Setting & Character
Itchenor feels like a sailing village before you have even tied up.
The Reach outside is filled with moorings, launches, cruisers, keelboats and dinghies. Racing fleets appear with little warning and harbour traffic passes close to the village throughout the sailing season.
Yet Itchenor itself remains compact.
There is no marina basin or large commercial waterfront. Instead there is a jetty, sailing club, harbour office, pub, boat activity and a village set back among trees and narrow lanes.
That combination gives Itchenor much of its appeal.
You are unquestionably in one of the South Coast’s busiest recreational harbours, yet there is very little sense of urban development.
The changing tide remains part of the landscape, even though the upgraded jetty now makes getting ashore considerably easier than at many other Chichester Harbour destinations.
Arrival by Sea
Itchenor lies directly beside the main navigable route through Chichester Harbour.
After entering across Chichester Bar, yachts heading inland follow the marked harbour channels towards Itchenor Reach.
The Reach itself can be busy, particularly during racing and at summer weekends, so a good lookout matters. Sailing yachts, dinghies, launches, ferries and powered craft may all be moving through the same stretch of water.
Current charts, Chichester Harbour Conservancy navigation information and Local Notices to Mariners should be checked before arrival.
For visitor berthing information, contact Chichester Harbour Patrol or Chichester Harbour Radio on VHF Channel 14, or telephone the Harbour Office on 01243 512301.
The jetty is accessible at all states of tide, which removes one of the major complications associated with visiting many of the harbour’s other villages.
That does not remove the need for good harbour navigation. It simply means the final step ashore is rather easier.
Visitor Berthing
The upgraded Itchenor Jetty is now the principal visitor facility.
The Conservancy currently provides:
- walk-ashore overnight berthing for up to 16 vessels - short-stay berthing for day visitors - touch-and-go berthing for passenger drop-off and collection - water - electricity and charging facilities - private toilets and showers - Wi-Fi - free holding-tank pump-out - access to the Itchenor Ferry.
Current published charges are £3.30 per metre per night for overnight jetty berthing and £1.65 per metre for a short stay of up to four hours.
Between 1 April and 30 September, overnight jetty berths can currently be requested up to 28 days before arrival. For visits between 1 October and 31 March, the Conservancy asks crews to contact the Harbour Office directly.
Visitor swinging moorings are also available within the harbour system.
Harbour dues remain payable separately under Chichester Harbour Conservancy’s current arrangements.
Getting Ashore
This is where Itchenor has become particularly convenient.
The Conservancy jetty provides direct walk-ashore access to the village at all states of tide.
For boats on swinging moorings, harbour launches or the Itchenor Ferry provide alternatives depending on the berth and current arrangements.
The Itchenor Ferry links the village directly with Bosham Hoe on the opposite side of the harbour, making it possible to combine the two destinations without moving the yacht.
The jetty is also a boarding point for harbour boat tours, and cycle hire is available close to the Harbour Office for crews wanting to explore farther afield.
It is difficult to imagine a much easier place from which to begin exploring Chichester Harbour ashore.
Ashore
Itchenor is small enough that everything feels close to the water.
The Ship Inn provides the obvious village pub, while cafés and other local options are available nearby.
Walking is one of the better reasons to stay.
Itchenor lies directly on the King Charles III England Coast Path, and the surrounding harbour shoreline provides excellent walking through the Chichester Harbour National Landscape.
The ferry provides another simple option. Cross to Bosham Hoe and continue on foot towards Bosham village, then return later without having moved the yacht from its berth.
Itchenor Sailing Club is also part of the village’s social and sporting identity.
Visiting yachtsmen are welcomed by the club, although UK-based visiting sailors are asked to belong to an RYA-recognised club or association. Visitors may use the club facilities for up to seven days under its current arrangements.
The club’s own hammerhead jetty may be used by visitors for up to two hours, but overnight stays there are not permitted. Overnight visitors should use Conservancy facilities instead.
Sailing & Local Water
Few places in Chichester Harbour are more closely associated with competitive sailing than Itchenor.
Itchenor Sailing Club was founded in 1927, initially to encourage amateur yacht and boat sailing and to promote racing.
Since then the club has developed a formidable racing reputation.
Its history includes Olympic sailors, International 14 racing, Fireflies, keelboats and generations of dinghy sailors. Club members were heavily represented in British Olympic sailing during the post-war years, and racing remains central to Itchenor life today.
Modern club activity continues from March through October, with racing and open meetings attracting fleets from well beyond Chichester Harbour.
For the cruising skipper, that means one practical thing: expect sailing boats.
Lots of them.
Give racing fleets room, maintain a proper lookout and remember that a boat apparently heading away from you may be preparing to tack back across the Reach remarkably soon.
Best For
Crews wanting all-tide walk-ashore visitor berthing within Chichester Harbour.
Sailors who enjoy being surrounded by an active sailing community.
Visitors wanting easy access to Bosham by ferry.
