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Home  Venues UK Sailing Venues Calshot
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Written by Keith_Whitten
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Thursday, 24 April 2003 |
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Good learning and cruising or blasting spot, rarely much in the way of waves.
Get to Calshot by t
aking the A35 out of Southampton then the A326 south til you hit the sea. Parking is pay and display on the seafront with free parking a little further back. If you go to the end of the spit you can pay about a fiver for all day parking and use of changing facilities at the activity centre.
There are three sailing areas:
The lagoon, a small area enclosed on three sides and completely drained and very muddy at low tide. A safe beginners area but can be very gusty in SW to NW winds due to the power station about a quarter of a mile away.
North from the castle on the end of the spit. From here you can head up towards the Fawley oil refinery on flat water when the wind is between N and E. Can be sailed on all but hte lowest tides as it's on the edge of the shipping channel.
The front. This is the main area and on good days can become a little crowded, especially as the number of kiters increases although most of them congregate towards the activity centre car park. Works well on a cross shore (SW or NE) but can get quite choppy with on shore (SE) winds. If the wind is slightly off shore (W in particular) the first couple of hundred metres out can be quite sheltered compared with the main channel. I've seen people get caught hugely overpowered in lumpy seas due to this. There can also be strong currents here which help create the infamous Calshot Chop. It's too small to jump off but big enough to give a seriously bumpy ride although usually flattens out quite nicely when the tide starts dropping.
The tides deserve a paragraph to themselves. Due to the double high water in the Solent, the tide takes the normal six hours to come in then high tide effectively lasts for about three hours before dropping like a stone to low in another three hours. As the tide drops keep watching for the waves breaking over the shingle banks a couple of hundred metres off shore. Jon who owns the shop at the end of the spit sells a LOT of fins. It's possible to carry on sailing out towards the shipping lanes but unless it's neap tides you'll have a very long carry back. As the tide comes in it stops rising for an hour or so about half way through which means that twice daily there will be two to three hours where an area of several acres will stay waist to chest deep and fairly flat.
If a lot of the above sounds negative don't be put off it's generally safe, can be good and always has a friendly atmosphere. There are a couple of small cafes on the front and also a bar in the activity centre. If the conditions are right (WSW and plenty of tide) it's possible to sail across to Cowes on the Isle Of Wight. In 6.5m weather I've made the round trip in about 40 minutes. Watch out for the ferries though, they get quite easily upset if you fluff a gybe in front of them. I know.
Review written by Keith Whitten
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The other thing is it costs about a fiver to park for a whole day if you park on the area near to Solent Sailboards.
Bernie