King George IV was a great supporter of the Regatta at Cowes on the Isle of Wight–long before Queen Victoria made the Isle of Wight her family’s home. King George IV when Prince Regent loved the sailing events as well as the social gatherings at this glittering affair.
Since 1826, COWES WEEK has played a key part in the British sporting summer calendar and is one of the UK’s longest and most successful sporting events.
The REGATTA now stages up to 40 daily races for over 1,000 boats and is the largest sailing regatta of its kind in the world.
I don’t imagine many of us will be sailing our yachts at Cowes, but hundreds of people take the train to Southampton and then by ferry to the Isle of Wight to watch this amazing sporting event.
Queen Victoria’s son BERTIE–Edward VII– loved to sail, but he never attempted the AROUND THE ISLAND EVENT again after his nephew Emperor William II of Germany beat him. Edward VII’s son George V, the SAILOR KING, loved racing at Cowes and won race after race, year after year. Can’t you just picture the times when the Kaiser’s yacht, the Tsar’s yact, and the King’s yacht met at Cowes for a social gathering unparalled in sailing history–World War I changed all that, but the event remains a very fashionable event. A real show to watch.
But these days, great sailing boats from all countries around the world race at Cowes. It is quite the event to watch. If this event is something you would like to do for a day-out-of-London, I can assure you it will be a special memory. Check COWES WEEK on the internet and the schedule of races is listed. Can you imagine, up to 40 races a day?
Exciting stuff. Certainly a bit more adventurous than a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich.
Nice
Thomas Moore
