When seven small cutters gathered on the Solent two centuries ago, nobody expected the race to become an institution. Yet here we are in 2026, and 641 boats are competing in the 200th North Sails Cowes Week, testament not to nostalgia but to relentless evolution.
The Duke of Edinburgh understood this in 1964 when he pushed for the creation of Cowes Combined Clubs, the governing body that runs the regatta today. Now over 200 volunteers staff the event, backed by sophisticated race management software that bears no resemblance to whatever worked in 1826. On Race Day Two, that infrastructure proved its worth as the race team positioned the fleet toward the eastern Solent, where winds were forecast strongest. Competitors found themselves sailing in 8 to 14 knots of breeze under bright sun, conditions that separated the competent from the lucky.
Princess Anne fired the starting gun at the Royal Yacht Squadron. But the real name that drew attention was Sir Ben Ainslie, the five-times Olympic champion, racing IRC Class One’s Fargo and getting his first Cowes Week run. He didn’t make the podium, though. That honour went to Callisto, sailed by James Murray, a member of New Zealand’s Admiral’s Cup team. Murray had international navigator Ian Moore aboard, who lives three miles from the start line. Moore probably knows these waters better than the old cutters ever did.
The Folkboat Class, a one-design often dominant in the Round the Island Race, had its own start for the first time this year. Ray Mitchell’s If Only has collected podiums regularly, but after four races sits one point behind Gybe N, steered by Cy Grisley and Simon Evans. At the other extreme, the J/70s squeezed three races into a single day, with Martin Dent’s Jelvis leading after sharing a dead heat finish in Race 6 against Simon Perry’s Jiraffe.
Family Day brought Donna and Martin Rouse-Collen racing Andaxi, a Contessa 32 that remains competitive in the early scoreboard. But nothing carried the weight of history quite like the Dragon Bluebottle. Built in 1947 as a wedding gift to the Duke of Edinburgh, she spent years ashore before local boatbuilder David Heritage restored her. Graham and Julia Bailey now own her, crewed by Will Bedford, son of the late David Bedford, and Killian Boag, whose mother Shirley Robertson was an Olympic gold medallist. In today’s race, Bluebottle led by nearly a minute after two hours, winning from Ivan Bradbury’s Blue Haze with just nine seconds separating second from third. Later this year, the boat heads to Hong Kong for the Dragon World Championships, carrying Cowes Week’s legacy across the world.
The Flying 15s, designed by Cowes legend Uffa Fox, make up one of the smallest fleets but pack genuine pace. Graham Deegan’s A6 took the gun on day two, ahead of Richard Jordan’s Off Course, leaving Rupert Mander’s Men Behaving Badly to settle for third. One sailor summed it up in the beer tent afterwards: if you didn’t enjoy that, find another sport.
