The Joy of sailing near the South Downs
Yesterday I had the pleasure of Sailing at Newhaven and Seaford's Radio sailing club site at Piddinghoe. An attractive lake just to the East of Piddinghoe bounded to the North and East by the River Ouse. It has outstanding views of the South Downs to the North and an extrordinary incinerator to the South that looks like something our of a Star Wars movie. If only all the incinerators looked like this one.
Here is a picture of the lake.
The only sailing restriction is you sail on the South side of the lake as this is where the multi use sailing club is based in the SW corner. On the lake you can dinghy sail and wing foil etc, or radio sail. The East and North bank is reserved for fishermen.
The club is new and bravely put on their first open meeting. Sadly many of the locals thought there would be too many hotshots so they stayed away. The whole point of these events is to encourage newbies and mixed talent sailors to get involved and gain from the experience. Even so we had visitors from Emsworth, Frensham Pond, Datchet, Littleton and Bartons Point. I hope I did not miss anyone.
The RO Noel and boatman Mike did a sterling job and had to manage the wind shifting 100 degrees anti clockwise during the day. Some of the courses were a little one sided but the day proved to be a fair test of skill. Skippers moral was boosted by the free tea and home baked cakes provided by the lovely Jane.
My day started with my car which failed to start. I suspected recently that the battery was failing and sure enough it failed a test at Quickfit today so after parting with money, a new battery was fitted.
I threw everything in the van and set off from home. The satnav first said head south and avoid the motorways. Usually I would take the A3M, M25, M23 for a smooth quick journey that would take 1.5 hours. However as soon as I started the van, the route changed back to using the motorways. I headed to a petrol station just the other side of Farnham and filled up. As I left the petrol station the route changed again to head south. Bear in mind I was in a 6m camper, the satnav took me on the narrowest roads through the countryside. For 40% of the journey I hardly saw another car but I also encountered my share of congestion. So a 1.5 hour journey turned into a 2.5 hour journey.
Sailing was good and I managed to win with a healthy margin of points but the real winner was the venue. Pretty location with relatively few trees and a great location for winds from SW and all point clockwise to the SE. Sail GP starts would be required for Southerly winds.
The wind was shifty and you had to focus right through the day. You could loose places anywhere, even just before the finish.
In summary, Newhaven and Seaford is definitely worth a visit and do not be put of by the colour of the water on Google maps. As you can see from the photos, the water was clean and blue in the sun.
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