North Sails Cowes Week
When 199 years ago seven small cutters came together to race, creating the very first Cowes Week, coordination probably wasn’t top of their priorities. But the event that they started has turned into a true festival of sailing.
This year 641 boats are racing around the Solent for the 200th regatta. Fortunately, Cowes Week has moved with the times, a process kicked off by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh who, in 1964, promoted the creation of Cowes Combined Clubs, which became the organising authority for the week. Over 200 volunteers from those clubs now make North Sails Cowes Week happen, supported by a highly technical and very professional course setting and race management software system.
The forecast for Race Day Two had the best breeze in the eastern Solent. The race team sent the fleets in that direction where sailors were rewarded with 8 to 14 knots of breeze and bright sunshine.
The Royal connection continues. Her Royal Highness Princess Anne fired the first starting gun at the Royal Yacht Squadron to get the fleet away over the start line. Sailing royalty in the form of five-times Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie made his first appearance of the week racing on IRC Class One’s Fargo. After three hours of racing New Zealand’s Admiral’s Cup team member Callisto, sailed by James Murray, was the winner, with Sir Ben missing the podium on this occasion. Callisto has international navigator Ian Moore on board, who happens to live just three miles away from the start line so he probably does know the water at least as well as anybody else!
With 19 entries, the Folkboat Class has its own start at Cowes Week this year, a welcome addition to the event for one of the designs which often dominate the annual Round the Island Race. Ray Mitchell’s If Only has been on the podium more often than not but after four races finds himself a single point behind Gybe N sailed by Cy Grisley and Simon Evans. At the other end of the spectrum, the über-modern J/70s are squeezing in three races a day in their mini-series. Martin Dent’s Jelvis currently leads after sharing a dead heat finish in Race 6 today with Simon Perry’s Jiraffe.
Sunday was also Family Day at North Sails Cowes Week with one of the regatta’s perennial challengers in the Contessa 32 Class, Andaxi, sailed by Donna and Martin Rouse-Collen, again on the podium in the early scoreboard after today’s race.
There can however be no greater connection between the history of Cowes Week and today’s racing than the Dragon Bluebottle. She was built in 1947 and given as a wedding present to the Duke of Edinburgh. After having been laid ashore for a few years, she was renovated by local Cowes boatbuilder David Heritage. She is now in the hands of Graham and Julia Bailey, legends in their own right, crewed by Will Bedford, son of Solent legend David Bedford, and Killian Boag, son of Solent and Olympic legend Shirley Robertson.
Bluebottle has gone on to be competitive in international Dragon events across Europe. In today’s race Bluebottle had nearly a one minute lead after the end of the two hour race, winning from Ivan Bradbury’s Blue Haze. She in turn was was just nine seconds in front of Bertie sailed by Simon Barter.
Later this year Bluebottle will head to Hong Kong for the Dragon World Championships, taking the history of Cowes Week with her.
There is a stellar fleet of eighteen Flying 15s racing at North Sails Cowes Week 2026. Designed by local Cowes legend (another one!) Uffa Fox, the Flying 15 is the smallest boat in the regatta but perfectly capable of planing across the Solent in a good breeze.
For once in a blue moon, Men Behaving Badly sailed by Rupert Mander didn’t take the winner’s gun, falling to third behind Graham Deegan’s A6 which took the winners cannon and Richard Jordan’s Off Course which took second.
All in all an absolutely fabulous day of boat racing, delivered as it is so often by great race management and awesome conditions on the Solent. As one competitor was heard to say in the beer tent afterwards: “If you didn’t enjoy that you should probably take up a different sport”. But for thousands of sailors who have so far enjoyed two brilliant days at North Sails Cowes Week, no doubt the opposite is true. Bring on Monday.