Worthing and Ferring Gap
OK, cards on the table, if you have not worked
it out already, a few of us live in and around Worthing. Before
moving down to Worthing we did the usual drive down from London
to various beaches at the weekends only to sit in the car, sometimes
go further afield down to Cornwall, The Gower etc. Hence that's
one of the reasons we feel qualified to put this report together!
Why choose Worthing? Well it always seemed to be windy, and it
was much faster to get to than many other spots from London, also
not so many day trippers and traffic jams - after a while we moved
down permanently, though still commuted to the smoke!
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Winter Swell at Worthing |
Is it any good?
Like all locations there are pros and cons. Worthing is world
famous for its seaweed - often after gales in the summer it's ripped
up off the seabed and dumped on the beach at high tide, if this
happens during "springs" it can hang around and begin
to rot, and give off a very pungent smell - that said the last
5 years or so has not been so bad
What other negatives? Low tide on "springs" the tide
goes out to France, now depending on your luck when you sail and
where you sail along the coast at Worthing, you might have sand
under foot or flint, it's a gamble as the beach at low tide continually
moves with sand drifting and covering the flint & chalk beds
in places and then exposing them in others. What is for sure at
very low tides it will always be flint, and that can be quite painful
on the feet.
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| That said, low to mid tide is excellent for beginner and intermediates,
and in the summer as the tide comes back in over the warm sand
the sea is almost bath like.
Other negatives are the jet skiers, but on all accounts they
are no way near as bad as those found at other beaches, somehow
Worthing & Jetskiers do not go well together. It's too quiet!!
However if you don't watch yourself crossing the prom you're
more likely to get taken out by an "Old Granny" on
an electric trike than a jetski, the bloody things should be
licensed!
Now what about the sailing & kiting?
First off unlike many other beaches, Worthing is quite easy to
get to from most inland conurbation, though obviously if you live
on the M3 / M4 you wouldn't agree! Once in and around Worthing
there are numerous spots where people launch from.
For kiters it's quite obvious, just scan the horizon. Kiters appreciate
Worthing because of the amount of open "greensward" which
is great for laying out lines and practicing with the rig. Whilst
the experts might be seen off Lancing & Shoreham, many more
people are coming up to Worthing as they do not feel so intimidated
- nice bunch of people these elitist kiters sound!
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Kiters setting up, the area is at about longitude "12" on
the map below, where there is a slight crescent
Acres of greensward, ideal for setting up your kit and then walking
down on to the beach, plus you can park with ease either in the
road at no cost or in one of the car parks!!
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Try launching through this, and still a couple of hours off high
tide!
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Worthing is similar to many other S Coast locations, such as
Shoreham, King Alfreds and the like, and can differ from one day
to the next depending on the height and state of the tides as well
as wind direction - and without stating the obvious wind speed
once you arrive there.
Launching at high tide can damage the bank balance, and on big
spring tides even some of the locals choose their time to launch
carefully or bottle it completely and wait for the tide to drop
- but you can't really blame them!
A big NO NO is sailing in an onshore Southerly at high tide,
as there's no way you can get out pass the groynes which do
have a habit of getting in the way.
Once the tide has dropped and if it's blowing a Southerly a
bit of coastal blasting can be the order of the day. You tend
to sail to the West rather than Eastwards, because if the wind
were to swing back to the SW you'd be sailing back into the wind,
not a lot of fun on a wave board! If you go off down to Littlehampton
and the wind does back round then you will be doing major broad
reaches to get back, running with the swell out at sea. Great
fun.
Even when wind is not forecast Worthing can still result in
a good sail due to the sea breeze which tends to be stronger
than at most other beaches. This in part is due to Worthing's
close proximity to the downs, when people are out on 6.0's at
Wittering and Hayling there's a good chance that at Worthing
you'll be rigging a 5.0. The only venue that is on par with strength
of sea breeze is Lee on Solent. |
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| Worthing Yacht Club car park free at the moment,
was pay n'display, that said various other sites where people park
and rig up all along West Worthing and Goring sea front - just
up from here lives "Jetskiuswankerus" |
I know it's been repeated before, but for those that have not read
it....please take note:
Generally in the summer the wind might start off in the NE and then
as the sea breeze kicks in you'll find that the wind will swing round
to the SW and blow a steady F5+ - though BE CAREFUL if sailing late
on a summers evening, as the sea breeze will die as quickly as it kicks
in, plus it will swing round offshore to the NW, leaving you with a
bit of a swim, or worse still if you get stuck out at sea!
The first signs of the sea breeze dying are pretty obvious, with the
wind dropping off, though some persistent "gits" often choose
to ignore this, the wind will also start backing round to the west,
and finally the NW and drop completely - you have been warned.
And what about other wind directions, anything from the North West,
though that can be very gusty through to East will work, though in
the winter and early spring anything with East in them should have
a health warning as quite a considerable wind chill goes with them.
Best conditions are a westerly after a couple of days of strong South
Westerlies - that will provide good down the line riding if the swell
is at all decent - and going off downwind for about half a mile putting
a series of turns in is well worth the hassle of getting back up wind!
Another good experience is going out a long way out to sea with a
couple of mates that you have already agreed this with, otherwise it
could develop into a chicken run, who's going to gybe first. We call
this going "Out the back" as after about a mile the swell
is noticeably much, much bigger and can result in some good swell riding,
similar to sailing out of Corralejo to Los Lobos in Fuerteventura -
we're talking about the same distance, 2-3 miles.
Ferring Gap - looking East, good spot |
As much grass as you want, plus free car parking! |
The nearest shop to Worthing should you need some kit is Surfladle
in Shoreham, see links under "contacts" at top of this page.
If you want to add your own comments see the link at the top of this
page.
Feb 2003
South Coast Beach Breaks
Hover over any red dot for details
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