Perhaps I need a speed log!?

[biffer]

You have to go faster than the tide when you're going with it or you'll have no steerage

[ashbypower]

Originally Posted by biffer

You have to go faster than the tide when you're going with it or you'll have no steerage

Surley you will be if you stick to:-

3.2.1 Every vessel navigating the Inner Harbour of Cowes or within 100 metres of the Mean High Water Mark shall unless otherwise authorised by the Harbour Master in writing, subject to the requirements of maintaining adequate steerage way and control, be navigated at a speed not exceeding 6 knots through the water.

As its through the water !!! not over Ground, therefore going with a 6 knot tide you'll be doing 12Kn SOG.

[nik]

Originally Posted by Hightower

So when the water current reaches 6knots which it can do down the Madina and your punching tide your supposed to go no where are you?

Short answer, I don't know, you will have to ask Mr McIntosh.

But in general, those are the rules.

I would guess though that safety trumps speed and wash.

The harbourmasters have been told to crack down on this and the harbour authority have the power to issue a fine up to £2000.

Some people do take the piss, its not uncommon to see boats planing up the river after hours. And during cowes week I saw a large rib go past the chain ferry at about 20 knots in the middle of the day.

[biffer]

The old race boat that I drive won't go as slow as 6 knots, you have to drop in in and out of gear, add that to the rudders that are so small that it doesn't steer below about 18knots I'll have a real headache driving her around the Solent

[vjmehra]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

If I'm moving, I'm making a wake. At displacement speeds it's worse than on the plane. This is the problem on the Thames with the 12kn limit, at 10-12kn my wake is about as bad as it gets, let met go another 3-5kn faster (through water) to 15-18kn to get on the plane & my wake virtually disappears.

Well to be fair I regularly posted on here before the rules came in and wrote an article in Powerboat & Rib magazine yet no-one seemed to care. If people had bothered to say something the PLA may have listened, me campaigning on my own was fairly uneffective!

That said, there is a review session next Tuesday:

Public Meeting About the River Thames > News

I would encourage anyone who wishes to point out how ridiculous the current rules are to attend. I can't in person, but I've contacted the PLA and made my views very clear!