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61-810: The Royal Ocean Racing Club is a club in London with a further clubhouse and office in Cowes , Isle of Wight . It was established in 1925 as the Ocean Racing Club , as a result of a race to the Fastnet Rock from Cowes, finishing in Plymouth. It received royal approval by King George V in November 1931 since when it has been known as the Royal Ocean Racing Club. RORC was founded to encourage long distance yacht racing and

122-402: A burin . The plate was inked, and the excess ink wiped from the flat surface before printing, so that ink remained only in the engraved lines ( intaglio printing). The process allowed very fine detail to be printed, but was slow. When corrections or alterations were needed to a chart, the copper was hammered from behind, the raised section scraped and smoothed, and the new information engraved on

183-726: A coffee shop called PO41, despite the post code for Cowes being PO31. Cowes has a Non-League football club Cowes Sports F.C. , which plays at Westwood Park. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian . Television signals are received from the Rowridge TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent on 96.1 FM, Heart South on 97.5 FM, Capital South on 103.2 FM, Easy Radio South Coast on 107.4 FM, Nation Radio South Coast on 106.0 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South on 105.2 FM and Isle of Wright based community stations: Vectis Radio on 104.6 FM and Isle of Wight Radio on 102.0 FM. The town

244-726: A convenient A2 size, are produced for leisure users. Alongside its paper charts, UKHO produces an expanding range of digital products to fulfil the impending compulsory carriage requirements of ECDIS/ENCs, as issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) . The digital range comprises Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) for use with an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) , which can be displayed and interrogated through Admiralty Vector Chart Service (AVCS). The range also includes Admiralty Raster Chart Service (ARCS), which allows paper nautical charts to be viewed in raster form on an ECDIS. Due to

305-604: A determined defence that, in 2002, the crew's courage was honoured by a local commemoration lasting several days to mark the 60th anniversary of the event. In 2004 an area of Cowes was named Francki Place in honour of the ship's commander. The Friends of the ORP Błyskawica Society is active in Cowes. There is a Błyskawica Memorial. Industry in both Cowes and East Cowes has always centred on the building and design of marine craft and materials associated with boat-making, including

366-452: A fireworks display. The opium clippers Nina (1852), Eamont (1853) and Wild Dayrell (1854) were built in Cowes. In Cowes the 18th-century house of Westbourne was home to a collector of customs whose son, born there in 1795, lived to become Dr Thomas Arnold , headmaster of Rugby School . Northwood House was the home of the Ward family. It was donated under trust to the town in 1929,

427-439: A horizontal line across an area to detect hazards that might be missed by individual soundings. Echo sounding was introduced in the 1920s, and Percy Douglas , hydrographer from 1924 to 1932, was a strong advocate of this method. As well as increasing productivity, it enabled continuous monitoring along a sounding line, reducing the chance of a hazard being missed. Isolated rocks between sounding lines could still be missed, and it

488-570: A joint venture between the Isle of Wight Council , Southern Vectis and Red Funnel . It was built on a former council depot on the Somerton Industrial Estate. The scheme went ahead largely due to losing a car park in Denmark Road for development, resulting in a lack of parking around Cowes. During the first few weeks of operation, before any Southern Vectis routes stopped at the park and ride,

549-404: A major shipping lane. Several attempts to find this were made before HMS Stork found it (and nearly struck it) in 1888. It was named Avocet Rock after the first ship to strike it. Technical developments over the years improved surveying methods and the accuracy of the charts. For depth determination, methods of measuring depth from a moving ship were developed, as well as "sweeping", dragging

610-450: A scale of 1:50,000 or smaller (1:100,000 is a smaller scale than 1:50,000) use the Mercator projection , and have since at least the 1930s. The Mercator projection has the property of maintaining angles correctly, so that a line on the earth's surface that crosses all the meridians at the same angle (a rhumb line ) will be represented on the chart by a straight line at the same angle. Thus if

671-453: A straight line is drawn on the chart from A to B, and the angle determined, the ship may sail at a constant bearing at that angle to reach B from A. Allowances for magnetic variation and magnetic deviation must also be made. However, a rhumb line is not in general the shortest distance between two points, which is a great circle . (The equator and lines of longitude are both great circles and rhumb lines.) When navigating over longer distances

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732-497: A temporary shuttle service was put in place, subsidised by Red Funnel, with a 15-minute frequency timed around morning and evening peaks. To begin with, the scheme suffered with a huge lack in the number of people using the service, receiving no passengers in its first few days of operation. Prior to the network revision by Southern Vectis in April 2006, the park and ride was served by routes 1, 2 and 3, with routes 2 and 3 running under

