Weather and Sailing 2024

By John Hasselgren

This year’s version of this oft-repeated event took place at the Royal Yacht Squadron's Castle in Cowes at the invitation of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Those of us who arrived on Friday to help set up the event were made welcome by the staff and enjoyed a very good dinner, with most staying in the Squadron’s overnight accommodation.

The following morning, once the delegates had arrived and had coffee, we were welcomed by the Commodore of the RYS, Sir James Holman. He assured us that the Squadron was delighted to host the Conference and informed us that the Castle wasn’t a sailing club but a home. We were cordially invited to treat it as our home for the day. Professor Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, added her welcome to that of Sir James and thanked Andrew Eccleston, who had arranged the speakers for the day; indeed, Andrew arranged speakers for the very first of these Conferences in November 2001, and every one since.

 

During the morning we saw three presentations covering Weather Routing, Ocean Racing and the use of Wind and Tidal Currents in Marine Operations.

Chris Tibbs opened the proceedings by talking about weather routing. Which route to take for long-distance sailors will depend on acceptable risk levels; when racing speed is important, when cruising comfort may be preferred. Sail or power, displacement or planing, will alter the decision, as will personal preferences and the time available. Polar diagrams of wind conditions are considered more useful but are most accurate for light displacement boats in smooth water. Realistically these will usually be 80%, or lower, correct for offshore cruising. On shorter routes such as cross-Channel, high-resolution weather models are available, which may need altering according to coastal conditions. During these shorter passages, there is likely to be only a small change in the weather. On longer routes, one must consider the accuracy of and confidence in the forecast. Does it look right? It is best to compare multiple models of the weather and to split the route into shorter sections. Weather routing is a powerful tool, but it is important to be realistic. Weather is dynamic and it is humans that sail boats.

Winner of the Golden Globe Race, Kirsten Neuschäfer, was unable to be present. However, she was represented by a video of her being interviewed by Paul Heiney. This took place on zoom, each participant being in their own home. 

Paul Freeman from TideTech started with some history, informing us that Benjamin Franklin had helped all those years ago to track the Gulf Stream. Now, though, we have traditional routing charts and a general overview of ocean currents. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) became famous with its East Australian Current (EAC) project by tracking fish along the coast. It also produced diagrams of seasonal current variations for the area. NASA altimetry satellites are also showing more accurate recent maps of ocean currents. Atmospheric forecasts are usually good for five days, sometimes extending to ten days. It is possible to select the altitude of the forecast, suitable for airmen, but the normal surface forecast is for ten metres above the ground or sea surface. For marine data for sailors, we were asked to consider the passage plan, the general location - ocean, coastal, local – the length of time, and the ability to obtain updates via radio or the internet. All this information can be obtained from the Met Office, Météo–France, Bureau of Meteorology Australia, TideTech, DTN˚, SPIRE, and NOAA Copernicus satellite.

In the question session before lunch, the following topics were raised:
• The use of AI in forecasting.
• The fact that only 3% of merchant ships are reporting weather conditions at sea.
• GRIB files don’t show weather fronts – advice, look at the rainfall charts.
• The effect of the jet stream.

Following an excellent lunch, Anahita Laverack enthralled the delegates with details of autonomous micro-sailing vessels designed to collect data from the oceans. Starting as a dinghy sailor before moving into yachting, Anahita’s thesis for her Masters Degree was on sailboat autopilots. This led to the start-up of Oshen, which is designing and building microvessels to easily collect ocean data, normally the province of large and costly equipment that is difficult to transport and deploy. Ocean data is required in many fields such as climate modelling, weather forecasting, Safety at Sea, offshore energy development and shipping routing. Currently, it comes from drifting buoys, satellites and large / existing autonomous sailing vessels. The microvessels, about 1 metre long, can be carried by one person and launched easily from a ship, a jetty or even a beach. Movement is powered by wind, and instruments by solar power with battery back-up. They look to be similar to Junk rigged, with a deep bulb keel. Initial challenges were the breaking of components, roll stability and waterproofing. The vessels can be programmed to follow a route or to remain in one location despite ocean currents. Initial tests were done in the Irish Sea withstanding winds of force 6, to prove hardware robustness and check data collection. Commercially DEFRA is interested in biodiversity and improving marine mammal monitoring, requiring a navigation algorithm change; a fleet with improved design is currently building.  The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has had one vessel operating in Monterey Bay for six months, and one patrolling across the Bristol Channel recently showed in advance the approach of very heavy rain.

