COWES WEEK

Image: Paul Wyeth

After announcing the cancellation of the 2020 regatta on 5 June last year, Cowes Week is back for 2021 with new classes and new parties set to make this a year to remember. The famous regatta is one of the UK’s longest running sporting events, having first taken place in 1826 and is the largest of its kind in the world, attracting hundreds of yachts in up to 42 classes.

Although entries opened later than usual this year, on 29 March, the event was already carrying over nearly 200 entries from 2020.We can expect to see thousands of competitors race, ranging from weekend sailors to World Champions and Olympic medallists. Over the years the event has attracted both British and foreign royalty, along with many famous faces too.

What is so unique about Cowes Week is the eclectic mix of competitive racing and crew parties, for those who are happy to burn the midnight oil whilst participating in seven days of demanding racing.The lively après-sail atmosphere means there are plenty of social activities onshore for sailors and the thousands of spectators.

A CLASS ACT Several classes that raced more than 50 years ago are still racing today such as Dragons, Flying Fifteens, Solent Sunbeams, Swallows, Victories and X-one-designs. It is the mixture of classic and ultra-modern designs that adds to the regatta’s uniqueness.

Image: Tom Gruitt (Right: Prince Philip. Image: UK Crown Copyright 2021)

The Duke of Edinburgh was a regular competitor at Cowes Week, adding a very welcome royal element to the week, as well as being a competitive entrant in the regatta in his own right.

It was not until 1964 that, on the suggestion of Prince Philip, Cowes Combined Clubs was formed to run and organise the regatta. This body represented the seven clubs involved in managing the racing (Royal Yacht Squadron, Royal London Yacht Club, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Royal Southampton Yacht Club, Royal Southern Yacht Club, Island Sailing Club and Royal Ocean Racing Club) and Cowes Town Regatta Committee. That structure is still in place, delivering a single set of racing instructions for the regatta and guiding in a modern and evolving race management system.

In 2004, on its 40th anniversary, Cowes Combined Clubs moved into a new purpose-built Regatta Centre, which was officially opened by HRH Prince Philip.

For 2021, there will be eight IRC classes, Black Group One Designs such as the J/109, as well as 17 One Design Day Boat classes in the White Group.

A completely new class this year is the Club Cruiser Division where it is planned to run two starts each day, depending on the number of entries. There will be a further four starts in the Performance Cruiser Division.

The decision was taken to split cruisers into Performance and Club divisions to recognise the very different performance characteristics across the range of yacht designs, as well as the sometimes more family orientated crew lists in the club cruisers.The team behind Cowes Week believe this will deliver high-quality racing for everybody, with similar boats and like-minded crews in the different divisions. There will also be a new trophy for the Club Cruiser Division, sponsored by The Cruising Association.

Laurence Mead, regatta director, said:“What a year! We have so many sailors desperate to get back on the water, and I think this will be a fantastic summer for boat racing all round. We are working flat out to deliver a great CowesWeek.”

OPENING PARTY New for this year is the first Cowes Week opening party, which will take place on Saturday 31 July after race day one. The event will take place at Cowes Yacht Haven, as will the overall prize giving on 6 August.

For the first time there will also be a daily prize giving, open to all competitors, to be held on the Parade at 18:00 each day, celebrating the race winners across the regatta, which it is hoped will become a great social occasion in its own right.

As Laurence Mead said: “Winning a race at Cowes Week is an achievement that we want everybody to be able to celebrate!” After the prize giving there will be plenty of time to enjoy all of the social events throughout the town, at yacht clubs, pubs, bars and restaurants, all subject to the Covid guidelines in place at that time. Laurence continued: “At the time of writing, and based on government guidelines, we are expecting to be able to have a sociable event built around some great boat racing, but we have taken an early decision to cancel the fireworks to make the event as Covid safe as possible, but there will be great racing for thousands of keen sailors and, in the end, that is what matters most.

“Unfortunately there are also no Red Arrows this year as they are fully booked. We plan to have both back in the future as they are an integral part of the week.”