793-403: A written record of the stop in Cowes. It is believed that the building of an 80-ton, 60-man vessel called Rat o' Wight on the banks of the river Medina in 1589 for the use of Queen Elizabeth I sowed the seed for Cowes to grow into a world-renowned centre of boatbuilding. However, seafaring for recreation and sport remained the exception rather than the rule until much later. It was not until

854-521: Is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight . Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina , facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floating Bridge , a chain ferry . Cowes has a population of 14,370 according to the 2021 Census . Charles Godfrey Leland 's 19th-century verses describe

915-587: Is served by these local newspapers, Isle of Wight County Press , Isle of Wight Observer and Island Echo . Cowes is a gateway town for the Isle of Wight. Travellers to Southampton are served by a high speed catamaran passenger ferry from Cowes known as the Red Jet . Southern Vectis ' route 1 is the main bus service in Cowes. Single decker buses branded Red1 serve the Red Jet terminal, whilst route 1 double deckers serve

976-436: Is the start of the Isle of Wight Coastal Path . Cowes was once served by a rail link to and from the island's capital Newport but as part of cutbacks made on the recommendation of Dr Beeching in the 1960s the line to Newport was cut in 1966. The trackbed south of Arctic Road is now maintained as a cycle path. Cowes Park and Ride is a park and ride scheme on the Isle of Wight, featuring an 85-space car park and bus stop on

1037-590: The Hydrographic Office. This department of the Admiralty was established under Earl Spencer by an order in council in 1795, consisting of the Hydrographer , Alexander Dalrymple , one assistant and a draughtsman. The initial remit was to organise the charts and information in the office, and to make it available to His Majesty's ships. The Hydrographic Department began printing charts in 1800, with

1098-469: The M&;S Foodhall at Carvel Lane (the site of the former Cowes railway station ). Both run to Newport to take travellers on to other island destinations. Wightbus also ran local services around Cowes and Gurnard until 2011. The Cowes Floating Bridge connects the two towns of West Cowes and East Cowes throughout the day. It is one of a few remaining chain ferries not replaced by a physical bridge. Cowes

1159-652: The Ordnance Survey National Grid . Topography on Admiralty charts of the UK is generally based on Ordnance Survey mapping. For the small areas depicted on such maps, the differences between projections are of no practical importance. Admiralty charts are issued by the UKHO for a variety of users; Standard Nautical Charts (SNCs) are issued to mariners subject to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention , while chart folios, at

1220-456: The "Grand Survey of the British Isles" began with the appointment of George Thomas as Head Maritime surveyor. Thomas and a series of able surveyors including Michael Slater, Henry Otter , Charles Robinson, William Hewett and Frederick Beechey surveyed the coasts of Britain and Ireland over the next 30 years. Thomas developed techniques for extending triangulation over the shallow waters of

1281-505: The East being the more significant settlement. The Isle of Wight was a target of attempted French invasions, and there were notable incursions. Henrician castles were built in both settlements in the sixteenth century. The west fort in Cowes still survives to this day, albeit without the original Tudor towers, as Cowes Castle . The fort built in East Cowes is believed to have been similar but

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1342-914: The English Channel. In addition, it holds inshore racing within the Solent, primarily the Easter Regatta and IRC Nationals. The following pinnacle events are also run by the RORC: More recently it has helped establish international races away from the United Kingdom with the assistance of local clubs: The club has traditionally been based in St James's Place in Mayfair London. In 2014 the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club of Cowes merged with RORC giving

1403-404: The Isle of Wight Council to try to improve security at the site. The council have been told that members of the public are leaving their valuables inside cars at the site, which could be targeted by thieves. The site was remodelled over the turn of 2009 and 2010. A new entrance was built directly off the roundabout, with a new bus stop and shelter, and a raised kerb. The previous entrance and exit

1464-694: The RORC a more visible presence in Cowes where the majority of its Offshore Races start on the line of the Royal Yacht Squadron . The use of the building itself as a yacht club was established in 1948 by yachtsman Tiny Mitchell. RORC Rating Office is based in Lymington and the race management team relocated from London to separate offices on Cowes High Street in the 2010s. 51°30′21″N 0°08′26″W  /  51.5059°N 0.1405°W  / 51.5059; -0.1405 Cowes Cowes ( / k aʊ z / )

