The Joy of Cowes

It’s always a joy to be back in Cowes during August whether or not you are part of one of the sailing teams which descend on the Isle of Wight this month.
Along with the sailing, the yachting town adopts something of a festival atmosphere and it is not simply during the week of the famous regatta.
This year the Royal Yacht Squadron from where all Cowes Week racing is controlled, has itself been celebrating its bi-centenary with its own week-long regatta ahead of Cowes Week itself which today is in its sixth day. Then this Sunday will see the start of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Rolex 700-mile round trip Fastnet race to the Fastnet Rock off the southern coast of Ireland and back to Plymouth.
Cowes Week itself is one of the country's longest running sporting events, having first taken place in 1826. The aspirational and inclusive sailing regatta is the largest of its kind in the world, attracting between 800 and 1,000 yachts and around 7,000 competitors race during the week, ranging from weekend sailors to world champions and Olympic medallists.
The lively festival atmosphere means there are plenty of social and exciting onshore activities for sailors and the thousands of spectators who visit Cowes each year and you’ll find just as many people on the high street and in the race village at the yacht haven during the evening till late night as there are during the day. Maybe more because during the day the sailors are on the water.
Everywhere you will see flags like this branding the name of the title sponsor for the last five years, Aberdeen Asset Management. But the organisation is bowing out after this week’s event. So the question on everyone’s lips this week is who will take up the challenge of giving its support and name to the event next year?
But the week’s not over yet, and on Sunday close to 400 yachts will be setting off at noon for the 46th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race. It only takes place every other year.
 
Then, just for something completely different, a few miles inland this weekend the Island’s famous two-day Garlic Festival  is under way — food and entertainment at its very best with a vast array of eats, treats, sights and sounds.