Cowes Week Ltd has announced that entries for the 2024 Regatta are now open.
At 198 years young, Cowes Week is the world’s longest running regatta. It remains one of the pre-eminent and best-known events in the global sailing calendar. In 2024 the team hope to welcome around 500 boats racing in up to 36 different classes and the organisers have their sights set on even greater participation over the next couple of years leading up to the bicentenary of the event in 2026.
Super Early Bird entries are available until Sunday 11 February. Competitors can then make an Early Bird entry until Sunday 28 April or a Standard Entry until Sunday 14 July, and last-minute entries can still be made right up to the eve of the Regatta. Both regatta and daily entries are available.
This unique event sees boats of all types competing for some of the world’s most prestigious sailing silverware over a week’s worth of races either from the famous Royal Yacht Squadron start line with its cannons, or from a committee vessel elsewhere in the Solent, but every class will have a variety of starts or finishes on the RYS line.
The Solent can be a busy patch of water during the week long event but that’s all part of what makes this iconic sailing event so different and allows for the making of so many cherished sailing memories of races won, or nearly won.
Competing boats range from family owned and crewed day boats to professionally crewed sleek Class Zero big boats. What unites them all is the Corinthian spirit of the sport and the opportunity to mix on equal terms ashore in the Cowes marinas, shops and bars, or at one of the many organised parties.
Bob, Trimble, Chairman of Cowes Combined Clubs, said: “A huge number of moving parts go into organising such a major regatta: The clubs, the marinas, the Harbour Authority, the volunteer race officials, the shops, hostelries and accommodation providers, the Town and Island Councils, and many more. We all pull together with the aim of providing the best possible racing on the water, and the best welcome ashore for competitors and visitors alike.”
The team are looking forward to welcoming everyone to take part in or spectate, another successful Cowes Week Regatta in 2024. Racing starts on Saturday 27 July, and the event culminates with an overall prize giving on Friday 2 August.
