Phil Sharp’s Channel Record attempt switches to Code Amber as a weather window opens up for a possible departure on Thursday or Friday.
As Saturday saw Britain prepare for the impending 80mph gusts of storm Angus, Phil Sharp made the most of the building wind to sprint across the Channel, delivering Class 40 Imerys from Jersey to Cowes ahead of a possible record attempt leaving Cowes on Thursday or Friday morning.
In the wake of the storm reaping havoc over the UK, Phil, together with meteorologist Jure Jerman have been undertaking a statistical forecast analysis in the hunt for an ideal weather window to attempt the outright monohull World Record for the English Channel.
Jure commented: “The winds are due to shift NE tomorrow and from there they will build providing a window to leave from early Thursday or Friday. Currently Thursday is looking a lot windier, forecasting a constant gale force 8 and gusting over 40 knots, which would be right on the upper limit for a clean attempt. The conditions will be slightly less extreme on Friday, but the direction is not as favourable and this may provide a slower end to the passage.”
Phil commented: “There is no doubt that Thursday is looking seriously full-on as the Channel will be absolutely howling, potentially leading to some very rough conditions in the Alderney Race, but it would be a very fast passage, ideal for setting a new Record. It will really be a fine balance between performance and risk.
“A final decision will be made tomorrow morning based on an analysis of the latest weather files, when we will hopefully be able to push the button on an exact start time and switch to Code Green.”
Follow the links below to track Phil on social media and through the official website as he attempts a new cross-Channel World Record. A tracker will be available once Code Green is announced.
