Morning Cloud a few times. Known as ‘Thanet Week’ for a time, when the local dinghy clubs joined in, that formulae was dropped and the name reverted with growing big boat popularity. It has since grown steadily due to it’s natural advantages of an attractive single base right next to good and interesting racing water, although some say the free party programme has also helped!
Ramsgate Week was re-invented on the lines of Cork Week in the 1990’s. with an attractive inshore/offshore formulae fully using the variety of surrounding waters. Coinciding with local fleet growth numbers surpassed 100 with visitors from beyond the normal East Coast, Solent and France being attracted. Regular Belgian and Dutch help in consuming the beer now arrives.
Those who remember Cowes Week when the IOR fleet could all get together at the Groves & Gutteridge marquee after the racing for a relaxing beer and apres sail.....are probably now too old and should give up racing. Cowes is now a little busier, on the water and off. Ramsgate is a bit more like Cowes used to be, and it can’t change as the harbour’s not big enough! Plentiful local accommodation also means prices are more like the 1980’s.
For anybody who’s raced on the Solent the waters off Ramsgate will feel a little familiar, quite complicated with a bit of everything. The race area is tucked in between the North and South Forelands where the Channel, North Sea and Thames Estuary meet. The coast isn’t straight, the tide can get a hurry on, there are over 50 marks, rocks, shingle, mud and, oh yes, Sand! The famous Goodwin Sands, home of many thousands of wrecks, are actually a benign feature a few miles offshore protecting the race waters from the worst of any easterlies.
The area is sheltered from South Westerlies but that does mean they can shift around a bit so always look up the track for hints and play safe. North Easterlies are very consistent and tidal tactics become paramount. Sea Breezes are normally pretty reliable, building gently from around 10am, but because the shoreline is far from straight they can be shifty. Balancing both wind and tidal based tactics is the key, the latter dominating but always keeping more than one eye up the track for the former. Solent or river ‘shoreline’ based tactics are slightly less important in the open waters off Ramsgate but will still often come into play and all the normal rules apply except that the ‘divergent shoreline’ effect can usually be forgotten due to the influence of other topographical factors.
How to win in Ramsgate
First time visitors to Ramsgate Week find the locals and regular visitors can have a bit of a tactical edge out on the track. As with all tidal venues there are local ‘rules’ to follow to hang on to that early lead. Better still, some can give you a fast track to the front if you’re languishing at the rear. The old addage that it’s never over till it’s over is as true at Ramsgate as anywhere. We will now spills the beans on all the major local knowledge you’ll need to stay out of trouble, and keep the scenery ahead nice and clear of other yachts.
The first rule of sailing is of course that nothing works ALL the time. We all know that following the ace into a hole is all part of a percentage game. Perhaps knowing the whole fleet could reverse itself on the last leg is what keeps us out there when we’re on rearguard duty. As hazards can put you at the back quicker than anything we’ll make sure those are well covered.
Near low tide watch out for the Quern Bank 50 yards outside the fixed harbour start line. It runs for around half a mile between the North and West Quern Buoys. After a narrow gap South of West Quern starts the main bit of sand that can come into play, the ‘Brake’. Some courses take you through that gap from Stonar via W Quern to Woolwich. The bank lies only a little north of the track here so beware luffing matches.
The Brake sands curve down off Sandwich Bay to South Brake. They separate Sandwich Bay, and protect it, from the open sea giving a normally flat stretch of water of constant depth. Kaiser Bill reputedly touched the Brake while racing King George (shame), and many others including Harold Cudmore have followed. Some sand just shows on springs and there’s generally no advantage from getting close to it. Boats over 2m draft sometimes need care rounding the green can ‘B2’ at the North end of the bay at low water as the buoy is very close to the shallow bit.
B2 can be difficult to pick out from over a mile south. Look near the block of flats for the cave in the cliffs that moves.
Pegwell Bay. A mile south of the harbour this is the mouth of the Stour and muddy. You’ll sometimes need to cheat the tide with a tack in here so watch for the small cans marking the entrance and don’t get inside the muddy spit outside them. The tide sweeps gently round with the shoreline here.
Sandwich Bay. The shoreline here is as benign as they come. The flat bottom meets a steep shingle beach with a constant profile that you can sail right up to. Tide speeds here are relatively low and the wind can be patchy, if it is go for the wind even against the tide, if not stay inshore. A South Westerly will be more shifty than the flat shore suggests and the shoreline wind bend is unreliable as the wind has already been well stirred up by the white cliffs beyond. If rounding the ‘Deal Dolphin’ tripod near low water don’t wander too far inshore as it marks an outfall pipe.
Deal. There’s are far steeper tidal gradient off Deal. If heading for ‘Deal Bank’ keep a little off the pier head or you’ll attract the attention of some belligerent anglers. The buoy is in quite deep water so allow plenty of latitude for the tide. The flow is slightly stronger running north than south as it pops out of the compression of the straights of Dover. There’s normally a short cross tide leg off Deal and allowing for the change in tidal speed across it is essential.
In sea breeze conditions keep a sharp eye out for the ‘Deal Doldrums’ flat spot that can appear as the more southerly Channel sea breeze cycle pushes round towards Sandwich Bay.
