A bit of background…

Now in its 82nd year, the annual Round the Island Race, is a one-day yacht race around the Isle of Wight.  Each year over 1,700 boats and around 16,000 sailors take part making it one of the largest yacht races in the world (and the fourth largest participation sporting event in the UK after the London Marathon and the Great North and South Runs!).

Competitors  (world famous sailors to families) come from all over the UK, other parts of Europe and as far away as the USA to follow the 50 nautical mile course round the Isle of Wight.  Most boats will take hours to finish the course but the record set by the professionals is 3hrs 53mins 05secs for a monohull boat (set by Mike Slade on ICAP Leopard in 2008), and 3hrs 08mins 29secs for a multihull boat (set by Francis Joyon in 2001).

On the day…

The Race starts at 5am with the biggies (technical term for fast yachts) going first heading west out of Cowes past Yarmouth to head round the Needles and along the back of the Wight. Split into eleven separate groups leaving every 10 minutes, a steady stream of yachts (getting progressively smaller) leave from Cowes until 6.40am.

Top viewing spots…

5am – 6.40am

Cowes – Cowes seafront obviously offers the best possible views of all the yachts setting off on this mammoth race. Why not breakfast at The Little Gloster in Gurnard and sit back and watch as the water in front of you becomes a moving sea of colour?

6.30am – 9am

Fort Victoria – There are always lots of people on the grass and up on the roof at Fort Victoria watching as the views to the North Island become eclipsed in a fog of brightly coloured sails. Verdi’s Café, or The Boathouse just along the beach would be a great place to sit and enjoy some breakie as the boats race by. Or further on round Sconce Point is Colwell – perfect to grab some breakfast from Captains Cabin or a lovely coffee at The Hut.

7am – 9.30am

The Needles – For a breathtaking view and watching the boats as they attempt to make the best time possible round the Needles, high up on the top of the downs at the Needles Battery is a great place to catch the action. Take a thermos and breakfast picnic!

7.45am – 11am

The Back of the Wight  – All along the cliffs and beaches from Compton to Chale offer great views of the yachts sailing by. The fleet need to move further offshore here to ensure deep water so it is best to have a bit of height – The Sun Inn at Hulverstone has a beer garden that offers unparalleled views down to the sea.

8.30am – 12.30pm

St Catherine’s Down -  With unprecedented views across the whole Island at any time, this is a wondrous vantage point to watch the boats sail by. Just a short drive around the coast, on the road that makes it way down to St Catherine’s Lighthouse (another great spot perched on the most southerly point of the Island), is The Buddle Inn a great local pub with outdoor tables offering a sneaky view down to the channel. Great for a coffee for the early risers catching the first of the fleet or even better for a spot of lunch.

8.45am – 1pm

Ventnor – Just along the coast the Esplanade in Ventnor is always a good spot to sit and watch the boats with the Spyglass pub being a great place to base yourself. Or even take a blanket and lie on the beach catching a few rays between boat spotting with the bins.

9.30am – 3pm

Culver Down  – between Sandown and Bembridge is a high vantage point to sit and maybe enjoy some delicious breads or cakes fromthe Bakery in Bembridge, perfect for a picnic lunch. Or try the Baywatch on the Beach in neighbouring St Helens – ideally located right on the beach looking out past the forts towards the channel.

Priory Bay – For those of you who might fancy a glass of something bubbly while watching the boats go by then a stop at the Priory Bay Hotel is always a treat. With a beautiful Terrace looking directly out over the channel or stroll down to the private beach for an uninterrupted view.

10.30am -4.30pm

Seaview & Ryde – The first of the fleet will come round past Seaview and head for Ryde from 1030 onwards and now the race really is on.  To feel part of the action try The Boathouse in Seaview right on the front and serving fantastic food or try The Bay Grill in Ryde again located on the waters edge.

East Cowes – Anyone wanting to see the boats cross the finish line should venture to East Cowes. Stop off at the new Waitrose on the way and grab some picnic fillers and while away the afternoon listening to the boats go by.

With one of the largest charter ribs on the South coast of England, Solent Rib Safaris offer charters up and down the Solent from Cowes through to the Needles or even on to Bournemouth and back. Solent RIB Safaris’s CEO and founder is Adam Vere-Nicoll, a former superyacht Captain who returned to the Island after 15 years at sea having been in command of some of the worlds most extravagant yachts. Now he’s firmly at the helm of Solent Voyager – a 10m Parker RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) – a truly seaworthy boat built for speed and stability. Solent Voyager takes 12 passengers and two crew and with twin 300’s on the back – a jaunt across the water from Cowes to Bournemouth takes just under an hour!

Adam said: “ I wanted to offer everyone the opportunity to experience the Solent and its abundance of yearly activities from the safety of a fast fully commercial coded vessel.”

Being on the water is in Adam’s blood – his Great Grandfather, Sir Charles Madden, was First Sea Lord in 1927.  Before joining the superyacht industry Adam initially trained as a Watersports Instructor, working at the UKSA. Since then he has Captained luxury superyachts up to 120ft in length in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Bahamas and the USA.

Operating out of Cowes, Solent RIB Safaris offer the opportunity to charter Solent Voyager for full or half days and explore the south coast, lunching at waterfront restaurants in otherwise unreachable locations. Boarding is also available from Yarmouth, Lymington, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Trips up The Beaulieu River, to Portsmouth Harbour, The River Hamble and even the Needles are also available.

In fact Solent Voyager is the perfect vessel to charter with 12 friends or family. Why not watch the action at some of the Island’s fantastic world class sailing events – such as the Round The Island Race in June and Cowes Week in August. Or maybe give the powerboats a run for their money by heading out to watch the fleet head off at the annual Powerboat Festival at the end of August.

Having completed 7 Atlantic passages, you are in safe hands, with all lifesaving equipment provided and a full safety briefing is always given before every trip.

Adam said:   “As one of the largest offshore Ribs on the South Coast of England, Solent Voyager is a really unique case of professional craftsmanship, built for the ultimate passenger experience and designed to the highest standards of comfort and safety”.

To find out more contact Solent RIB Safaris.

Between the Needles and St Catherine’s Point is the most treacherous piece of coast on the Isle of Wight. Extending half a mile out to sea are the clay and smooth rock slabs known as Brook and Brighstone Ledges, which have claimed many ships and lives.

For hundreds of years, ‘wreck,’ like smuggling, was an important source of income for Islanders. If the longshoreman could not use the goods themselves they would sell them on, using the same distribution routes and networks as the smugglers. The timbers from wrecks were used to build houses, sheds and boats – beams within the Wight Mouse Inn were taken from the wreck of the Clarendon in 1836 and the panelling in Mottistone Church roof was taken from the Cedarine, wrecked in 1862

A series of wrecks along the west coast in 1859 resulted in committees being formed by the rectors of Brooke and Brighstone and Charles Seely, the owner of Mottistone estate. Enough money was raised for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to build two boats, one for each village, and the first lifeboat station to be established on the Island was that at Brooke in 1860. From then on everyone in Hulverstone, Mottistone and Brook was in some way connected with Brooke Lifeboat and up until 1937, when it was closed down, the Brooke service is credited with saving 381 lives.