Dale Smyth told us how the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race was run. Being different from other Round the World races, it didn’t require massive budgets nor involve professional adventurers.  Instead, the crews were ordinary people, paying and sailing under a professional Skipper and Mate. Being run every other year, the non-race years were spent giving the yachts a major overhaul and refit, seeking financial partners and training crews. The route for the race is broken into several legs, currently eight, with participants sailing one, more, or even all legs. Instead of rounding Cape Horn, the race crosses the North Pacific Ocean and then through the Panama Canal. An unusual concession is to the Doldrums; competitors can use engines to motor part of the way through this band of light or non-existent winds, which extends from 12˚ N to 2˚N. However, they can only motor through any 6˚ of Latitude within this band and may not leave the area until 60 hours have elapsed. Different weather conditions are to be expected for different legs; one main consideration is the need to be clear of the Caribbean by late June to avoid the hurricane season. There are extra points available beyond those for places in each leg of the race; these can be earned by sailing through ‘gates’ off the direct route from South Africa to Western Australia, by being the fastest boat between two latitude lines in the North Atlantic on the final leg and for the greatest distance sailed in any 24 hours.
 
A double act from James Scott and Cameron Hicks, both from the RNLI, gave a great insight into how the weather affected their operations. Coming from The Plymouth Lifeboat Station they were used to operating a Severn Class All-weather Lifeboat and an Atlantic 85 Inshore boat. The total crew of 28 experienced varied conditions from flat calm when in the Harbour and upriver to horrendously rough out at sea. These conditions would influence the decision to launch and which assets (which boat) to use. They may also see the need to call in a helicopter and the local Coastguard team. Casualty safety and condition, the impact on operational plans and search patterns were all affected by the weather.  Their interest was really in the sea state, wind speed and direction, visibility (sun, rain, snow, fog), water temperature, sunrise/set and tides (time of both high and low water). Forecasts were obtained from observations (looking out of window), local harbour readings, Marine Safety Information broadcasts, a local weather station and online. Weather could also limit the use of individual boats and their area of operation, especially concerning speed. There was also the problem of searching in the dark. When searching for a casualty, several different patterns were used. If a person is in the water, tidal drift would be factored in and leeway calculated. In 5 knots of wind, a person would be expected to drift 0.6 cable in an hour, 30 knots 2 cables. These calculations were all done with the aid of drift tables.

At this point in the Conference, Prof. Liz Bentley had to leave to travel to Heathrow for a flight to Baku in Azerbaijan to attend the COP 29 Conference. 

At the end of the afternoon, Tapio Lehtinen recounted his experiences in ocean racing, including his sinking and rescue in the 2022 Golden Globe Race. We were given a history of round-the-world sailing, starting with the last great grain race between full-rigged sailing ships in 1939 - 40, which followed the ocean wind patterns around the world. Frances Chichester made the first single-handed voyage around the world; then Robin Knox-Johnston became the first to do it non-stop. Now, we have regular races, both crewed and single-handed. Tapio himself has a long history of long-distance racing, including Round Britain, Whitbread Round-the-World, OSTAR, AZAB, Newport - Bermuda and two Golden Globes. In the 2022 Golden Globe race, when in the Southern Indian Ocean, despite having had a major refit, his boat Astoria sank following a rapid unidentified water intake in the stern.  Within 20 minutes she had gone. Rapidly donning a survival suit, Tapio launched the life raft, picked up his grab-bag and abandoned ship. His PLB brought him rescue in the form of Kirsten Neushäfer in Minnehaha, who picked him up and then transferred him to the bulk carrier Darya Gayatri. Undeterred, he then entered the 2023 Ocean Globe Race with a Finnish crew and completed it despite breaking the mast in the Fastnet race just 56 days before the start of the OGR.

All in all, it was an interesting and enjoyable day. The Royal Yacht Squadron and its Commodore, Sir James Holman, are to be thanked for their excellent hospitality.

The twelve members visiting the PLA had travelled to the Gravesend headquarters, some by train but at least three by the pedestrian water ferry from Tilbury. They were greeted by Deputy Harbourmaster David Alsopp, who informed us of some of the conditions under which the PLA was able to assist and exercise some control over river users.

The Port has no shareholders and any surplus is reinvested in services. As a result, there is no Government funding required. 

To conduct any activity on the river, a license from the PLA is mandatory. This includes obtaining consent for building or installing equipment on or over the tideway, even if it's just replacing handrails on piers, jetties, and riverside walks. The river traffic around the site of these works is also controlled. Even occasional events such as the New Year fireworks, the Boat Race, and the Great River Race require consent, as well as anything that requires sections of the river to be closed. It is surprising to note that there is no charge for assessing events and granting consent.

As part of their responsibilities, VTS Officers are tasked with conducting risk assessments and ensuring safety on the river. They achieve this by providing guidance to vessels that are entering or moving within the port. While the River Police are not as visible due to their lower numbers, they are available whenever there is suspicion of intoxication. They have access to breathalyzers on their boats and other equipment on shore to assist them when needed.

At this stage, David Alsopp had to leave us with members of his staff to attend another meeting.

