SigneT60 - Dover to Calais
by Will Russell 30 Jun 2023 17:37 BST
60 years ago, a small group of SigneTs sailed from Dover to Calais to prove the seaworthiness of them despite being a small wooden dinghy. On 11th June 2023, the SigneT Class Owners Association completed a tribute to this voyage in aid of the RNLI and Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust! Additionally, to once again show both the robustness of SigneTs while also showing how they're a great boat for everyone (all shapes and sizes!) even 60 years on!
After months of planning, we were finally on the beach at Dover getting the two SigneTs ready for their voyage. All week we were staring at the weather forecast hoping that we had enough wind to get there, but the conditions weren't going to be unmanageable. On the weekend of the voyage, the decision was made to postpone the start from 5am to 2pm when the wind would fill in and stop changing direction. To our luck, the forecast was correct and the wind was starting to fill in as we got the final bits ready on our SigneTs!
Completing the voyage were ST921 and ST924, the best SigneTs for completing it. ST921 was recently renovated with new paint, varnish and rope, completely unrecognisable to its former life. ST924 was hand built in 2009 and looks just like new! Between the two boats, we had 7 sailors of all different ages and sizes lined up to ensure we were able to complete the voyage in case someone was unable to continue. We had Will Russell and Natalie Smith starting off in their own boat ST921, and John Panting sailing his boat, ST924 with Hannah Whiteside. Along with them, we had Michael Whiteside, Rick Adams and Tom Field-Stevens. With this mixture of sailors, it just shows how flexible and attractive the SigneT is to people. It's not just for one demographic!
Once it was getting close to 2pm, the starting sailors got themselves changed and fed before walking the boats down the slipway. Everyone was in this moment of disbelief that this was it, we were really going on this voyage after months of planning!
Both SigneTs launched at the Port of Dover and waited for the pilot boat, Sea Satin, that would accompany them for the journey before leaving the port. Once the pilot boat appeared, both boats started to beat upwind towards the port exit.
Once both SigneTs had made it out of the port, we set off on our journey and the official timer started! The wind was quite light to begin with making for a slow but calm beginning. The wind direction meant we were beating/close reaching for the first section. After about 2 hours, Dover could no longer be seen behind us. Once Dover was out of sight, we started to experience some more waves pushing the boats around. A few sailors' stomachs didn't like this and had to stick their head over the side shortly. However, that didn't stop us from continuing! Luckily the waves started to settle down which helped everyone continue on!
After hour 4, we entered into French Waters! A sign of relief especially as the sailors aboard had no real gauge on how far or close we were. The breeze had started to fill in as well as the waves! This made for a good opportunity to perform the first sailor swap on water. Michael and Rick jumped into ST924 giving John and Hannah a break. Natalie and Will continued on in ST921. Now we were definitely in the depths of the channel, we started to see large vessels (including a warship!) in the distance, however still no view of any land.
We continued on as the breeze picked up and the sun started to drop in the sky. Sailors got a few more layers on and had a few more snacks to help them power through the final few hours! At this point, we haven't done a single tack or gybe since leaving the Port of Dover, however ST921's ratchet block and swivel cleat wiggled it way off again! Natalie had to keep screwing it back on every few hours despite it barely moving! As the wind built, Will started to play the main from the boom directly as the ratchet block was not cooperating with them!
As the sun set, we started to bear away as the tide had changed direction, helping take us towards the beach of Sangatte, just approximately 5 miles away from Calais where the Shore Crew would be waiting for us with our trolleys! They got the ferry over earlier in the day and spent the afternoon looking for the perfect slipway where they could get the double stacker as close as possible! SigneTs aren't known for being the lightest and most nimble boats!
And just like that, we could see the outline of France. It took a while to identify if it was actually land or just our eyes playing tricks on us after thinking we could see something in the distance for the past few hours when it was nothing in reality. This was time for our final swap to ensure both boats had their original owners for landing to make sure the boats could be landed and handed over to the Shore team correctly for derigging while keeping their legs in the water (as we hadn't officially entered France yet)! John jumped back into ST924 along with Tom who made this whole thing possible!
As the shore got closer, our pilot boat notified us to start sailing North towards our landing beach and to avoid a nearby swimmer completing a channel swim. We could see the Shore Team setup between the groynes so started aiming for that. As we got closer, the waves started to crash making for a bumpy landing.
Both SigneTs successfully landed with Pat from the Shore Team wearing his drysuit. We gave him the boats and then hopped back into the pilot boat.
Will and John (the owners of the boats) got dropped off in Calais so they could enter France officially before travelling back with the Shore Team and the boats to ensure a smooth trip through border control. The rest of the team went back on the pilot boat to Dover. 6 hours and 12 minutes to complete this epic voyage!
Will and John step foot in Calais just after 11PM local time and start their journey to officially enter France before heading for the ferry. The Shore Team were desperately trying to pack up the boats while it got darker and darker, with hope of catching the last ferry of the day. Little did they know that check in was only 30 minutes after we arrived on the beach so it was never going to be possible! Luckily the next ferry would end up being 3am, with a 2am check in giving us plenty of time to get to the ferry terminal with the boats and the sailors.
Unfortunately, Will and John were unable to go to the Marina Office as it was closed but after wandering to the local police station were directed to the ferry terminal where they were able to sort it all out and allow them to get back on a ferry to the UK. Once through all the checks, Will finally got out of his wetsuit and into some warm clothes before getting on the ferry.
At this point, the other sailors aboard the pilot boat had almost made it back to Dover (3 hour journey!!) before the other group had even got on the ferry! They got back to our HQ in Broadstairs after 1am with the boats arriving around 4:40am in the morning!
This was an epic adventure that proved to be memorable and supported some incredible causes too. Twenty-somethings, young families and older DIYers alike can get some serious mileage out of this class, new members welcome to join our Nation-wide fleet.