To launch the Susan Ashley (1904 – 1937) took thirteen crew members, ten heavy horses and up to thirty helpers with six horses needed to launch the boat and ten to recover it when it was heavy with sea water. The crew of thirteen included five oars on each side, a coxswain, a second coxswain and bowman. Support work on shore included keeping a chest of dry clothes always ready for those shipwrecked.

In July 1867 the Committee of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution decided to base a lifeboat at Bembridge using £524 donated to the RNLI by the citizens of Worcester.  The life-boat was named for its donors, the City of Worcester, and was delivered in October of that year.

The first lifeboat was launched off a carriage with the aid of oil flares on dark nights, and messages had to be passed by foot messenger or a man on horseback. The first Lifeboat house was constructed the same year, at a cost of £165.

City of Worcester was replaced by the Queen Victoria in 1887, and a lifeboat station at the end of a long pedestrian pier was installed to ease her launch. This station, the pier and the lifeboat were replaced in 2010 and opened by HMH Princess Anne.

HRH Queen Elizabeth II opened the new RNLI lifeboat station in the former customs building in Cowes when she visited the town earlier this summer as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour.

RNLI Yarmouth, Isle of Wight lifeboats West Wight, covers the western Solent with the largest class of lifeboat, a Severn and there has been a lifeboat station here since 1924.

The RNLI constructs up to 60% of the lifeboats it needs in its own purpose-built manufacturing facility, the Inshore Lifeboat Centre (ILC) in East Cowes.

Fifty lifeboats are now constructed at the centre each year, while up to 200 are serviced and refurbished.

There are also three independent lifeboat stations on the Island: Ryde Inshore Rescue at Appley, Sandown and Shanklin Inshore Rescue between Sandown and Shanklin and Freshwater Inshore Rescue on Freshwater Bay.

With a bronze and then silver medal for his valiant rescues, topped by an MBE just after his retirement from the Lifeboat in 1995, Dave was a Man of the Year in 1989 and also found himself the subject of This is Your Life in 1995. But it was speed that first inspired the young Dave, who once drove a powerboat through the Needles rocks at 80mph for a Canada Dry advert.

“I did the Round Great Britain Powerboat Race in 1969 with Peter Thorneycroft, chairman of the Bembridge Lifeboat. I was the diver on board of our team and we did have a terrible time coming down the North Sea – it was a force 8.

“A big cod end (net) from a fishing boat wrapped around the propellers and it was my job to go down and cut the netting off. Quite a job – I was under the water for about 1 ½ hours in very rough conditions and a 10ft swell.

“We were 16^th out of I don’t know how many….at this time I had just started to be on the lifeboat and was 2^nd coxwain of the Yarmouth lifeboat.

Pacific Glory and becoming 1^st Coxwain

“I took over the boat in 1971 (as first coxwain) – it was just after the Pacific Glory (wrecked oil tanker off of the south of the Island). We were out there all night transferring firemen and standing by. It was there for a couple of days and at 2 o clock in the morning they decided to tow her to a sandbank off of Sandown. There was fire all over the sea.

“It was at that time when Howard Hayles, who was first coxwain, said to me “I’m retiring from the lifeboat, will you take over?”

“It’s been really enjoyable – I’ve loved it. There’s been something different all the time.

Bronze Medal

“We left Yarmouth a midday and it was blowing nearly a hurricane (in 1989). The Al Kwather 1 was off Swanage with engine failure and both anchors down. We asked if they wanted to be taken off in the daylight but the captain decided to wait and see if the weather would abate. Swanage Lifeboat, who were there, decided to go on back in and left us out there. We then realised that we could be on the scene for a long time  so we went in  and got the crew fed and watered – the captain still wasn’t saying whether he wanted to be taken off or not.

“I decided at 9pm that I ought to rest my crew. A hotel was arranged by the Swanage crew and just as we got our heads down we heard noises from one of the crew shouting that we had to launch and get the crew! By then the wind had dropped to Force 10 and we manage to get an engineer and one crew off of the stern of the ship and I decided that the conditions were too bad to transfer people so we asked the air sea rescue helicopter to take the rest off. We were away from base for 18 hours. Everyone was rescued and a film was made called A Job Well Done.”

Silver Medal

“The silver medal was for saving five London policemen who were in trouble 11 miles off of the Needles at 11pm in a Force 11 storm! We made two attempts to get them off and got them all off except one fell down the side and Bob Cook, one of the crew, got hold of him before he fell into the water.

“They were consequently on This is Your Life with me in 1995 – they were all high ranking policemen.

This is Your Life

“The RNLI asked me if I would make a film on local hazards around the coast. The 2^nd Coxwain was driving and I was on the foredeck talking into camera and the Air Sea Rescue helicopter came alongside and dropped Michael Aspel onto the deck with the red book!

“There was a car waiting for me and they whisked me to London. I was in working gear so Zoe my wife had brought up my clothes with three or four shirts because they had to match my eyes! We were led out onto the set and different people had their say and they afterwards we had a lovely party.

“After that we had a very interesting one, The Life of A Thousand Lives when we were all invited: all the people who had been on This is Your Life. It was at BBC Television Centre and we were put up at the Hilton. I went and said hello to Barbara Windsor and Audrey Roberts and Old Jack from Coronation Street and on our table was Rolf Harris. All the boxers were there like Frank Bruno, film and pop stars, racing drivers like James Hunt and Cliff Richard was there too.”

Meeting the stars

“I used to do work for Pinewood studios. At one stage we had Roger Moore as Simon Templar and I picked him up at Lymington. He was on the boat for a few minutes, punched someone over the side and that was all.

“Jack Hargreaves who used to present Out of Town was a lovely man. I used to work with him a lot and he used to take the Christmas tree and the Christmas cakes that members of the Yacht Club at Lymington used to bake out, to the keepers at the Needles lighthouse. Lots of yachts used to follow us down from Lymington to watch us hand it over.”

And the Royals…

“I’ve been to three or four garden parties at the Palace and I’ve met all of the royals. I’ve got a letter from Lord Mountbatten of Burma thanking me for mending his prawning net! We’ve had the Duchess and Duke of Kent on the lifeboat – the Duke named the last two lifeboats.

“On the Queen Mother’s birthday we escorted her around on the Spithead Review and we talked about lifeboating for quite a time. The MBE was given to me at Buckingham Palace in 1995 by Prince Charles. The Duke of Edinburgh came to open Yarmouth Pier recently and I was invited to the head of the pier with the harbour commissioners.”