The Gull Stream. This is a deep channel and tidal conveyor belt running along the inside of the Goodwin Sands. Religiously stay in it with fair tide and as far away as possible with foul. Hugging the sands is dicey, is rarely tried and even more rarely succeeds. There’s plenty of shallower water slightly inshore to use against a foul tide. More often you’ll be doing cross tide legs out to one of the red cans or outer yellow race mark. The last 100m gets you on to the conveyor so don’t just follow those in front, if they’re sagging down tide a bit on the approach
get some more in the bank early and you can take some places.
The Racing Square. Between the Gull Stream and Ramsgate is the square of four yellow race marks often used for olympic style courses. Tidal flows are relatively low, particularly at the two inner marks. The deepest, ‘Bosuns Locker’, is close to the Gull Stream and in most tide. It can drag a little on Springs so use Mk1 eyeball as well as GPS. They can be quite difficult to spot from over half a mile so do get them into the GPS anyway.
North of Ramsgate. The character of the water now changes dramatically . The wonderfully tiny drying harbour of Broadstairs lies 3 miles north, half way to the North Foreland, famous for it’s big blue green seas, sandy bays and white cliffs. In a south westerly it’s calm and scenic. In a north easterly it’s ‘proper’ sailing. Normally at least one course a year will take you just around the North Foreland and back, or out to the Elbow or N.E. Goodwin. The Broadstairs Knoll buoy will always come into play. Places are often lost up this end of the course area by underestimating the tide and running the last 100yards of a reaching leg.
The tide direction swings quite dramatically around the North Foreland and the switch time from South to North off Broadstairs is between one and a quarter and two hours earlier than the switch from West (flood) to East in the Thames Estuary. This means that, on the rise, the tide ‘splits’ at the foreland, running south to Ramsgate, then changes to run north and round the foreland. At high water it stays north but joins the estuary ebb at the foreland to run east. Around three and a half hours after high water it goes slack south of the foreland then turns to run south, carrying on south for at least four hours after low water, the estuary tide having turned from east to west at around low water. You’ll probably need to read that again but it’s worth knowing!
The 3 miles of coastline up to the Foreland are interesting for short tacking. Just north of Ramsgate’s main beach is the first bit of wave cut platform, the chalk rock plateau rising up to 2m from the sand bed. Stay well off the red & white marker post here (over 100m at low water). 500m further north is a spit which doesn’t quite dry. It shelves gradually, rising on average around 2m over 30m, and runs out around 350m off the shore. It is in line with the north end of the undercliff promenade. It’s not a problem above half tide and you can safely ‘feel’ your way up to, along and over it.
The rest of the coastline is quiet flat rock platform interspersed with sandy bays. The highest ‘instant’ rise is little over a metre, but beware going too deep into the bays as the rises can get you on the way out. Play the shifts here as well as just depth. Offshore is deep water with a healthy tidal stream.
Starting and Finishing. A mixture of fixed line and Committee boat starts is used for Ramsgate Week. These are the rules for the fixed line, just off the harbour.
Starting: East the first leg is always a short hitch to North Quern. The outer middle of the line is closest but wind angle and clear air are, as usual, more important. There’s a little tidal shelter either side but positioning for the rounding needs to be considered early.
Starting: West the first leg to Stonar is also short. Inner middle is closest but rarely quickest, particularly against the flow which is strongest towards the shore end. There’s tidal shelter to the right, hard against the rock harbour wall and after the main ‘knuckle’ but don’t go inside the small red cans except around h.w.
Finishing from the West against the flow with no IDM the last knuckle of the wall can give a nice back eddy up to the line but beware the lobster pots with tiny buoys planted to trap the unwary.
Finishing from the east can be the most interesting. In an offshore wind the shifts approaching N Quern can be big and unpredictable. Working the centre is safest with a lot of short shift tacking. The red deep channel markers must be left to starboard (local rule) so be careful not to let these force you into tacking on lifts.
From the N Quern to the line against the flow in lighter airs taking the long route straight inshore can pay dividends, remembering to pass outside the red mark No 6. This gives shelter from the East breakwater, but it means crossing close to the Harbour mouth so if there’s a Ferry coming you’ll have to wait. Tactically this is often a marginal call so look for the wind angles. Remember the tide is always weakest near the outer, Quern Bank, end of the line.
Tides: An important bit of tidal knowledge is that there is often a very accentuated earlier turn inshore, even in the deeper waters off the Harbour, than offshore. This is not the normal 10 or 20 minutes. The kinetic mass of the Gull Stream can keep it going for almost an hour after it’s turned off the harbour. On spring tides this means a narrow slack water zone works it’s way out the three miles or so at little over 3 knots and can be easily ‘overtaken’ heading out. It can also be crossed very quickly coming in, giving the effect of an almost instant tide ‘switch’ so watch the boats inshore and plan for it. Around neaps there’s a long slack period so you can concern yourself far more with the wind.
The tide at the south end of Sandwich Bay will turn 15 minutes before that north of Broadstairs. Getting the tide turn time right can be a race winner and the diamonds are only approximations so keep your eye out for anchored fishing boats and other hints. Plastic check charts are available for competitors but use chart 1828 for depth information and tidal tactics.
Peter Jackson