Information - Calshot

Parking

Parking charges for the beach area are made between March and the end of October, so the winter is free. Season tickets can be purchased for approx £30 from New Forest District Council. Don't try and get away without paying as they are very sharp on this! There is usually no difficulty in finding a space, though it can be very busy in the summer with hundreds of windsurfers on a good day.

If you want to sail from CALSHOT ACTIVITIES CENTRE i.e. through the gates, charges are administered by Hampshire County Council so your beach car park ticket is not valid, you have to pay for parking!!! However, they do provide showers and a changing room, though not in the winter.

Facilities

Toilets are available all year round (locked at night). There is a cafe near the beach.

Rigging

There is a good grassy area to rig on, next to the car park, though on a busy day this may be occupied by cars. There is a gravel strip next to the beach which is OK to rig on i.e. no sharp stones.

SAILING

Best Wind Directions

The best direction is South-South Westerly, when the wind is cross-shore and coming straight down the Solent and not over the land. Anything West of South-West is not good (LEPE is then better), as it is then slightly offshore and the water close to the beach becomes sheltered. S, SE, E and NE are fine, too. NE is popular as it is cross-shore and one of the few places around the SOLENT to sail.

At high tides, it is possible to sail in the "Creek" as the marshland is covered. This is the area on the opposite side of the road to the beach. This area is ideal for beginners as it is flat water and fairly enclosed. This can be sailed (if the water is high enough) in virtually any direction, though NW or W are best.

In order to sail from the activity centre, buy a ticket and go down to the large hangar to the far left. Launching can be to the left or right of the shingle spit there. Beginners are advised to launch to the left of it. The water to the North of the peninsula is sufficiently deep at all states of the tide. This area is popular in a North-Westerly when the wind blows straight down Southampton Water.

Waves/Flat Water

On the beach side it can be choppy at high tide with an onshore wind. As the tide goes out, it is usually fairly flat in the shallow water up to 1/3 mile out. Beyond that it becomes quite rough in a force 5 or more. There are rarely good waves, as they are usually too close together. Good jumps can be made in the right conditions, though.

Launching

The best area to sail from is off the beach by the grassy strip and main car parking area.

At low spring tides the beach side of Calshot dries out to about 1/3 mile out i.e. a long walk back. This lasts for about 1 1/2 hours either side of low tide. In neap low tides, the water only drops to about 2 feet deep.

Beware when the tide is about 1/4 in, as the beach side of Calshot is surrounded by a "barrier-reef" of shingle. This has one or two gaps which can be sailed through by the knowledgeable, but has destroyed many fins when people have tried to sail over it in 6 inches of water. As a rough guide, there is a gap if you sail out from the car park and aim just to the left of the 3 legged perch.

The beach shelves steeply for a few feet, then the bottom is almost flat up to about 1/3 mile out. The bottom is a mixture of sandy mud and hard-packed gravel. The beach above the high water mark is all shingle.

Currents/Tides

There is a strong current of about 7 knots which flows NE to SW as the tide goes out. This is OK in the prevailing W to SW wind, but is bad news when the tide is coming in (SW to NE). Keeping upwind can be difficult then. This isn't a problem at low tide when the shingle bank is exposed.

Hazards

Like the rest of the Solent, the water is quite murky but appears to be safe.

Many yachts are out in the Summer, but they pass beyond the 3 legged perch or further out. About a mile out is the shipping lane, beyond the red buoys. Seriously big ships use this including supertankers. There are also very fast hydrofoils.

There is the Calshot lifeboat and RNLI inshore rescue boat stationed between the CALSHOT CASTLE and CALSHOT ACTIVITIES CENTRE. There is a very high coastguard lookout tower next to it. A coastguard helicopter operates from Lee-on-Solent which is about 5 minutes flying time.

Sailing Standards

Calshot is suitable for all standards of windsurfer. I wouldn't recommend beginners sailing from the beach at high tide in more than a force 4 as it becomes choppy for uphauling and there are strong currents. The "Creek" is always safe if there is sufficient water. The CALSHOT ACTIVITIES CENTRE run RYA 1-5, tel 023 8089 2077 for details.

Freeride boards are ideal up to a force 6 at high tide, then wave/slaloms or wave boards are recommended. Once the shingle banks emerge, the water closer in becomes fairly flat - good for "blasting".

Thanks to Dave Campbell for providing this report.