We couldn’t possibly divulge their names, suffice to say that it might be best not to be out alone after dark as this pair have strange appetites. Luckily they will have Dan’s Kitchen, Ganders and the sumptuous Priory Bay Hotel on hand to satisfy any earthly desires of the culinary kind. There’s also a good Chinese restaurant and several good pubs including the Crab and Lobster, famed for its seafood, and the Bembridge Village Inn that does exactly what it says on the sign.

The harbour is fringed with colourful houseboats: one is a seafood restaurant, another offers accommodation, and the harbour is full of yachts. A fort built by Palmerston guards the entrance and on the low August spring tide the locals walk out en masse to walk around it just because they can. In the summer months the sea is shallow and clear, although it is rocky around here. Bembridge Ledge is a platform of rock that stretches out some way from this eastern corner of the Island and it can be dangerous – especially at low tide if you are in a boat. Make sure you know this coastline well before launching your new yacht/speedboat as it can be treacherous.

Luckily there is the Bembridge Lifeboat on hand if you do get into difficulties. This brand new lifeboat station at the end of a long foot-pier was officially opened by Princess Anne earlier this year and is a triumph of modern engineering. Timber framed and with a balcony viewing area, the public can see the lifeboat launching and docking via the state of the art hydraulic system of pulleys.

If flying is more up your street then Bembridge has its own airport that may or may not be open, depending on the situation down there at present. Currently it is open but you do need to get prior permission to land. The airport is also home to the famous aircraft builders Brittan Norman who designed the famous Islander aircraft – you may even see some on the runway if you’re lucky.

All around the Bembridge area are caravan sites that are especially popular in the summer months. There are two large ones, Whitecliff Bay and Nodes Point, and several smaller family run sites such as Sandhills and the Old Mill, so if you can’t afford a holiday home here you can at least run to a temporary one – and some of these are quite luxurious.

St Helen’s on the other side of Bembridge Harbour boasts the largest village green in the country that is bordered by one of the best restaurants on the Island: Dan’s Kitchen run by ex-head chef of the Royal Hotel in Ventnor, Dan Maskell. On the other side is another great little eatery, Ganders, named after the geese that once used to live on the green.

Down the road is the Duver sand spit that borders the other side of the harbour and was once the home of the best golf links course in the country – it closed in 1961. Queen Victoria’s children were members, including Bertie and later David Niven, who owed Rose Cottage in Bembridge Village, was a regular at the 19^th hole – along with his famous film star friends when they were in town – oops village.

Just up the road is the Priory Bay Hotel – the best country hotel on the Island at the moment. It has acres of grounds and woodlands, its own beach and the mandatory helicopter landing pad. There are two restaurants including the beautiful ‘Island Room’ with its antique mural of the Bembridge harbour area over which it looks. Lounges here are comfortable, the accommodation is superb and the ambiance is laid back but most certainly upmarket – a home from home and a special treat.

In Bembridge village there are all the shops you need and some you just want. A good deli, florists and fruit and veg shop, a great fishmongers, a traditional old family run butchers, an interiors shop, a couple of art galleries and a shop selling clay things – called clay – but clay things you will want, badly. This is a real traditional village and luckily there are full and sometime residents in this area who can afford to support them rather than drive over to Tesco’s near Ryde. There is also a Co Op for those extra essentials that might not be elsewhere, including your newspaper and magazines.

Small but perfectly formed, Bembridge is a village that really ought to be a town but its holding on to its roots against the march of ‘progress’ and therein lies its allure. Once discovered, never forgotten, Bembridge will charm you too.

Seafood fans flock here, and it has a well-earned reputation for good crab and lobster, as its name would suggest, but there is so much more on the menu nowadays. Specials on the day we visited included slow braised ox tail and lamb hot pot and included on the menu are steaks with optional sauces, sausage and chips, a selection of curries and homemade pie and mash.

Plus they now have a great new breakfast menu for their bed and breakfast customers staying in the five rooms above the pub. The Full English is now joined by kippers on toast, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and a new Crab and Lobster invention: Eggs Thermidor, which is eggs benedict served with a thermidor sauce rather than Hollandaise. This is a rich and tangy combination of tastes with the mustard in the sauce complementing the ham wonderfully well.

For lunch or dinner you might opt for the very popular seafood platter, which is a great favourite and designed for two to share. On it you get a whole lobster, crab ramekin, a king prawn arc, peeled and shell-on prawns, moules mariniere, calamari, garlic bread and chips. Sat outside on a summer evening with a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc, this particular dish is paradise on a plate for seafood lovers. You can even look out over the Bembridge Ledges where many of the tasty crustaceans crawl at high tide. Or in the colder months there is a roaring fire in the bar around which to tuck in.

The Crab and Lobster is owned by Mrs Caroline Quekett, who grew up in nearby Seaview. A trained chef, Caroline had a restaurant in Godalming and returned to her roots when she took over the pub five years ago. Caroline has built on the pub’s strengths and has manager Julia Ford to help her who has twenty five years’ experience in the pub and catering trade on the Island and a particular penchant for seafood, which is handy.

With four stars in the AA pub guide, the Crab and Lobster has a reputation for good food and great hospitality. The pub has a dining room at the front to the seaward side, where the front window tables are highly prized. But food can also be eaten inside the expansive bar, which is a warm red brick with exposed beams and cosy atmosphere.

The bar area has the look of the galley of a ship, with huge barrels within the woodwork of the actual bar.  High shelves display old bottles, tankards and antique plates and the walls have a fine collection of paintings and photographs of boats and ships. There is also a quirky overspill restaurant room to the rear with exposed brick walls.

There has been a pub here since at least 1862, and probably earlier, and it’s thought that coastguards, fishermen and smugglers frequented its interior: the latter to divide their contraband and plan their next sortie to France. The coastguards are still here as the coastguard station is just beyond the car park to the front of the property.

At low tide the ledge appears and locals appear to pick over the rockpools or to fish with their lines for mackerel or bass. There are outdoor tables and chairs on the top of the low cliff and here you have a wonderful view of the English Channel, the yachts and liners sailing by and seabirds dipping and diving.

For the locals there are quiz nights every other Sunday with proceeds to charity and on Wednesday December 12^th there is a two course Christmas lunch with wine from noon till 4pm. This is a ticket only event – call the pub for further details and to book places.

I was offered a working opportunity to bring back a rather special gentleman’s yacht (52m 1961) from Marseille to Southampton (via the needles – another tenuous tie.) She had been left in France for 5 years with minimum maintenance so the 1000nm to Blighty was always going to hold some adventure.

