First sailed in 1826 under the flag that became the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes Week is the week the Season leaves the lawns for the Solent.
Cowes Week, the sailing regatta of the London Season, runs on The Solent off Cowes, Isle of Wight, from Saturday 31 July to Friday 6 August 2027.
The first race off Cowes was sailed on Thursday 10 August 1826, for a gold cup worth £100. It ran under the flag of the club that later became the Royal Yacht Squadron. The regatta has been sailed every August since.
Until the First World War the big cutters were raced by gentlemen amateurs who employed the crew. Today the fleet runs from Olympic and world champions to families racing a boat they keep on a mooring.
Around 500 boats and 2,500 competitors sail up to forty races a day. On the Solent two tides a day meet in a narrow channel, which makes the water hard to read.
Racing finishes in the afternoon, and the Parade and the yacht clubs take over in the evening. Cowes Week Limited runs the regatta, one of the longest-running of any kind still sailed.