LOOKING AHEAD With 100,000 people visiting during the regatta, Cowes Week has an inevitable environmental impact on the water and on the shoreside. However, CowesWeek Limited has signed up with Sailors for the Sea ‘Clean Regattas Programme’ and been awarded Silver Level status. The organisers also work with The Green Blue, as well as signing up with the Clean Seas campaign - Turn the Tide on Plastic.

31 July - 6 August www.cowesweek.co.uk Standard entry fee up to 23 July

Moorings: Cowes Yacht Haven East Cowes Marina Shepards Wharf Marina Whitegates River Pontoons Cowes Harbour Moorings

Future Dates: ■ 2022: 30 July - 6 August ■ 2023: 29 July - 5 August ■ 2024: 27 July - 3 August

CWL will be raising awareness of sustainability issues and highlighting how we can all help to make a difference, both on and off the water. Some of the initiatives include installation of water filling stations and improved waste recycling around the town.

Back in January it was announced that CWL had been selected by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to participate in the 5G Test and Create project, exploring how 5G can improve people’s lives and help the UK build back better from the pandemic.

Matt Warman, minister for digital infrastructure, said:“Connected Cowes is just one of the ways we are exploring 5G’s uncharted waters through our £200 million testbeds and trials programme. I look forward to seeing it demonstrate how 5G can allow anyone, even those hundreds of miles from the coast, to experience the thrill of yacht racing.”

The Connected Cowes 5G Project will see high definition 360° cameras fitted

The Princess Royal pays a visit to Cowes Week. Image: Paul Wyeth to 50 boats, beaming back real-time, high definition pictures to the Cowes Live TV presentation, which will be shown on big screens around the town, as well as being available on the internet.

A virtual reality lounge on the Parade in Cowes will enable spectators to wear headsets and be transported out to one of the 50 boats, literally seeing exactly what is going on across the Solent.

Race organisers will also use new technology to enhance their race management capabilities, and with hundreds of boats circulating on 42 different race courses every day that is an enormous challenge in its own right.

You do not need technology to watch all the action though. One of the best locations to watch the starts ashore each morning is the area between the Castle of the Royal Yacht Squadron and the cannons. Racing is scheduled to start at 10am every day. In the afternoon, head along the Green towards Egypt Point to watch the fleet as they finish.

For those wanting to watch from the water, there are a number of spectator boat options, offering trips to watch the racing action up close.

Whether competing or following the action, enjoy!

Singers Vanessa White (The Saturdays) and Ashley Roberts (The Pussycat Dolls). Image: Chris Jackson / Getty Images The Windeler Cup will feature small keelboats. Image: Paul Wyeth Shootin’ the Breeze We catch up with Laurence Mead, Cowes Week regatta director.

QWHEN DID YOU START SAILING? LM: I started sailing when I was a nipper! I honestly cannot remember when that was but I started on Lake Victoria in Malawi, Africa, in an Enterprise. When we returned to England it was a Mini Sail at Shearwater Lake in Wiltshire. Then Fireballs, 505s, J24s… you name it I have probably sailed it!

QYOU HAVE COMPETED ALL OVER THE WORLD. DO YOU HAVE ANY PARTICULAR CAREER HIGHLIGHTS? LM: I suppose my career highlight from a results perspective is 14th in the World Match Racing rankings. Back in the early ‘90s all of the top America’s Cup sailors were doing the world circuit and I managed to get to 14th in the world rankings before a lack of budget, and frankly a lack of talent, caught up with me. I have raced Russell Coutts three times head-to-head and have a 2-1 win record, so long ago decided to call that my racing career highlight! I have won various class Nationals and six different Hong Kong Class Championships.

Actually, however, racing with my children has given me the greatest pleasure. I did Cowes Week in a Flying 15 with my daughter when she was about 10 and we won a race on the way to third overall. I have raced a fair bit offshore two-handed with my son Oscar and that always gives me huge pleasure. Those are the races I cherish.