After some paperwork issues we set sail and exited Marseille refit basin, through the lifting bridge with ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ playing at 190db on the aft deck – we thought this rather fitting and gave the French something to gawk at – unfortunately, during the second movement of Act III, the helm decided to go hard a port without my say so and emergency shouting and finger pointing was undertaken until we engaged the emergency steering to which she was navigated by all the way home, it turned out.

Most of the trip to Gibraltar was uneventful (Gibraltar for cheaper fuel) until we happened upon 2 unfortunates that had been adrift in a small ‘Campari’ dingy for 5 days trying to escape from Morocco to Spain. They were 50 miles from where they started from and aged 18 & 19 you can imagine how scared and exhausted they were. Once washed, fed and clothed we proceeded to Gibraltar but as law has it these days we were obliged to hand them over to the authorities before we made land at the famous rock.

Pretty much at the same time of picking them up, the engine room informed me that we had a split main engine cooling pipe and were filling the bilges at an alarming rate so the Port engine was stopped and we limped into Gibraltar, avoiding cruise ships and Tankers exiting, only to find the allocated berth for us was already full. With quick wit and a few years of emergency planning under my belt I headed for the bunker terminal (it’s what we wanted anyway!) and put our failing lady alongside, notwithstanding there were no men to take our lines. A command decision I rather regret now, but telling one of the guys onboard to jump for all that they were worth and get ashore to take the mooring lines , resulting in 1 broken ankle, could have been a little hasty! They don’t make bones like they used to!

Alas I had spent too much time in Marseille organising the paperwork to sail, my time frame had come to an end and I had to leave the lovely Lady K in Gibraltar, relieved by crew that had flown out to meet us for the final leg. I am happy and relieved to say she made it and if you happen upon the Red Jet down Southampton water, look over in the Hythe direction and you will see her sitting proud awaiting long overdue TLC. Fair winds Lady K, for your next adventure upon the high seas.

Martin Woodward began diving around about the time he learned to swim and probably knows the waters around the Island, and the secrets it holds, better than anyone else. In the museum he shares his finds and his knowledge with those who come from far and wide to see what has been found down below. Finds are displayed around the museum in glass cases and in one corner you can spy the items as they look when they are taken from the seabed after lying there undisturbed for many years.

Pieces of Eight and other booty share their space with relics from the ships such as their portholes, their telegraphs (those round things on poles made of brass) and outside you can see their anchors. A re-enactment of a ship’s doctor operating in a ‘man o war’ is in one corner and nearby is a table of distinctly unsavoury characters playing cards.

Old diving equipment illustrates the history of getting down to the wrecks to explore them and in a small room off of the main museum you can watch a film about the finds and Martin gives an introduction to his collection in another more recent film. All of this is essential viewing if you want to get the most from your visit as they put the relics in a context you might otherwise miss.

The Mendi, for example, went down off of St Catherine’s after being hit by the SS Daro in 1917. She was carrying 823 5th Battalion, South African Native Labour Corps to dig trenches in France and 646 of those on board perished. When they realised they were going to founder the priest got all the men on deck and told them that they had come here to die, and die they would – just a little earlier than they might have expected. Then they all took off their shoes and danced the Zulu death dance as the ship began to sink.

The Sirenia claimed not only the lives of many of those on board but three lifeboat men from Brighstone and Brook, whose passing was sorely felt by the local community. The bridge of the Sirenia has been recreated in the museum and you can climb up for a lofty view of the exhibits, many of which have come from the Sirenia herself.

One of the most unusual and rare finds in the museum is an Astrolabe navigational aid from 1625 that was found by Martin in 1986.

Out of the door at the back of the museum and to your right is a former barn in which the newer ‘Wreck and Rescue’ lifeboat museum is situated – predominantly on the upper floor. Here you can learn all about the introduction of the lifeboats especially that of the Bembridge RNLI station where Martin was a crew member for many years, being awarded an MBE for his services in 2004.

The poignant story of fifteen year old Ethel Langton is told beneath her portrait. She kept the light burning on the St Helen’s Fort lighthouse for three nights when she had been left alone by her parents who had gone ashore for supplies and been unable to return because of the weather. Every night Ethel climbed the 80ft ladder to the lighthouse lantern alone and wound the mechanism that rotated the lens.  “I was not even lonely, because I had Badger [her dog] with me,” she is reported to have said afterwards.

The lifeboat Queen Victoria (1887) that was in service as the second ever lifeboat at Bembridge has been lovingly restored by Martin and other volunteers.  It is one of the oldest that was owned by the RNLI and is used in re-enactments all over the country and in the summer months it is often on show at the front of Arreton Old Village, overlooking the road, enticing you in to this wonderful museum.

Organised by our good friend Anthony Churchill, who was wearing his Morning Cloud polo shirt for the occasion (he was Ed Heath’s navigator you know) the trip had been hastily arranged because it was such a fantastic day. It was on that Saturday when we all thought summer had come at last, if a little late. Obviously it hadn’t (that would be too perfect) but for that one day it certainly did a very good impersonation of being a pretty damn wonderful day in every way.

Down at the Haven for 1.30pm we all piled onto the new bigger boat that Ocean Blue are using for their coastal tours – the last one has been sold to Sierra Leone as a water taxi from the airport we were told by Lucy Strevens who with husband Sean were taking us on this trip. This one is 0.6m wider than the previous one and more economical to run and it certainly seems very stable. We wandered with ease around the boat as it made its way down the coast, with Lucy giving us a very interesting commentary on the history and geology of the area.

Just out of the Haven we stopped to pull up a lobster pot and the kids on board were thrilled to find the blue lobsters (their usual colour before they are cooked) and snapping crabs within its interior. Most were too small and had to be thrown back, but I think we got one full sized crab that was put into the ice box. Everyone was keen to have a look at the creatures and a couple of the more daring amongst us had a go at picking them up for a photo opportunity.

Then it was off again along the coast towards St Catherine’s Point and lighthouse, passing the converted coastguard cottages that make up Orchard Bay’s beautiful house with its own beach. Famous for being the base of a drug smuggling operation that was foiled in the year 2000, those on board remembered the stories associated with one of the largest drug hauls of recent years. Was there a wet-suited diver who spoke only French found in Pelham Woods? And were the police undercover in nearby hotels impersonating scout masters? We’ll never know for sure…

Binnel Bay was another interesting story and the remains of the harbour built by the German dilettante William Spindler in the Victorian era is still very in evidence just off shore. It didn’t survive for long as a working harbour, but it’s become quite a curious folly.

Next we turned 180 degrees and headed straight out to sea. Apparently we went about a mile out but it hardly seemed more than a few hundred yards. Sean and Lucy then unpacked the mackerel lines and showed us how to drop the weight into the sea – the fish would be caught on the two or three feathered hooks on the line as long as we pulled the line upwards and then dunked it down again.

