How long would it take to cross the English Channel by sailboat?

Question

Hi- as you can tell from my question I'm not a learned Mariner.

I am writing a disaster novel, the climax of which being 4-6 survivors flee a ruined England in desperation, heading towards France on a commandeered boat from a south coast marina (maybe Poole or Weymouth).

Assuming they grabbed the nearest boat they could and all piled in (safety or comfort no consideration- they are desperate and in a mortal rush) and made sail for France, how long would the journey take, very roughly, if they were just aiming for landfall anywhere on the French coast? Hours? Days? Let's assume they got lucky with currents and navigation etc. Just a ball-park figure please, using sail power alone!

How different would the figure be if you factor in a motor, perhaps a medium-sized yacht at slow speed? Would a sports/ speed boat have the tank capacity to cross the Channel?

I know there's a lot her but please try to give me a simple answer- thanks!

Answer 1

From Poole or Weymouth the best target port of destination would be Cherbourg.  The channel tides hit left to right to left so cross channel navigation is actually quite straightforward although the tides do run fast off cherbourg and weymouth.  4 to 6 survivors means at least a moderate sail boat of 30 feet or a motor boat of 25 feet.  Such a sail boat would average 4 to 5 knots unless lucky with the wind, in which case a good broad wind could give them up to 8 knots.  That would take them 8 hours fastest to 12 hours slowest.  A small motor speed boat may not carry enough fuel to get across and as you are talking about commandeering whatever is available you would not expect a small boat to be there with long range fuel tanks.  If they went extreme and managed to get hold of a fast motor cruiser, 30 to 40 feet already fuelled up, then they might get across in 2 to 3 hours.

Answer 2

The Channel is enormous and you don't say where you would sail from and your destination. It would all depend on several elements.

How many sailing hours you have and how experienced you are.

The tidal situation , the sea swell , the wind direction , other sea-going vessels , can your sailing vessel take a good sea , sailing in daylight or after dark. Are you sailing by compass (dead reckoning) or GPS.

I won't go on.... use your imagination.

Answer 3

simple answer is they get blown out to sea and are rescuef by the coasties, only they have drugs on them so the go to jail. but the coasties brought them to the other side so id say only a day or two.

Answer 4

Even if they had grabbed one of the best yachts in the marina, it would entirely depend on the weather conditions. I have taken six days to cross with contrary winds and on the other hand flipped over in six hours easily without trying. This question has as many answers as there are variable conditions. You could be windbound for days or you could do it in a few hours. With an engine at, say, 8 knots, then three and a half hours should do it but you'd use more fuel to cross the tides or go agaisnt them.

Answer 5

One factor you would need to establish if you have them cross in a sail boat without power is the level of skill of the survivors.  Do they know how to sail?

If they know how to sail, then you have to think about the speed under sail alone.  I have not known many sailboats of the kind 4 - 6 people would jump aboard in desperation be able to do more than 5 or 6 knots under sail only, and that speed would actually be very good under sail alone, with a crew that understands what they are doing.  A knot being about 1.1 miles, determine your landing point and the distance, and then estimate the time.   I would count on an average speed under sail of about 4 knots.

If you choose a "racy go fast" boat, they could probably be across in a couple of hours if there is no traffic in their way.

And yes, a power boat could easily carry enough fuel to make that crossing.  

Best of luck with your novel.

Answer 6

you could cross the channel in a flat bottomed canal boat if you were lucky.........more or less anything can get across if the conditions are right.........a sailboat at around 10-15 knots on a windy day would take around 3 hours between closest points..........and around a day between the most distant points

Answer 7

I would worry about the wind as much as currents.

You might want to also decide what kind of boat it is.

I would figure about an hour at the narrowest point.

If you are headed to Normandy it would take longer.

You might want to check the distance from your starting point to the landing and figure about 25 to 40 mph with a decent wind.  But again that depends on the wind. Dont go for gail force cause they might not make it at all.

Answer 8

Idk.....a week?

Answer 9

Depending on where you cross, the speed of the boat, the currents, winds, etc, etc...

A friend's small sailboat (about 22' long, I think) would cruise along at about 6-8 knots.  It was really flying at 10-12 knots.  A knot is 1.15 MPH, I think.  From Poole or Weymouth to Cherbourg is about 80 miles.  So I'd say from 12-24 hours is a reasonable guess.

Answer 10

Depends on the weather,Because if the wind is blowing you back to the English shore the answer is forever, BUT if the wind and tide are in your favour,no cross ferry,s, or no ships in the channels to avoid, and bare in mind steam gives way to sail, but common sense must prevail, with all that in mind 3-4 hours, If you get a power boat with loads of petrol Eg leisure crafts, cabin cruisers 1 1/2- 2 hours but that is assuming you will be travelling 20 knots plus,find out the distance from your embarkation point and your landing point, also take in that you will not be travelling in a straight line, not every boat has an auto pilot, to engage the auto the ships giro has to be spinning for about an hour before it will work, have you taken into mind about big jaggie things called rocks and sand banks, my advise to you is to get a chart or 2 of the south coast of England and the channel. good luck, I have been at sea for 28 years, if you need help just e-mail me.  Tam

Answer 11

1 knot = 1.15 miles an hour

Pool to Alderney (france nearest point) 70 miles, at about 5- 10 knots between 7-12 hours

Obvoiusley Dover-Calais a lot shorter.

Answer 12

It will depend on the wind, tide, size of boat, sail area and ability of the crew. Without these variables known it will take anywhere from (in the Dover Strait) 4 hours to (Falmouth to Ushant) 4 days. Your people seem to be in the same position as you and therefore I would say that they would be lucky to do the trip in a day. A motor boat could do the trip in about 8 hours with a speed of about 10 knots, however a speedboat would need about 15 gallons to make the trip safely.

Answer 13

As with any time-distance question, you need to know how fast they're travelling.

The average sailboat will make anywhere from 5-10 knots (nautical miles per hour). Call it 7 knots, and they're moving at a pretty good clip. The motor won't get them there much faster.

So all you need to know is the distance across the channel: something you should know long before someone across the pond does. It looks to be 21 miles at the straight of Dover.

So that would be 3-4 hours if the wind was just right.

And yes, any sports/speed boat would have the tank capacity to cross it. A slow-planing hull would make that crossing in an hour. The average twin-outboard fishing boat would make it in about 30 minutes.