1525-470: The Route Rouge branding. All services to Cowes served the site, with buses using Three Gates Road to pass between the two current alternate routings, except route 1, which ran via the current park and ride branch but along Mill Hill road as opposed to Newport Road. After the network revision, routes 2 and 3 no longer served Cowes leaving only route 1 at an increased frequency of every 15 minutes to serve

1586-521: The Thames Estuary and the southern part of the North Sea, allowing the exact positions of treacherous sand banks to be determined for the first time. These surveys added large numbers of new charts, as well as improvements to old ones. By 1855, when Beaufort retired, the survey of the coasts of the United Kingdom was complete, and there were about 2,000 charts in the catalogue, covering all the oceans of

1647-512: The Urban District Council bore the name West Cowes. In 1895 West Cowes Urban District Council applied for permission to change the name of the town to Cowes officially, and this was granted on 21 August 1895. Whilst the name Cowes has become well established on infrastructure related to the town (including maps, road signage and postal addresses), the name West Cowes remained on Admiralty charts , used by sailors , until 2015, when it

1708-456: The acquisition of its first printing press. Initially charts were produced only for use by the Navy, but in 1821, Thomas Hurd , who had succeeded Dalrymple as Hydrographer in 1808, persuaded the Admiralty to allow sales to the public. The first catalogue of Admiralty charts was published in 1825, and listed 756 charts. Charts were printed from copper plates. Plates were engraved, in reverse, with

1769-626: The antiquities and natural history of the numerous places he charted. In 1841-7 Edward Belcher was engaged in the Far East, including making the first survey of Hong Kong . The longest running survey was that of Bayfield , whose survey of the Canadian coasts, the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes occupied him from 1816 to 1856. Surveys in home waters were also important. What Robinson (1962) described as

1830-496: The canal becoming an established route for the Royal Navy. As well as the "grand surveys" much detailed work was needed. A particular concern was finding isolated rocks. These were easily missed by soundings with lead and line, which did not give any information about the depths between the soundings. In 1887, two ships were lost in the southern Red Sea , fortunately without loss of life, after striking an uncharted reef close to

1891-571: The case. Chart design gradually simplified over the years, with less detail on land, focusing on features visible to the mariner. Contours were increasingly used for hills instead of hatching. All printing of Admiralty charts was carried out in England until the first World War . In 1915, the survey ship HMS Endeavour was sent to support the Gallipoli campaign , and carried printing equipment so that charts from her surveys could be rapidly made available to

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1952-501: The chart coloration gave a clear indication to users as to whether they were using a chart with depths in fathoms or feet. While depths and heights were in metres, the nautical mile continued to be an international standard. Derived from the length of 1 minute of latitude, it is defined as 1852 metres. Initially, surveys and explorations continued to be commissioned directly by the Admiralty, for example Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia in 1801–3, and Beaufort's survey of

2013-601: The design, building and navigation of sailing vessels in which speed and seaworthiness are combined. In co-operation with the offshore racing department of the Yacht Club de France , RORC is responsible for the International Rating Certificate (IRC), the principal international handicap system for yacht racing . The RORC is the principal organiser of offshore yacht races in the United Kingdom. It runs its own offshore series consisting of multiple races around

2074-418: The difference becomes important, and charts using the gnomonic projection , on which all great circles are shown as straight lines, are used for course planning. In the past, the gnomonic projection was widely used for navigation charts, and also for polar charts. Since the late 1970s, all charts at a scale of 1:50,000 or larger have used the transverse Mercator projection , which is the projection used for

2135-399: The early flying boats , and sail-making. It is the place where the first hovercraft was tested. Major present-day employers include BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies (Insyte), which occupies the site of the old Somerton Aerodrome at Newport Road, Cowes; and GKN Aerospace in East Cowes. The population of the town increases dramatically during Cowes Week , the busiest time of

2196-431: The fleet. In 1938 trials were made with the rotary offset process, using a zinc plate copied from the copper original. These were successful, and by the outbreak of World War II all chart production used this process, which was faster, and reduced wear and tear on the copper original. This development was crucial in meeting the increased wartime demand for charts. During World War II the distribution of printing facilities

2257-527: The grounds becoming Northwood Park. William George Ward was a close friend of the poet Tennyson and in whose memory the poet wrote six lines. Cowes and East Cowes became a single urban district in 1933. During an air raid of World War II on 4/5 May 1942, the local defences had been fortuitously augmented by the Polish destroyer Błyskawica (itself built by J. Samuel White in East Cowes), which put up such

