WISSANT-CALAIS RALLY, FRANCE - JULY 10-11, 2004

SAT, JULY 10 and SUN, JULY 11, 2004

Report from Gareth Rowland K800

One beach I have never sailed on is Wissant but I have heard the long tales told from the bottom of a beer glass. So, with the Wissant to Calais Rally revived after many years I thought it would be nice to sail it and find out if all the stories were true.

When mentioning my plans to others I was advised to take plenty of spares and told not to break too much! For some reason the beach is known for holes, rocks and generally a yacht-breaking beach.

The week before the Rally northern Europe was lashed by summer storms, 30 to 40 mph winds with heavy rain battered the trees in full leaf. Mablethorpe had some of the highest summer tides, driven on by the wind. Thankfully the depression moved off to the north east by Friday and a south-westerly wind was forecast for the weekend in France.

Friday I loaded the trailer up and made my way from England to France. The road turning for Wissant can be easily missed as you belt south along the A16 motorway normally aiming for the larger towns of Boulogne or Berck. The turn for Wissant takes you into the National Park and to a bay between the two Capes of Blanc-Nez and Gris-Nez. Wissant is a fishing village that has managed to stay in a time warp. Largely untouched by modern development, the Wissant has flobart boats parked next to cars along the street.

Once I safely navigated the village's circular one-way system I found the car park next the beach. I rigged up the old K800. The old yacht's body is heavy and built like a tank, just would probably be needed for such a beach.

The Hotel de la Plage - hotel website - was on the main road. My room had a view from the balcony overlooking Lake Carriere du Phare, a camping site, in the distance the Aval sand dune, and the beach with Cape Gris-Nez.

A quick wash and brush up and it was back into the village to inspect the watering holes. There was an evening Farmers Market with all sorts on display. I bought snails in duck fat, snails and pork paté and some very strange dried pork sausage. The cheese stall needed breathing apparatus even to venture close to it. With the thought of a warm car and two days inside it before returning to England I could only imagine what cheese might be running about... and the odour!!! I looked from a distance then headed for the local hotel and some welcome food and wine. The food was excellent and the wine menu was all of five pages! With a full belly it was off to bed and see what Saturday produced.

SATURDAY: The day started a little overcast with little wind. After an early breakfast I trotted to the beach and rigged the yacht. At 10am I pushed K800 onto the beach and waited for the briefing. By now the skies had cleared and the sun was out, and a light breeze from the south west tempted all onto the white sand. I knew better than to venture out only to be becalmed down the beach.

Low tide was at 14.00 so it was waiting for the tide to go out and use a pair of binoculars to look at the narrow beach at the Cape. Already dressed up in the drysuit I placed various small spares in K800 along with some water just in case the wind dropped.

Thankfully by the time we had the briefing and then started the race the wind had picked up to a healthy south westerly, just off the sea. That gave us a downwind run on a good beach, past the Dune of D'Amont on to the Petite Blanc Nez. A small cape with cliffs slowly rising up to 53 metres (173ft). We were advised not to sail through puddles of water as at the bottom there might be rocks in them.

Just before the rocks at Petite Nez we were stopped at a series of cones. There we could admire the view of the cliffs and view the beach further on. At that point we had another briefing being advised of a beach access at Cran d' Escalles, a dip in the cliffs with a path down on to the beach. We looked for a course round the rocks, sailed past the Cran d' Escalles where only a few people were on the beach. After that still sailing downwind you could weave your way round the rocks sailing at speed right up to the cliff, then peeling off at the last minute back down the gradient of the beach and run as long as possible downwind along the hard bank.

We were stopped again at some more cones at the Cape Blanc Nez with cliffs of 158 metres (518ft) high, the World War I monument towered above us. Time to have a further briefing and the four wheeled back up bought some welcome "Red Bull" watered "up" with you know what! A welcome treat to wash away the salt and sand.

You then had a choice of sailing further on to the last section of rocky beach where the beach was really narrowed by rock falls from the cliff falls and the rock outcrops on the beach made it really narrow. At this point the GPS told us that were on top of the Channel Tunnel.

We were told that it was 30 minutes before Low Tide so we could sail around the area for a short time then return back to Wissant. I navigated the last section of rocky beach towards Calais; it was tricky with only a narrow strip of hard sand. Still sailing downwind it was flip flop tacking using the full camber of the mast and sail, which gave you short squirts of speed with just enough time on the turn to plan the next tack avoiding any rocks.

As the beach opened out towards Sangatte, the cliffs dropped away to a small ridge of dunes. I could see one French yacht ahead of me. With an empty beach and a good wind I decided to follow. I noted 21 wooden post groins from the channel ferry, with a small lake at the end of each groin the downwind tacks had to be timed so that you could use the hard beach inside the line of the groins, then turn and shoot out before the puddle of water got you at the next groin. This gave you plenty of power and speed to run along the hard sand without going onto the wetter rippled beach.

Once past Sangatte and the Dunes of Fort Mahon, there was a good width of beach and you could speed up the yacht and beat the cross channel ferry sailing parallel to the beach, some 1000 metres out to sea. With the industrial stacks of Calais coming into view, the southern part of Bleriot Beach narrowed and the bait diggers had been at work. With no real way through and with the thought of an incoming tide it was time to turn round and sail back upwind to the rest of the yachts back at the Cape.

By now the wind had picked up some more and the sand was lifting on the beach making the softer sand difficult to see. Back amidst the groins of Sangatte you had to pass in and out of them to make good speed upwind, with the occasional trip out on to the wetter ripples needed to round the curve of the beach back to the yachts waiting at the Nez. No doubt the "Red Bull" was out again as only two yachts sailed to Calais.

The two of us were again briefed that with the incoming tide it was important to be past the Petite Blanc Nez and on to the main beach of Wissant as the sea would cut back in sharply with the tide. Having completed my mission I cut and ran and sailed back to Wissant and a welcome warm English beer that was waiting in the car...

With the prospect of a light wind Sunday and a low tide of 15.0 I decided to pack K800 up and head back to the hotel to wash off the salt and sand. The Saturday evening bash was at the primary school with a promised barbecue and all had a pleasant time.

SUNDAY: Sunday morning was pleasant and I did some shopping on the way back to Calais and got the cross-Channel ferry home. For those with a GPS programme I recorded the sailing from Wissant to Calais as well as the course of the ferry in relation to the beach. Hope you enjoyed the read.

Regards
Gareth Rowland K800

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