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Cowes Week is the longest-running regular regatta in the world. The event is held on the Solent (the area of water between southern England and the Isle of Wight made tricky by strong double tides) and in the small town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight. It is run by the Cowes Combined Clubs, a syndicate of the yacht clubs in West Cowes, headed by the exclusive Royal Yacht Squadron from whose fort many of the races are started by cannon fire. A regatta is a boat race or series of boat races. ...
Satellite image showing the Solent, separating the Isle of Wight from mainland Britain The Solent is a stretch of sea separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of Great Britain. ...
Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification - by Athelstan 927 Area - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi - Water (%) Population...
The Isle of Wight is an English island and county, off the southern English coast, to the south of the county of Hampshire. ...
Cowes High Street Location within the British Isles Cowes Esplanade and Cowes Castle (home of the Royal Yacht Squadron) Cowes from sea Cowes is a seaport town on the Isle of Wight, an island due south of the major southern English port of Southampton. ...
The Isle of Wight is an English island and county, off the southern English coast, to the south of the county of Hampshire. ...
Cowes is a seaport town on the Isle of Wight, an island due south of the major southern English port of Southampton. ...
The Royal Yacht Squadron is considered by many people to be the world’s most prestigious yacht club located on the coast at Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. ...
Description
Cowes Week is held at the beginning of August, set after Glorious Goodwood in the social calendar, which in most years means, from the Friday after the last Tuesday in July, until the following Friday. It is occasionally moved to another week if the state of the tides in the normal week is unfavourable, as happened in 2004. The regatta finishes with a Friday evening fireworks display launched from barges in the Solent. Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond. ...
The Season or social season is that portion of the year when the members of polite society of a city can be expected to be resident in town (as opposed to the country), and when debutante balls, dinner parties, and charity galas are held. ...
2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Satellite image showing the Solent, separating the Isle of Wight from mainland Britain The Solent is a stretch of sea separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of Great Britain. ...
A typical Cowes Week now has at least thirty-five starts a day for classes of cruiser-racers, one designs and keelboats; around nine hundred boats take part. Cowes also plays host to visiting foreign warships, sail training vessels and celebrated high profile yachts. During this time the Solent, which is a busy commercial waterway, is filled with boats of all classes and is particularly colourful due to the spinnakers (the large triangular sail hoisted at the front of a yacht when running downwind). From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e. ...
A yacht was originally defined as a light, fast sailing vessel used to convey important persons. ...
Satellite image showing the Solent, separating the Isle of Wight from mainland Britain The Solent is a stretch of sea separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of Great Britain. ...
A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing downwind (with the wind behind the boat). ...
A modern yacht A yacht (From Dutch Jacht meaning hunt(er)) was originally defined as a light, fast sailing vessel used to convey important persons. ...
As well as the sailing activities, the week includes a large number of onshore events including live music and cocktail parties. From private or commercial house parties, and nominally private yacht clubs and boats, through marquees erected in the marinas serving food and drink, through to crowds overflowing from busy public houses and restaurants around the narrow high street, the water and the town become a hive of activity into the early hours of each morning.
History The festival originates from the Prince Regent's interest in yachting which continued after he became George IV in 1820. The first race started at 09:30 on Thursday the 10th August 1826 with the prize of a "Gold Cup of the value of £100" and was held under the flag of the Royal Yacht Club, which later became the Royal Yacht Squadron. Another race was held the next day for prize money only (£30 for first place, £20 for second). Prince Regent (or Prince Regnant, as a direct borrowing from French language) is a prince who rules a country instead of a sovereign, e. ...
George IV (George Augustus Frederick) (12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death. ...
1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
The Royal Yacht Squadron is considered by many people to be the world’s most prestigious yacht club located on the coast at Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. ...
Until World War I, big cutters and raters were raced by gentlemen amateurs employing skippers and crew. In the twenties and thirties there were cruiser handicap classes and local one-designs (although the six to eight and twelve metre classes attracted the most racing interest). Following World War II, when there was a revival of big yacht racing, ocean racing classes started to predominate, especially after the first Admiral's Cup event was held in 1957 and the growth in popularity of the two ocean-going races that start and finish the regatta The Channel and the Fastnet. The Fastnet, which rounds the Fastnet rock far out in the Atlantic and can be dangerous, is held in odd-numbered years only, so another offshore course is sailed in even years. Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire French Empire Italy Russian Empire Kingdom of Serbia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria German Empire Ottoman Empire Commanders Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Ferdinand Foch Nikolay II Nikolay Yudenich Radomir Putnik Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Reinhard Scheer Franz Josef I Oskar...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Social issues of the 1920s. ...
This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...
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Inshore yacht racing on Sydney Harbour, Australia Yacht racing is the sport of competitive sailing. ...
The Admirals Cup is a yachting race series in the United Kingdom. ...
1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Fastnet race is a yachting race in the United Kingdom. ...
The Fastnet race is a yachting race in the United Kingdom. ...
In the decades following World War II, yachting moved away from its image as a rich man's sport to one which is enjoyed by many today in modest self-skippered 30 to 40 foot yachts. The attraction of Cowes Week has also given life to many water-based activities and sailing schools promoting the sport of sailing to all age groups and walks of life. Although certain functions in the week are still the preserve of the elite or members-only clubs, Cowes Week emcompasses a wide portfolio of events and attractions open to the public. These are marketed to a very diverse range of interests, including ones totally unconnected with sailing.
The Childs Cup The Childs Cup is a special trophy awarded every year at Cowes week to the boat that wins the Wednesday race. It was donated by David, Michael and Ken Childs who sailed Victorys z67, z41 (sunk in 1997 Cowes week) and z 58 in Portsmouth harbour, and whose nephew Robert Childs and great-niece Florence now present the award. Portsmouth is a city of about 189,000 people located in the county of Hampshire on the southern coast of Great Britain. ...
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