2318-417: The officers involved in the activities. The history was continued to 1917 by Archibald Day, Hydrographer from 1950 to 1955 in his The Admiralty Hydrographic Service from 1795-1919 , explicitly described as a continuation of Dawson's Memoirs . Thomas Henry Tizard published a chronological list of the officers and vessels conducting British maritime discoveries and surveys until 1900. These works are all in

2379-467: The outskirts of Cowes in Somerton, on a former industrial site. It is currently served by Southern Vectis buses on route 1 every 10 minutes during the day. From the park and ride, a £2.50 return journey is available to Cowes Pontoon for the Red Jet boat to Southampton . This is one of the few return journeys Southern Vectis offer. The park and ride scheme for Cowes was launched in 2004 as part of

2440-605: The public domain. Roger Morris, Hydrographer from 1985 to 1990, published Charts and Surveys in Peace and War 1919-1970 , a further continuation of Memoirs . A less formal account of British Naval Hydrography in the 19th-Century is given by Steve Ritchie , Hydrographer 1966–1971, in The Admiralty Chart . Tony Rice has produced a listing and description of the vessels involved in surveying and oceanographic work from 1800 to 1950. A number of major overseas surveys were completed in

2501-459: The reign of keen sailor George IV that the stage was set for the heyday of Cowes as 'The Yachting Capital of the World.' In 1826 the Royal Yacht Squadron organised a three-day regatta for the first time and the next year the king signified his approval of the event by presenting a cup to mark the occasion. This became known as Cowes Regatta and it soon grew into a four-day event that always ended with

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2562-411: The river to dispel a French invasion, referred to as cow-forts or cowes. They subsequently gave their names to the towns of Cowes and East Cowes, replacing the earlier name of Shamblord. The town's name has been subject to dispute in the past, sometimes being called Cowes, and then West Cowes. For example, a milestone from the 17th century exists, calling the town Cowes, but up until the late 19th Century

2623-720: The scientific importance of Darwin's observations and collections, but Captain Robert Fitzroy's surveys of the coast of South America from the River Plate to Ecuador via the Straits of Magellan have been described as a "monumental achievement", and as "opening up the South American continent to European trade". Thomas Graves was working in the Mediterranean from 1836 to 1850. Like a number of surveyors before and since, he explored

2684-458: The site, taking passengers right to the entrance of the Red Jet terminal. Due to the higher frequency, buses no longer serve Three Gates Road to cross over the routings, so buses on the Round House leg do not serve the site. When the scheme was first launched, the price of a return ticket was £1, however, in April 2008, the price increased for the first time, doubling to £2 by Southern Vectis. This

2745-489: The smoothed area. This allowed plates to continue in use for long periods, in some cases for over a hundred years. Charts often showed a great deal of detail of features on land as well as sea. Depths were shown by individual soundings while hills and mountains were shown by hatch marks. Printing was in black and white, but some charts were hand-coloured, either to emphasise water depth or terrain, or to indicate specific features such as lighthouses. Experiments were made with

2806-478: The southern coast of Turkey (then called Karamania ) in 1811–1812. Under Hurd, the Hydrographic Office became more involved in surveying work, and by 1817 there were three vessels specifically assigned to the surveying service, HMS Protector , HMS  Shamrock , and HMS  Congo . This continued, particularly under Francis Beaufort , Hydrographer from 1829 to 1855. Over the following century

2867-533: The surveying service expanded in both size and reach, becoming a global operation. Several accounts record this history in detail. Llewellyn Styles Dawson was a surveyor particularly noted for his work in China (1865-1870) and a naval assistant in the department for five years (1876-1881). During the latter period he commenced work on the two-volume Memoirs of Hydrography which described the Royal Navy's surveying activities between 1750 and 1885, and presented biographies of

2928-415: The town's architecture is still heavily influenced by the style of ornate building that Prince Albert popularised. The name Westcowe was attested in 1413 as the name of one of two sandbanks , on each side of the River Medina estuary, so-called after a supposed likeness to cows . The name was subsequently transferred to fortifications built during the reign of Henry VIII on the east and west banks of

2989-404: The towns poetically as "The two great Cowes that in loud thunder roar/This on the eastern, that the western shore". Cowes has been seen as a home for international yacht racing since the founding of the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1815. It gives its name to the world's oldest regular regatta, Cowes Week , which occurs annually in the first week of August. Later, powerboat races are held. Much of