It looked so simple and Lucy and Sean caught two or three fish on every line they put down. Others on the boat were having similar luck. I, however, was useless on the fish catching stakes and almost gave up for lack of interest. But eventually I caught a little one, and then ten minutes later I got a slightly bigger one. (Taking pity on me they did give me four to take home though, which was kind of them and they were delicious grilled with a little butter.)

Lucy showed the little ones (and us) how the beautiful skins of the fish helped to disguise them against predators – green, blue and black on top to fool birds that they were just part of the sea and silvery white underneath to make them invisible to those swimming beneath them.

Mackerel lines wound up and put away and fish safely stowed in the ice box and we sped back to the Haven, posing at the back of the boat with the wake churning behind us. It was pretty exciting – the boat does go at a pace and it has two large engines.

Just outside the Haven we stopped for Sean to bait one of the lobster pots with the guts and heads of the mackerel we had just caught that had been expertly filleted by him before we sped back. And then we were back at the mooring, all too soon, with cold drinks beckoning from the nearby Met Bar. Of course you can also buy top quality freshly caught battered fish from Blake’s up above if you can’t wait to get home and cook your catch.

*see website for details

Luckily we have great friends that were supposed to be meeting us there so after an amount of confused communications we were embarked at a very busy, deck chair toting Colwell. Lovely to see but I had had enough of crowds in Yarmouth and was looking forward to the tranquility of the bay.

A quick burn west had us threading the Needles and up on to the warm pebbly beach of Scratchells.

The landing could have gone a little better as when we were de-camping a couple a slightly larger rollers came through and decided to fill the 9.5m RIB with sea whilst at the same time consuming a hand bag with at least 2 pairs of Jimmy choos, an, Electronic ignition keys for a Porsche, a Gucci wallet and an IPad, IPod, IPhone (or that’s what the insurance company are apparently being told!).

This was easily sorted by us men and after arguing that it could have happened to anybody we made camp and inflated the small dingy to explore the cave. My youngest was very keen so we ventured right up to the opening with a voice in the background getting a little more agitated as we ventured nearer – daddy, can we go back now – I don’t want to go in the cave after all; daddy, can we go back now – I don’t want to go in the cave after all !!!;

We made our way back and I had a beer.

Yarmouth Harbour Sports is a challenging and fun event for all ages and this was no exception. I introduced some DFT’s (down from towners’) to the festivities and they all loved it – it’s the very high level of competitiveness that is always present on the water. The dirty shirt (first race) was not entered by team HULVERSTONE as we arrived too late, but after securing a couple of skiffs form the Chairman of the Carnival committee and retrieving them from the other side of the Harbour we were ready in all respects for sea.

The sculling race has always been my forte as my Father didn’t let me have an outboard until I had mastered the skill. There are only a few of us about now so I suggest to you youth out there – it’s a sic thing to do as you only need one oar (like).

I came a close second to the lead and next year the Wife has promised to buy me the winning boat!

Team HULVERSTONE efforts:

Skiff race around the Harbour – 1st

Single Oarsman – 1st

Blind fold race (coxed by a child) – 1st

Hand paddling – 1st

2 Ladies, 2 gents paddle – 3rd

Paired gents Oarsman – 3rd

Single ladies – 2^nd, 3^rd

Paired ladies – 2^nd

Not bad, not bad at all!

The duck race at Brook, however was not as successful! Due to the poor weather we had earlier in the summer the Brook fete was postponed and in its place – a series of highly competitive duck races. You may be forgiven that the scene looks something more Easter oriented but the organiser did have a plethora of duck related prizes.

My daughter got a second and the rest of us had to watch ours come through all but last…..It was a little quackers but a top bill event for a lovely summers afternoon.

With the jet stream now correctly realigned, Rob da Bank can afford a huge sigh of relief for this year’s Camp Bestival in Dorset. It was sunny and dry.  Next up is Bestival on the Isle of Wight, his other award-winning festival. A few years ago, the weather was so bad they had to lay a plastic floor in the middle of the night in the pouring rain.

Bad festival weather has been getting some bad press recently. “It can be very testing,” says Rob. “But festival goers are a very persistent lot when it comes to having fun come rain or shine.” Fortunately, both his festival sites have very good drainage. “As long as we can get people on and off the site – and keep people mobile; then we can keep those stresses and frustrations at bay,” he says. Ironically, the great soaking of 2008 was the making of Bestival, as the event has sold out on every subsequent occasion.

Robert Gorham aka Rob da Bank has come along way, since growing up in Warsash, a village near Southampton. His first musical foray was playing trombone in his dad’s brass band and listening to his parents huge record collection containing the Beetles and Mamas and Papas to Beethoven. “ It all started off as a hobby but my taste in music has always been diverse, which is important as a festival promoter and radio DJ,” explains Rob. He founded his club night Sunday Best in South London, back in 1995 while working as a music journalist. “At the time everything just rapidly grew out of proportion. The natural next step was launching a bigger and better party. Music festivals were beginning to take off,” he explains.

Rob 38, who married his teenage sweetheart, Josie have been going to Glastonbury ever since they met at eighteen. “We’d arrive in our little Citreon 2 CV and scurry around the fields trying to get our way into the festival!  Glastonbury was the most exciting event – and it really still is – it’s awesome,” he says.  The trigger point came when Rob hosted the Radio One stage at Glastonbury. “The whole idea of fancy dress took off from there. We wanted to do something ourselves and started to look for a suitable site on the South coast,” he says. Thus Bestival was born in 2004, held at the Isle of Wight’s Robin Hill Adventure Park.

Rob’s all-important contacts in the music industry have since ensured success with legendary performances by Chuck Berry, Amy Winehouse, The Cure and Kraftwork. “The real difficulty was convincing the Island that we weren’t a huge mega rave, so we used some gentle and persistent persuasion,” explains Rob. “It was also hugely important to us that we wanted Bestival to appeal to all – not just the 18-25 year old age group and to showcase artists that would interest the older generation too. We also wanted as many Islander’s involved with Bestival from the start from the Women’s Institute to local food producers.” Bestival has since grown steadily year-on-year to its current capacity of 50,000. Its success is down to the vibrant vibe offering an array of everything from folk, to dub-step to fancy dress parades.

Then six years ago came another catalyst for change when Rob and his wife Josie started a family. They now have three boys Arlo 6, Merlin, 4 and Miller aged 2. “ We were keen to incorporate our kids into the dynamics and amazingly, nobody seemed to be doing festivals for families,” explains Rob.  “We’d already seen the Big Chill Festival at the Lulworth Castle site, which is a fantastic spot, so we thought up Camp Bestival as a family festival.” Last year it won Best Family Festival and this year’s highlight was the Saturday night disco with Earth Wind and Fire, Kool & the Gang, and The Chic, which for many was pretty unbeatable.