PLA Hydrographic Services has a legal obligation to ensure navigation safety through their surveys and chart production. They also have a conservancy function, performing data analysis and mapping, and can undertake commercial survey work. The Services operate three vessels - Maplin, Thame, and Galloper - each equipped with survey equipment, along with remote and autonomous platforms, including three drones. The latter are operated by highly qualified pilots who must adhere to flight rules over London. Following our questions, we learned that remotely operated vessels are more likely to be used initially instead of autonomous ones. Remote surveys are a useful tool, but they are not yet utilized for main surveys. Instead, they eliminate the need to send large survey vessels into shallow waters and prevent people from being sent into dangerous areas. The survey data is transmitted in real-time using Starlink, which is capable of transmitting large files to the website. S-102 bathymetric charting enables the storage of high-resolution survey data, which is used to create paper charts available as .pdf files on the PLA website, and also as ENCs for the pilots working on the river. This results in a more efficient port operation.

To determine how often an area is surveyed, the Port of London Authority compares historic and current survey records, which reveal the regular movement of sandbanks within the estuary. The PLA has a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and shares all survey data with them. The PLA also provides survey data to companies producing leisure charts. The carriage of paper charts is currently a requirement for vessels within the harbour, but the Hydrographic Department will phase them out following the UKHO.

Harbourmaster (SMS & VTS) Simon Phillips took over with many details of the port and its operation. All the berths for ships are privately owned, rather like the M25 with its service areas. VTS – Vessel Traffic Services – main concern is safety of life. The PLA’s VTS covers the largest area of any UK port being 600 square miles and 60 miles long, covering three sectors from two management centres. The lower part of the river and estuary is managed from Gravesend, where we were, and the upper part from a control room at the Thames Barrier at Margaretness. Both these control rooms are designed to be inter-operational, either being able to take over from the other in case of a serious failure such as a fire or terrorist attack.

VTS aims to provide essential and timely traffic information to shipping to assist in making on-board decisions. The traffic is organized to prevent the development of dangerous situations, with large ships becoming too close to one another. Navigation assistance is also given to aid on-board decisions. The VTS Supervisors are actually pilots who take turns in the control room and are informed of the location of vessels in the river and estuary by 17 radar scanners, 6 AIS base stations, 9 CCTV cameras, and 16 VHF radio stations. As I was once told, if the radar, the AIS, and a video camera all put a ship in the same location, they can be sure that is where it is! I had a question about the location of three of the radar scanners, which are out in the estuary and turn out to be sited on windfarms.

Afterward, we briefly visited the VTS control room where two VTS officers were on duty. Unfortunately, due to the current suspicious climate, we were restricted to the rear section and couldn't observe their work. While we were questioning Simon Philips, Ivana Carrioni-Burnett, chair of RIN's Marine Navigation Group and a Thames pilot stationed at Gravesend, joined us.

We were told that Thames pilots are evaluated based on their ability to bring in vessels of four different sizes. Regardless of their previous qualifications from other ports, all pilots begin with the smallest ships. As pilots gain more experience, they undergo assessments that determine whether they can move up to larger vessels. Furthermore, the largest ships that enter the port must have two pilots on board.

One of the most demanding jobs, it seems, run from a desk at the rear of the control room, is the logistics of arranging for pilots to meet up with the ship they are to bring into the port. This will frequently necessitate booking a taxi to get the pilot from Gravesend to where the pilot cutter will pick them up, usually Ramsgate, to ensure there is a cutter available and that they get to the ship in time. All this needs to take into account road traffic conditions and the state of the weather and tidal conditions.

The Small Craft Group thanks the PLA and staff for facilitating the visit. Half of the group then had lunch at a nearby pub.

John Hasselgren

18/10/2023

Navigation By Sea Shanty

Sea shanties originated as work songs, designed to be upbeat and repetitive to help workers synchronise mundane tasks. John Hasselgren of the RIN’s Small Craft Group explores the navigation-al elements of the popular sea shanty “Spanish Ladies”. Members can read the full article in the Navigation News archive here. This article was first published in the May/June 2023 edition of Nav news.

Check out the Longest Johns (who went viral with Wellerman on TikTok during the COVID lockdown) version of Spanish Ladies in the video attached.

Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish Ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain
For we’ve received orders to sail for old England
And we may never see you fair ladies again.

In some versions the last line is given as, “And hope someday soon to see you again.”

The chorus is: 
We’ll rant and we’ll roar like true British sailors,
Well rant and we’ll roar across the salt seas,
Until we strike soundings in the Channel of old England
From Ushant to Scillies ‘tis thirty four leagues.

Like all sea shanties the words tend to vary and I have seen versions where the distance between Ushant (or Ouessant to give it its French name) and Scilly (which I am informed is the correct spelling) is thirty five leagues.

Unlike most sea shanties, which come from merchant sailing ships, this one was originated in the Royal Navy. The oldest version is thought to appear in the logbook of HMS Nellie in 1794. This would suggest it dates from the Napoleonic era when the Royal Navy was carrying supplies to Spain to help with its war against revolutionary France. This must have been one of the few times when England wasn’t at war with Spain.

But what has this to do with navigation? Let’s have a look....

Signed in members can read the rest of the article in the May/June 2023 edition of Navigation News found in the online archive here