Cruising crews looking for showers, electricity, water and pump-out without entering a conventional marina.
Walkers and cyclists exploring the Chichester Harbour shoreline.
Boats using Itchenor as a base from which to explore the rest of the harbour.
Less Suitable For
Crews looking for a large marina with chandlery, extensive engineering facilities and hundreds of pontoon berths.
Visitors wanting a busy town immediately outside the boat.
Skippers who find heavily used sailing waters uncomfortable.
Anyone expecting Itchenor Reach to remain quiet during a major racing weekend.
History & Local Character
Itchenor’s modern reputation is dominated by sailing, although boats were part of the village long before the sailing club appeared.
Its position on a sheltered reach made it a natural place for moorings, working craft and access across the harbour.
The founding of Itchenor Sailing Club in 1927 established the village as one of the important centres of British dinghy and keelboat racing.
The club’s early ambitions were straightforward: encourage sailing and encourage racing.
It did both rather successfully.
After wartime closure and requisitioning, racing resumed in 1946. In the post-war years Itchenor sailors became prominent internationally, with club members involved in Olympic campaigns and major dinghy classes.
That competitive tradition is still visible today.
Yet Itchenor has avoided becoming merely a sporting venue. The ferry, harbour office, pub, moorings and village waterfront keep it connected with everyday harbour life.
Nearby Cruising
Bosham lies directly across the harbour and is connected to Itchenor by passenger ferry.
Chichester Marina lies farther inland and provides comprehensive marina and marine-service facilities.
Emsworth offers a much more strongly tidal town destination at the head of its channel.
Northney Marina provides sheltered marina berthing on the northern end of Hayling Island.
Sparkes Marina lies close to Chichester Harbour entrance.
Hayling Island / East Head provides one of the harbour’s best-known anchoring destinations.
Itchenor therefore makes an excellent central stop in a Chichester Harbour cruise.
Skipper's Notes
Itchenor may provide easy all-tide access ashore, but the water outside remains busy harbour territory.
Call Chichester Harbour Patrol or Chichester Harbour Radio on VHF Channel 14 if you need current visitor-berthing information.
If staying overnight on the Conservancy jetty during the main season, booking ahead is sensible. Current arrangements allow booking requests up to 28 days in advance between April and September.
Do not mistake the Itchenor Sailing Club hammerhead for Conservancy overnight visitor berthing. The club currently permits visiting boats alongside for up to two hours only.
Keep a particularly good lookout when club racing is under way.
Use the harbour speed limit as a maximum rather than a target.
Most importantly, once alongside, go ashore and walk around. Itchenor makes considerably more sense when viewed as a sailing village rather than simply a convenient pontoon.
Old Sea Dogs View
Itchenor may now have some of the most convenient visitor facilities in Chichester Harbour, but thankfully nobody has managed to make the place feel like a marina.
That is quite an achievement.
You can arrive at any state of tide, walk ashore, plug the boat into electricity, have a shower and even empty the holding tank.
Then you look outside and there are moorings everywhere, racing yachts charging around the Reach, a ferry pottering across to Bosham and enough dinghy sailors to make you wonder whether somebody has announced a national championship without telling you.
That is Itchenor.
The sailing club gives the place its heartbeat. Generations of very good sailors have raced from here, and the modern harbour remains every bit as active.
For a cruising crew, the upgraded jetty has turned Itchenor into one of Chichester Harbour’s easiest stopping points without removing any of the character that made it worth visiting in the first place.
Our advice is simple.
Get the boat safely alongside, leave the passage plan on the chart table for a while and go for a walk.
Then take the ferry across to Bosham.
You can always pretend it was part of the navigation exercise.
Information checked against official sources
The practical information in this Guide has been checked against current information published by Chichester Harbour Conservancy and Itchenor Sailing Club.
Visitor availability, charges, seasonal booking arrangements, ferry services, harbour operations and navigation information can change. Current charts, Local Notices to Mariners and direct Harbour Authority information should be checked before passage.
Verified facilities and information
Itchenor Jetty: Accessible at all states of tide.
Overnight visitor berthing: Walk-ashore berthing for up to 16 vessels.
Current overnight charge: £3.30 per metre per night.
Short stay: Maximum four hours; current charge £1.65 per metre.
Water: Available on the visitor jetty.
Electricity: Electric hook-up and charging facilities available.
Toilets and showers: Private washrooms with PIN-code access.
Wi-Fi: Available at the jetty.
Pump-out: Free holding-tank pump-out facility.
Maintenance piles: Available by booking through the Harbour Office; current published charge £30 per workable low tide.
Harbour contact: 01243 512301 or VHF Channel 14.
Sailing club visitor jetty: Visiting yachts may use the club hammerhead for up to two hours; overnight stays are not permitted there.
Sailing club: Itchenor Sailing Club was founded in 1927 and remains one of the UK’s leading dinghy and keelboat racing clubs.
