2026 Events Diary

Organised by the Island Sailing Club, Round the Island Race is a one-day yacht race which covers 50 nautical miles, anticlockwise around the Isle of Wight. Up to 1500 yachts take part and the Spinnaker rounding of the Needles is a familiar sight – it always makes the national press.

Cowes Classic Week is all about racing traditional yachts on the water and enjoying fabulous social events ashore. The yachts are the star of the show though. Marvel at their beauty and be thankful that you aren’t paying for their upkeep.

There really is no other event quite like Cowes Week, the longest running and largest annual sailing regatta in the world. Slowed down only by World Wars and global pandemics, this is an absolute staple of the classic British summer ‘season’.