The Trimast, commonly referred to as the Sails of the South, is a –high structure situated between two carriageways of the

M275 motorway The M275 is a long, dual three-lane motorway in Hampshire, southern England. It is the principal road route for entering and leaving Portsmouth. It continues as the A3 into Portsmouth, and meets the M27 at its northern terminus. From the mo ...

just outside

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was unveiled in March 2001 in order to enhance the entrance to the city as part of the regeneration scheme The Gateway Project. HGP Architects, whose offices are located in Fareham less than away, realised the scheme and installation. The structure is one of the tallest in Portsmouth. The physical appearance of the Sails are a masted tri-sail, flanked by poles and cables on either side of the carriageway to form Tipner Bridge. The Sails are illuminated in

violet Violet may refer to: Common meanings * Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue * One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly: ** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants Places United States * Viol ...

at night. In addition, there are bird roosting sites in nearby

Tipner Lake Tipner Lake forms the north eastern section of Portsmouth Harbour. It is not an actual lake, but the reclamation of land north of Horsea Island and the building of the M275 motorway in the early 1970s, which passes over a bridge to the west of t ...

. The sails of the south was part of the redundant but later revived gateway project, this and the refurbishment of the nearby bridge was the only parts of the project to be realised. The bridge intended to take the M275 over a roundabout of an unbuilt junction roundabout. In 2006 vandals smashed 21 of the 24 lights that light up the structure. As of 14/07/2015, they are yet to be fixed.

References

External links

The Sails of the South

Information Sheet (PDF)
Transport in Hampshire Buildings and structures in Portsmouth {{Hampshire-geo-stub