3050-427: The use of lithography from the 1820s, but results were not entirely satisfactory. Lithography was less expensive, and some charts were printed in this way, but printing from copper plates continued to be the main method into the 20th-Century, and in both cases from flat-bed printing machines. The most common chart size was early established as the "Double-elephant" , about 39 X 25.5 inches, and this has continued to be

3111-525: The world. An important survey in 1870 was the Suez Canal. Britain had remained aloof in the early stages of the project, believing it to be impracticable. When the canal was nearing completion, the question arose as to its suitability for naval ships. George Nares in HMS ; Newport traversed the canal in both directions taking soundings and making measurements, and also surveyed the approaches. This led to

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3172-433: The year for local businesses. The town was reported to be doing well in 2009, despite the economic downturn. The high street is where most of the retail shops in the town are located. These include specialist sailing shops catering for yachting enthusiasts, a small bookshop, hardware and homeware stores, an indoor plant shop and many more independent shops and businesses. There are a number of cafes and restaurants, including

3233-540: The years to 1855, a period dominated by Francis Beaufort , Hydrographer from 1829 to 1855. Owen carried out his survey of East Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Guardafui on the Horn of Africa in 1822–1825, an operation that cost the lives of more than half of the crew due to tropical illness. The second voyage of the Beagle to South America (1831-6) is mostly famous for

3294-629: Was abandoned c.  1546 and since destroyed. The seaport at Cowes was the first stop on English soil before crossing the Atlantic Ocean with many ships loaded with German and Swiss passengers leaving from Rotterdam and going to the New World destination of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . These passengers were going to become British subjects in Colonial America , and the English captains made

3355-605: Was closed at a later date for a longer period, with buses using stops on the main road for around a month. The newly remodelled site was completed on 22 January 2010, at which point buses started to enter the site again. Admiralty chart Admiralty charts have been produced by UKHO for over 200 years, with the primary aim of saving and protecting lives at sea. The core market for these charts includes over 40,000 defence and merchant ships globally. Today, their products are used by over 90% of ships trading internationally. The British admiralty charts are compiled, drawn and issued by

3416-484: Was corrected following a letter from a Cowes resident. Red Funnel , the Southampton-based ferry company that provides routes from Southampton to both Cowes and East Cowes, has continued to use the name West Cowes for the town in information and publicity and as the name for the town's terminal. In earlier centuries the two settlements were much smaller and known as East and West Shamblord or Shamelhorde ,

3477-418: Was due to a rise in costs and substantial cut in payments for free travel by the Isle of Wight Council. This later increased again on 2 February 2009 along with other £2 fares to £2.50 as part of Southern Vectis' annual fare review. Later in 2008, there were some instances of vandalism at the site, with one woman's car having its windows smashed after she left it in the site overnight. Police are working with

3538-1017: Was not until the development of sideways-looking sonar in the 1960s and 70s that this risk could be eliminated. Most navigation today uses GPS chart plotters with electronic charts. Paper charts continue to be issued, and are valuable for passage planning and course plotting. The scale of the charts can vary according to purpose; large-scale charts often cover approaches to harbours , such as Port Approach Guides, medium-scale charts often cover frequently used coastal areas, and small-scale charts are regularly used for navigation in more open areas. A series of small craft charts are also available at suitable scales. Admiralty charts include information on: depths ( chart datum ), coastline, buoyage, land and underwater contour lines, seabed composition, hazards, tidal information (indicated by " tidal diamonds "), prominent land features, traffic separation schemes radio direction finding (RDF) information, lights, and other information to assist in navigation. Navigation charts at

3599-440: Was on a much larger scale than previously. There was also concern about the safety of the original printing plates in the event of air raids, and high quality baryta paper proofs were made as backups. From the late 1940s, developments in printing technology made colour printing possible with sufficient accuracy for chart work. The first use of printed (as opposed to hand-drawn) colour was in marking of water depths. Solid pale blue

3660-422: Was used for water to the 3 fathom line, and a ribbon of blue for six fathoms. Metrication of Admiralty charts began in 1967, and it was decided to synchronise this with the introduction of a new style of chart, with increased use of colour, which continues in use today. The most striking change is the use of buff for land. Green is used for drying (intertidal) areas, and magenta to indicate lights and beacons. Thus

3721-440: Was widened as an exit, and buses are now able to use the site without doing the large turn or being affected and forced to reverse by badly parked vehicles. The rearrangement also provides more spaces. A new bus shelter was due to be installed at the site on 24 November 2009, leading to the closure of the site to buses from 11   am, with temporary bus stops on the main road outside, although this didn't happen as planned. The site

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