Rob admits nerves can get somewhat frayed during festival time, but by Saturday afternoon he’ll be downing a cocktail or two. “You live on the edge of your seat a lot of the time, hoping everything goes according to plan, so it can be pretty nerve-wracking as there are so many things that can go wrong,” he says.  “During festival, the first thing we do in the mornings is contact the night controller to check there weren’t any incidences. We feel responsible even though it might not have anything to do directly with us,” he adds.

Despite his coup at this year’s Bestival in September with Stevie Wonder headlining and New Order, Rob puts it all down to communication, (bearing in mind he spent seven years persuading The Cure – one of his musical heroes is front-man Robert Smith.) “I spend my year talking to agents, artists and production mangers in a constant loop of meetings, phone-calls or emails trying to persuade them it’s worthwhile doing,” he says. His tenacity and dogged determination might have something to do with a competitive edge on always wanting his festivals to be the best.

Yet with 20 different stages running for up to 20 hours a day, how does Rob cherry pick what to see? “Each day I read the line up and decide on a hit list of must-see performances – but I’ll also be checking the sound and light to make sure it’s perfect,” he says. When Stevie Wonder is playing at Bestival he says he’ll be circling the audience checking all the acoustics with his cap and sunglasses on and radio walkie-talkie pressed to his ear. If he’s lucky, he may get to meet the great man backstage.

For someone who claims he is no natural businessman, he is hugely successful – and talented. There’s a political edge to him too. Seven months ago with the support of the Isle of Wight Youth Trust, he launched the Isle of Wight Music Club for local teenagers. “With services being cut on the Island, there’s a massive lack of live venues which has had a massive knock on effect with Island youths,” he says. “I wanted to help get the local children fired up about living on the Island by giving them access to music. Now we’re getting up to 80 children each session and there’s certainly enough talent on the Island to make this work.”

Since 2002, Saturday mornings Rob presents his BBC 1 radio show between 5am-7am and that means rising at his South London home at a groggy 3.30am. He also hosts a handful of DJ gigs each month so his weekends are busy. But one of his biggest joys is boarding the Island ferry and returning to his house in Thorley. A family home for five years now, with three boys under 6 years old the day can start at 5am. “If we’re lucky it’s more like 7am,” he says.  “I’m not one for lying around so we get out and about on the Island at every spare moment. We love taking the kids down to the beach – at Yarmouth, Colwell, Totland or Compton or just having a family day at Blackgang Chine and Robin Hill,” he enthuses.

A keen sailor Rob can also be spotted sailing down the River Yar in his boat or across the Solent. One hugely memorable day was recently completing the Round the Island race with the Ellen Macarthur Trust. “ I used to sail competitively as a child, so I know what I’m doing,” he muses. “And I really love the Island because of all the sailing – it’s the perfect antidote to London mayhem.”

Despite their very strong work ethic driving the couple forward, Rob and Josie do take time out with the kids for family holidays at Christmas and half-term in between lots of Island shenanigans.  “The summer months are our busiest times with two festivals. What I love most is seeing 50,000 people loving what you’ve done yet much of this is only possible because of our fantastic team and our great network of support, including the grandparents,” he says humbly. In true Camp Bestival style, all the family will be joining in with the festivities.

Housed in an enormous ex industrial space near the seafront, the museum has a wide and varied collection of interesting exhibits to wander around at your leisure. Just up the road at the Gallery you can peruse the history of boat building, sailing and some of the best maritime photographic collections in the world.

One of the favourite exhibits in the museum is a Gentleman’s traditional river launch, Flying Spray, donated by the founder of the museum, Morris Wilmott. Built at Teddington for cruising on the Thames, she still attends regattas here and on the continent in the summer months.

Another eyecatching exhibit is Lady Penelope, a pink speedboat that was once the plaything of Sir Bernard and Lady Docker. Built of wood and encased in pink resin, the duo’s antics in this Chis Craft Silver Arrow enlivened the atmosphere of the austere post war 50s.

Boats built for speed are very eyecatching such as Jazz the beautiful wooden hydroplane built in 1912 that looks just like a shiny wooden bullet and Lyndora, a single seat hydroplane built in 1947 that resembles a large wooden squid.

During WWII local boat designer Uffa Fox came up with the idea of an airborne lifeboat that could be deployed by parachute if the plane had to ditch into the sea. One of his fully restored Airborne Lifeboats is in the museum, fully kitted out for survival at sea, and is the only one left in this condition in the UK.

In the far corner of the cavernous building is the bright orange Britannia I, the first boat to be rowed single handed across the Atlantic by John Fairfax in 1969 and also designed by Uffa Fox. Closely following the design of the Airborne Lifeboat, but built mainly of glass fibre, Britannia I is in almost the exact state it was in when John  Fairfax landed in Florida after 180 days.

Other boats that Uffa designed are on show including Coweslip, the Flying Fifteen that was given to the Queen and Prince Phillip as a wedding present, although it was Uffa and the Prince who used to sail in it most often.

Also on show is a military canoe used by the special forces in WWII – this one is painted green as she was used in Malaya in the 1950s. Similar wooden versions of this canoe were used by the ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ during the famous raid on Bordeaux.

Looking a bit worse for wear is a collapsible lifeboat built by Salters of Oxford in the 1890s, which was left folded for over 100 years in the back of a boatshed until it was lent to the museum in 2007. Carefully opened up over several months and the swing frames placed correctly, apparently the Titanic would have had similar lifeboats on board.

These are just a handful of the boats you can see at the museum, which has lots more to see and their stories to read. An upper Thames rowing skiff, complete with picnic hamper, a coracle, a Polynesian fishing boat and lots of beautifully kept and restored wooden boats.  There’s even a Bembridge Redwing with a propeller instead of a sail – apparently owner Lord Brabazon was banned from sailing her at Bembridge Sailing Club!

Best new way to watch the action

New for 2012, pleasure flights are offered from as little as £35. Take in the beauty of the Island and the spectacular sight of 900 racing boats vying for position on the busy Solent waters.

Best Race to Watch from the Shore

Undoubtedly the best place to watch is in front of the start line at The Royal Yacht Squadron – if you can cope with the loud bangs of the start guns – and in the afternoon head down to Egypt Point to watch the fleet return home.

Best Race for Celeb Watching

The Artemis Challenge that is held on the Wednesday of Cowes Week (August 15th) always attracts a strong list of celebrity guests. Teams competing in the race in the past have included sports stars Zara Phillips, Amy Williams, Will Greenwood, Mike Tindall and James Haskell, as well as other stars from the world of entertainment, including Ewan McGregor, Davina McCall, Bryan Adams and James and Oliver Phelps, the Weasley Twins from the Harry Potter movies. The race follows the classic America’s Cup route around the Isle of Wight, starting at 10am on the Royal Yacht Squadron Line.

