KEN ENDEAN, a sailing instructor at the age of 20, spent the next 34 years in the construction industry but also cruised extensively in home waters between Scotland and Biscay. He has been a regular contributor to Yachting Monthly and Practical Boat Owner’s cruising and pilotage columns since 1977 and is the author of Adlard Coles’ Channel Havens, and Coastal Turmoil: Winds, Waves and Tidal Races. He and his wife, Mary sail a Sabre 27.
Skippers who risk the Raz with the currents flowing fast are often relieved and puzzled to find it placid
Every year, hundreds of yachts head south, around the western corner of Brittany, bound for the warm weather and golden beaches of North Biscay. Most passage plans will give particular attention to the Raz de Sein, a tidal gate that has a reputation for rough water and for which pilot books publish emphatic health warnings. Twenty miles south
