Please see below a message from the team at Cowes Week in relation to their upcoming Bicentenary Regatta in 2026.
Welcome to The Briefing, your inside line to Cowes Week. Each month, we’ll deliver the latest news, events and voices from the heart of British Sailing in the run up to the 200th Anniversary of Cowes Week.
The momentum is building in the run up to Cowes Week’s 200th anniversary – a truly remarkable milestone for one of Britain’s most historic and celebrated sporting events. The story began on 10 August 1826, when seven cutters gathered off Cowes Castle to compete for a gold cup worth £600. At the firing of the start gun, they weighed anchor and with no racing rules or handicap, they set off. After a closely fought race including a grounding, Joseph Weld’s Arrow (pictured above) crossed the finish line first, marking the beginning of a sailing tradition that would capture the world’s imagination.
Over the past two centuries, yachts from across the globe, crewed by an extensive list of royalty, professional and Corinthian sailors alike, have raced here, each adding to the legacy of a regatta that has become synonymous with world-class sailing, community spirit, and summer on the Solent. The regatta has helped pioneer modern day yacht racing, including initiating the rules of road, crucially the port-and-starboard rule and the development of modern handicapping systems.
Since its inception, the regatta has only been cancelled on three occasions – during the two World Wars and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic, a testament to its resilience and enduring appeal. As we prepare for this landmark celebration, we’re reflecting on two centuries of competition, camaraderie, and adventure on the water. We’re looking forward to a Cowes Week that promises to be one for the history books. Our newsletter will keep you up to date with the plans, announcements, and special events taking shape for next year; plus, you’ll be the first to know when entries open. Subscribe to our newsletter to follow along and hope to see you on the water.
RECOLLECTIONS OF COWES
Each month, we’ll be inviting faces from the world of sailing — from legends such as Sir Ben Ainslie, Shirley Roberston & Hannah Mills to Historian and avid racer Dan Snow — to share a short personal reflection on what Cowes Week means to them. From gold medallists to rising stars, from yacht designers to lifelong racers, these recollections will offer a glimpse into the unique features that have defined this regatta.
Follow along each month as we share stories, perspectives, and experiences from those who’ve helped shape Cowes Week over the years.
If you’d like to read your own story in a future edition, please do share it with us. Tales of unforgettable races, friendly rivalry, family history, or a moment that captures the spirit of the event, we’d love to hear about it all!
ON THE WATER – A Cowes Week 2025 Recap
It’s hard to believe that it is already three months since the last cannons fired at Cowes Week 2025 but as the nights are drawing in, our thoughts turn to 2026.
Next year is the 200th anniversary of Cowes Week. A truly momentous occasion.
Cowes Week is the world’s oldest and longest running sailboat racing event. It’s possible, indeed probable, that the very first formally organised boat races held anywhere in the world took place in Cowes Roads between different Royal Navy cutters. We are working on plans to celebrate in style and of course hope to have both the Red Arrows and the fireworks back. If we can do, we will do.
Regardless, seven great days of boat racing will take place starting on 1st August. Entries aren’t quite at their high of 20 years ago but we are on the way back, up 14% in 2025 at 440 entries, and we’ve already received a lot of expressions of interest for next year. We’re expecting between five and six hundred boats for the bicentenary regatta and we’d love to have you with us.
So, what did we, as regatta organisers, learn to take forward from the 2025 regatta?
Broadly speaking, course lengths were about right; we didn’t have too many comments there. Sunday was quite a long day. However, knowing Monday was a write-off, we gave you some extra time on the water. The rest of the week went well from a racing perspective. Some of the feedback is that the courses lacked enough reaching legs, which is something we will look at for 2026. Reaching in breeze is fun, and in light air with a cross tide it can be tactically demanding, although we have tried to avoid long reaching legs in ten knots of wind as they can be somewhat processional.
We ran two races a day for the Swallow class this year and we recognise that quite often value-for-money can be related to the number of races sailed. We have a couple of new classes likely to join the event, including one for long keel yachts so that we can incorporate some specialist racing for that style of design that avoids tacking up the green against the tide. The ethos of Cowes Week is to do one longer race per day. The Solent almost always has overtaking lanes, so long races don’t usually become a procession. However, if you or the class you sail in would like to look at more than one race a day, please let us know. We have adapted to be able to deliver changes in the past and are happy to look into it if there is demand.
Ashore, there was the usual mix of black-tie balls and crew parties and the now very well established Friday night prize giving which was introduced in 2021, rounded it off in style. Keep an eye on our new monthly newsletter for updates on confirmed entertainment for 2026.
We’re always happy to take feedback so if you have any thoughts about this year’s regatta, whether you took part or not, please do share any feedback with us.
We are getting excited about 2026, and are planning a fitting celebration of 200 years as one of the world’s most successful sporting events. We very much hope you will join us.
ONE TO WATCH – Sailing the Shipping Forecast with the Reverend Richard Coles
Episode 3, Wight
Words by Martin Bean, Course Setting Coordinator
Reverend Richard Coles came to Cowes on the Sunday of Cowes Week to film an episode of Sailing the Shipping Forecast, a TV show on More4. The episode on Wight will be one of four in the series filmed around the UK coast this summer. The show will also cover Lundy, Faroes and Thames.
The show aims to highlight the beauty of the UK coast, the multitude of diverse activities that occur and some of the people involved in them.
Emma Fentiman, the producer, briefed us on their approach and the Royal Yacht Squadron kindly allowed filming to take place in the building, on the platform and from the marina. The film crew, Richard and Emma joined the Course Setting team for the 0700 discussion and the ‘pitch’ to the Principal Race Officer, Phil Warwick, at 0750, when the pattern for the day’s racing is discussed and agreed.
This year we were joined by the excellent meteorologist Steve Carver, who briefed us on the likely wind strength and direction for the day.
Talking to Richard we stressed the Corinthian aspect of sailing; with thousands of sailors on over thirty starts a day supported by a huge network of volunteers afloat and ashore, who all contribute to what we hope is a positive and fun Cowes Week – the Joy of Sailing.
Richard then went on to watch the starts and film on the water on what was a breezy Sunday as predicted by the Shipping Forecast and our own Steve Carver.
e you’ll enjoy watching behind the scenes with Reverend Richard Coles and the Cowes Week team.
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