Best Day for the Kids

Sunday 12th August is Family Day with a range of family-friendly activities and exclusive group offers .The special free events include a children’s flag making competition, remote controlled model boat racing, a village fete at Northwood House and discounts on sailing lessons, the spectator boat and Rock up and Rib. See the website for more details: www.aamcowesweek.co.uk

Best Way to see the Action from the Water

The spectator boat goes out on hour-long trips at 10.30am, 12pm and 1.30pm, departing from Trinity Landing on Cowes Parade. Or for an exhilarating ride onboard a high speed Rigid Inflatable Powerboat try ‘Rock up and RIB’ with Ondeck. This service will operate from Saturday 11 August through to Sat 18 August 2012. To charter your own RIB for the full week or a day, Solent Rib Charter have a range of Ribs available on a skippered or bareboat basis.

Best Places for Live Music

Cowes Yacht Haven has the largest live music venue, the Gill Stage, with live music every night that includes a host of very good local bands. Cowes Parade also has a stage and live music from midday every day until 10.30pm, The Anchor pub in the High Street has a comprehensive live music line up through the week and there will also be live music and magic in the High Street from around noon till 4pm.

Best Nightclub

Club Inferno down at Shepherds Wharf – open every night throughout Cowes week until 2am. Shepards Wharf Marina is also the home of the Toe in the Water Crew Bar and Beach.

The Royal party will arrive in Cowes onboard the ship Leander through a ‘Parade of Sail’ and a 21 Gun Salute fired from the Royal Yacht Squadron. Next the Royal party will alight at Trinity Landing and will walk along the seafront stopping to unveil a new plaque to mark their visit.

They will view a short performance from local school children and the party will continue on foot to the RNLI Lifeboat Station, which The Queen will formally open at around 10.30am. The lifeboat station, which is now situated in the town’s old Customs Watch House building next to the parade, only went operation in recent weeks, transferring from the old premises in Shepards Wharf. The property was purchased and renovated by the RNLI to create the new station and will provide volunteer lifeboat crew members with faster access to the Solent.

The Queen will also launch the new RNLI Lifeboat, the Atlantic 85 class Sheena Louise. This lifeboat was named after Sheena Louise Pollock, a woman from Orpington in Kent who despite her disabilities pursued a love of sailing until her death at the age of 39. Sheena’s family donated money to the RNLI in her memory and this has been used to fund the new lifeboat.

The Royal party will then travel by launch to Cowes Yacht Haven, where they will view presentations from marine groups. Hopefully she will notice the giant Union Flag that has been recently repainted on the hangar doors at Venture Quays if she casts her eye across the Medina. This 46m x 12m permanent image was first painted in 1977 to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and it was recently repainted to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics.

The party will then depart the Isle of Wight by helicopter and proceed to the New Forest Agricultural Show where they will be met by the Isle of Wight’s former High Sheriff, Alan Titchmarsh.

For this reason the water around Cowes is usually full of boats, obviously more so in the summer, it has several large marinas and there’s almost always some kind of sailing going on. There are loads of shops selling sailing wear and chandlery, businesses making sails and rigging and boatyards making new boats.

Cowes is actually two towns on either side of the mouth of the river Medina: West Cowes and East Cowes that are joined by a floating bridge. But of these it is West Cowes that has become known as simply Cowes. Red Funnel operates a ferry to Southampton from Cowes, with the car ferry port in East Cowes and the fast Red Jet service berthing in West Cowes.

The town takes its names from two Cowforts or Cowes castles built in the 16^th century that stood on either side of the mouth of the river. East Cowes Castle is long gone but West Cowes Castle is part of the Royal Yacht Squadron at the furthest end of Cowes Parade.

There are five more yacht and sailing clubs in Cowes: The Royal London, The Royal Corinthian, The Island Sailing Club, The Royal Ocean and the Cowes Corinthian. The East Cowes Sailing Club is in East Cowes and Gurnard Sailing Club just along the coast to the west from Cowes.

One of the most prestigious families who lived in Cowes, the Ward Family, built the imposing Northwood House that looks down from the crest of the hill above Cowes and the park that surrounds it is the venue for many concerts and functions, especially during Cowes Week.

Because of the influx of well-heeled visitors for the sailing regatta there are some very upmarket shops to cater to their demands, along with a host of quirky and individual emporiums that make Cowes one of the best shopping centres on the Island.

Art galleries abound such as Kendalls Fine Art run by former newsreader Kenneth Kendall, Pelham House Gallery that also has a cute tea shop with tables on the pavement outside, the new Green Buoy Arts gallery that promotes Island artists’ work and Jolliffe’s former chandlery with its beautiful stained glass windows and iconic art nouveau shopfront, which is now a stylish coffee shop and gallery.

Live Like This has a fantastic range of quirky and individual items you’ll have to have, Angels Attic has lots of lovely clothing and That Shop has a weird and wonderful selection of stuff you never knew you needed. Buff has gifts for the man in your life and Zabre has bags of bags and quite a lot of shoes too.

There’s also a good selection of the better chain stores that tend to have sailing lines such as White Stuff, Crew Clothing, Fat Face, Musto, Timberland and Joules. New wine shop Wine Therapy is just opposite the Red Jet terminal for picking up your holiday provisions and you can sample their wines in the shop, or sit on the terrace outside. You can get fresh wet fish from The Cowes Fish Company, meat from Hamilton’s across the road and there’s a new popular bakery The Well Bread Bakery and Café. Humbug is a traditional sweet shop with sweeties in jars, sherbet and sugar mice and Corries Cabin is a traditional fish and chip shop that even does gluten free batter.

Nightlife is good with a selection of pubs, wine bars and restaurants that cater to every taste. New on the scene are Coast wine bar on Shooters Hill and Brawns in the former butcher’s shop in the High Street. The royal princes, William and Harry, went to Lugley’s on the seafront for a stag night meal with their mates a couple of years ago.

Cowes has strong ties with royalty, having paid host to the Royal Yacht Britannia for many Cowes Weeks and various members of the royal family came with her for the sailing and festivities. Nowadays Princess Anne’s daughter Zara comes to race in the Artemis Challenge.

Organised in association with the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Superyacht Cup Cowes will include a Round the Isle of Wight race, the same route as the first ever America’s Cup in 1851 (then called the Hundred Guinea Cup).

The Superyacht Cup has been run in Palma in Spain for the past 16 years and is the longest running superyacht regatta in Europe and the Mediterranean. But this year the organisers are hosting a Special Edition of the Superyacht Cup in Cowes, to coincide with the start of the London 2012 Olympics. This will be the first ever Superyacht Cup regatta in Cowes.

The format for the Superyacht Cup Cowes will be similar to the Superyacht Cup Palma; held over three days racing and four days social activities. The event will include social functions ashore at the Royal Yacht Squadron and various other venues. Following the regatta, owners will have the opportunity to watch the start of the sailing Olympics in Weymouth, or attend the Olympics Opening Ceremony in London.