QYOU BECAME REGATTTA DIRECTOR IN 2018, BUT WHEN DID YOU FIRST RACE AT COWES WEEK? LM: My first race at Cowes Week would have been something like 1979. I was a sailmaker at Team Sails in Fareham and I did it on a Sigma 33. I was cutting spinnakers for the class - you cannot believe how many metres of red, white and blue spinnaker cloth I cut that year! Back then it was all done with a hot knife by hand on a paper pattern. These days, of course, it is all computerised.

QWHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE COWES WEEK? LM: I am not sure that any one Cowes Week stands out for me. It is such a diverse week of great racing and fabulous socialising that every event is different. My first attendance at Cowes Week was in 1975 when, as a 14-year-old, I slept in a tent to watch the Admiral’s Cup. My family was living in Hong Kong at the time, so my best friend and I managed to spend a week watching the racing and supporting the Hong Kong team while sleeping in a tent in some garden - that sticks in the memory. We won a race in the J/109 Class in 2017, which was a Cowes classic. A SW sea breeze fighting a SE sea breeze and two transitions from one to the other in the race. A proper battle, but huge fun.

QWHAT DOES YOUR ROLE AS REGATTA DIRECTOR INVOLVE? LM: As Regatta Director I joined the team to manage the on-water activities, but in the last nine months I have taken over the onshore management role as well, so now it encompasses literally everything to do with the regatta. First and foremost it is about the racing and the quality of the racing, so a lot of my time is spent with the Sailing Committee planning how we can deliver a world-class event to the competitors.

Cowes Week is a regatta not a world championship and it tests the full range of sailing skills, but all that said, the races need good, interesting courses and strong, clear communication between the Race Committee (and the 400 volunteers from nine yacht clubs who make it all happen!) and the competitors. As Regatta Director I am fortunate that my tenure coincides with Cowes Week developing some of the best race management information technology systems in the world. Our competitor app, sending courses and communications to 42 classes and 650 boats every five minutes, is world leading tech. Thankfully the old course-boards were long gone before I got here…

QLAST YEAR’S EVENT WAS CANCELLED, BUT HOW WILL COVID RESTRICTIONS IMPACT THIS YEAR’S COWES WEEK (AT THE TIME OF WRITING)? LM: We are hopeful that Covid will have very little impact on the regatta this year. We have had to cancel the fireworks, which we felt was prudent, but with plenty of fresh air out on the racecourse the sailing should be unaffected, and we are planning a full social programme, including our new opening party, sponsored by SlimWine’s Cuvée 450 brand, where we will be serving free bubbly to all competitors at the party.

QWHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF THE WEEK? LM: All of it. My alarm goes at 5am and I get to bed after midnight every day for two weeks, but I honestly enjoy it all. Seeing the happy faces as people finish a windy race maybe? Or the fist pumps every boat seems to give if they get the winners cannon from the RYS. It does not matter how big the boat is, the effect is the same!

QCAN WE EXPECT ANYTHING NEW FOR 2021? LM: On the water the big change for 2021 is the split of the Cruiser Division into so-called Performance Cruisers and Club Cruisers. I think the names are self-explanatory, but we want all sailors to have a great race between similar boats. In the IRC divisions (eight of them) we want it to be the most competitive racing of the year in the Solent, but in Club Cruisers, of course, it is as much about taking part and enjoying the ambience of the week as it is about winning.

QWHY DO YOU THINK SAILORS COME BACK YEAR AFTER YEAR? LM: Cowes Week is a truly unique event. There is nothing else like it almost throughout the world. I was talking to a friend in Australia recently and Sydney, despite being one of the world’s great yachting destinations, has nothing similar. It is a throwback to the past, a proper regatta with all that entails (black tie balls, crew parties and hard racing), but is still a hugely enjoyable week for everybody who comes along.

QWHEN DO YOU START PREPARING FOR NEXT YEAR’S COWES WEEK? LM: We have already started planning 2022. In fact, we have started thinking about 2026, which will be the 200th anniversary of Cowes Week. With something on the scale of this event it is a rolling evolution process rather than a stop-start every year. As I sail very actively I always get plenty of advice from competitors (!), and I am always trying to incorporate that into making Cowes Week as good as it possibly can be.