WIND FARM OFF THE ISLE OF WIGHT

Royal Yacht Squadron leads the armada against windfarm plan

‘Lillgrund Wind Farm in Denmark – could you sail between these?’    .

Britain’s most prestigious sailing club, the Royal Yacht Squadron, is orchestrating a campaign against the largest wind farm ever planned in the world, off the south coast of England. It fears the Navitus Bay wind farm could impact on the main sailing route from the Isle of Wight to the south west, including the Fastnet Race, which starts in Cowes and finishes in Plymouth.

Navitus Bay wind farm proposed site –  .. .

The development comprises 200 turbines, each the height of a skyscraper and spread over an area the size of Glasgow. The planned wind farm, which is three to four times bigger than any previously built, is expected to earn its Dutch owners Eneco more than a quarter of a billion pounds a year in subsidies alone.

The scheme has already attracted widespread criticism with opponents claiming it will ruin coastal views for generations to come. Eneco has submitted notice of its plans – in a 173-page report – to a special Government body set up to deal with ‘national significant’ infrastructure projects. A full planning application for the wind farm is expected next year with the decision process taking a further 18 months.

Eneco’s preplanning report suggests each turbine could be as high as 670 feet – taller than the Gherkin skyscraper in London – and as close as eight miles to the coast. Eneco claims it will provide power for anywhere between 500,000 and 800,000 homes.

The campaign against the Navitus Bay wind farm is being spearheaded by the Royal Yacht Squadron, which is based in Cowes.

It has written to 200 sailing clubs on the Isle of Wight and along the south coast calling for concerted action against the development, which will occupy 76 square miles of the English Channel between the Isle of Wight and the Dorset coast.

Chris Mason, the Royal Yacht Squadron’s yachting secretary, said: ‘We understand renewable energy is important but it is very difficult to see why it has to be built this close to the land.

‘This is prime sailing territory. This is definitely a hazard and definitely a problem for sailors.’ Mr Mason said he had no idea if Prince Philip, who is the squadron’s admiral and as such its head, had been consulted before the letter had been sent out.

Chris Radford, who runs the Challenge Navitus campaign group, said: ‘Navitus is eight miles from the shore and the turbines could be 200 metres high.

‘This could damage an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a World Heritage site and a great public amenity. There are also potentially damaging effects on tourism, safe navigation, diving and fishing interests.

‘Nothing on this scale has previously been built so close to a tourist area. We think these risks are out of balance with the suggested benefits from wind power. This development could be further offshore or somewhere else with less impact.’
by Telegraph/Sail-World Cruising

1974-1975 England

In the fall of 1974, We moved to the Isle of Wight, England, where I started work at Souter’s Shipyard, lofting and buildiing cold-moulded boats. The face at the right is of a by-gone era. I skippered a boat, the prototype of the Swan 41, called “Gunfleet of Hamble”, We were vying for a spot on the English Admiral’s Cup team. We practiced, the selection trials were fiercely competitive. Going into the final 200 mile race, we were tied for third with Yeoman, Robin Aisher’s boat. All we had to do was beat them and we were in. we could effectively ignore the other boats. The owner, got nervous and changed three of the crew, who had helped us get here, and listened to an “expert” weather consultant, claiming there would be light air all weekend. we left our heavy air sails ashore along with our steady crew. We did not make the cut.

I left shortly after that race to join “Weald” Frank Cummiskey’s Swan 48 for the trans-atlantic race from Newport to Cowes, Isle of Wight.
Shortly after the start, we encountered a strong low, 50 knots plus. We were just settling in to the conditions when our headstay came down. Sailing to Marblehead , a new headstay was installed and we restarted, managing to chase down a few competitors, however without hope of winning . Greeted along the way by the usual sea creatures.
After arriving in Cowes I joined “GitanaVI” a 66 foot S&S, belonging to Baron Edmond Rothschild, which had also taken part in the trans-atlantic race; for Cowes week racing.It was a culturally mixed crew ,comprised of Italians, French, and myself. In moment of crisis each would revert to their native language, English had been established as the language on deck. This led to some amusing moments. I should add that the food and clothes were without equal.



trans-atlantic 2005

the 2005 trans-atlantic race from New York to Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. aboard”Tempest” the 80 foot S&S ketch, sistership of Kialoa. A crew of sixteen pictured here.

the race took us just short of 15 days. we won our class losing to Leopard of London by a minute and forty seconds on corrected time. one can find a lot of places where we squandered that time.
other crew have written eloquently about the race.
the chart shows our track and that of “Snow Lion” in the 2003 race from Newport to Hamburg, Germany. the significance here is the similarities in the early stages of the race.
lastly, my watch, I was the watch captain, and blessed with the best group one could wish for. naturally we were always faster the the other watches.