The Superyacht Cup in Palma (known formerly as the Big Boat Cup) started as an end of season party for yachts leaving the Mediterranean for the Caribbean. Now in its 16^th year, it has grown into one of the highlights of the European superyacht summer schedule.

Back in 1995 the idea of fleet racing was far too serious, many of the boats were taking part without the owners being present so the simpler and safer option of a pursuit race was devised. A simple principal ? The smallest and slowest boat starts first, the larger faster boats starting at specific time intervals afterwards to ‘try and catch up’. The time differences in these early days were simply based on an estimate of the time taken to get around the course and were adjusted daily. At the end of the day the captains and crew met for a beer or two on the dock and the party began.

Over the years the event has grown in popularity and the trend in performance orientated yachts has brought many new entries. The ratings are now worked out very accurately using a vast amount of data gathered from the yachts as well as input on design parameters, to produce a prediction of performance at different wind speeds and on different points of sail, over a specific distance. The science is not exact, but with such hugely differing designs and sizes of yachts it is a very complex task. The most important aspect of the event still remains, that it is a ‘fun’ regatta both on and off the water and sailing safely in the spirit of the event is the focus.

If nothing else watching these majestic boats sail by or simply at anchor off the Royal Yacht squadron will be a unique sight to behold.

Sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management since 2011, the regatta attracts over 100,000 people to Cowes, not just for the sailing but for the serious après sail scene with balls, cocktail parties and live music on Cowes Marina and at Cowes Parade Village. Around 8,500 competitors now participate, ranging from Olympic and world class yachtsmen to weekend sailors.

Over the years the event has attracted British and foreign royalty, and many famous faces. HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip regularly attended in the earlier years of their marriage, former Prime Minister Edward Heath used to race and more recently Princess Anne’s daughter Zara has raced in the Artemis Challenge as did actor Ewan McGregor in 2011.

Cowes Week usually starts on the first Saturday of August and finishes with a fantastic firework display the following Friday. Traditionally this was so that it took place after Glorious Goodwood and before the Glorious Twelfth, the first day of the grouse shooting season, to fit in with ‘the season’.

Cowes became a fashionable place to sail because of the Prince Regent‘s interest in yachting which continued after he became George IV in 1820. The first race at Cowes was in 1826 to win a Gold Cup of the Value of £100. It was held under the flag of the Royal Yacht Club, which later became the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1833.

The following year King George IV presented a cup and the King’s Cup was presented at every subsequent event until 1939. The event became known as Cowes Regatta and was run as a three-day, then a four-day, event and quickly became part of the social calendar.

From 1946 the King’s Cup was replaced by the Britannia Cup and other Cowes-based and mainland clubs organised racing either side of the three days. By 1953 nine days of racing were provided, but with each club running its own event with its own sailing instructions, racing marks and even start and finish lines. Then in 1957 the first Admiral’s Cup, an international race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, was held and until 2003 this used to be held every other year.

It was not until 1964 that, on the suggestion of HRH Prince Philip (a regular competitor and Admiral of the Royal Yacht Squadron), Cowes Combined Clubs was formed to run and organise the regatta and in 2004, on its 40th anniversary, Cowes Combined Clubs moved into a new purpose-built Regatta Centre which was officially opened by HRH Prince Philip.

In 2007, Cowes Week Ltd was formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cowes Combined Clubs to provide a single management board with overall responsibility for policy decisions and strategic direction for the event.

The regatta has evolved enormously since 1826, and now over 1,000 boats in up to forty different handicap, one-design and multihull classes, race every day for eight days.  During the week there are over thirty-five starts a day for classes of cruiser-racers, one designs and keelboats.

Checkout our Guide for the best spots to watch the action or join the party.

Being surrounded by water, means that no matter what the tide or wind direction there will always be a spot perfect for you to get out on the waves. It is exactly this reason that makes it so popular with professionals, that and the good waves and the fact that you can always find a beach that is ideal for your sport.

Whatever watersport takes your fancy  -  there are loads of places across the Island where you can learn safely, with instructors who can impart that important Islander info on the best places to give it a go.

We’ve complied a guide to the top places to learn to get very wet this season…

ISURF

iSurf mobile surf school provide quality tuition for anyone wanting to learn to surf and can take their equipment to locations around the Isle of Wight according to what the weather dictates for the best conditions for learning.

iSurf is run by BSA qualified surf coach Chris Mannion, who has been surfing for over 17 years. Chris has a great passion for the ocean, having travelled the world extensively in search of the perfect waves. He’s been teaching surfing on the Isle of Wight since the age of 16 and is very familiar with the best surfing spots the Island has to offer.

Lessons can be taught as one to one, in groups and females only. Tel: 07968 609169.

WIGHT WATERS

Wight Waters on Dunroamin Beach at Lake, between Sandown and Shanklin, offer surfing and body boarding, windsurfing, stand up paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing along with sailing too. This is a lovely sandy beach with a gentle slope giving shallow waters for beginners to practice.

Over the past 28 years Wight Waters Adventure Watersports has developed into a thriving centre, boasting a stable of top quality instructors. They also have a popular social scene, with a café on the beach and barbecues in the evenings.

They’re fully recognised by all the National Governing Bodies and work closely with them to develop the centre. Wight Waters stock all the latest equipment from Starboard and Tushingham and also ensure that their safety boats are modern and equipped to the highest standard.

WINDSTALKER ISLAND KITESPORTS 

Windstalker Island Kitesports is an official Cabrinha school and they aim to teach you all aspects of kitesurfing in a safe and enjoyable way.

“All you need is a towel and swimsuit we provide the rest,” said Jane Harris.

“We also offer kite equipment for supervised hire so if your visiting the Island and fancy a kitesurfing session you can. We can repair all kites and boards and are a Cabrinha kite and associated products distributor.

“Here on the Island we are lucky as whichever direction the wind blows we have great beaches and water to kite from, all within 30 minutes of Newport. It’s fun,exciting and a great way to keep fit.”

PEDAL N PADDLE

Ben Donald launched his company Pedal n Paddle in 2011 to teach stand up paddle boarding and teaches two-hour lessons to individuals, groups or families at a location of your choosing from Gurnard to Shanklin, Newtown, Colwell and Totland to the River Yar. “The Island lends itself very well to many different locations – you can surf on the boards or paddle on flat water. And it’s great for keeping up your fitness if you are a surfer or anyone wanting to keep fit while enjoying the water, so SUP has masses of appeal,” says Ben. “ It might be a craze now, but it’s a fashion that is here to stay.”.

Stand up paddle boarding is the fastest growing board sport in the world. There are two divisions of the sport: beginners and those doing fitness training, who tend to ride small waves on big wide boards measuring 12ft by 31 inches; smaller boards – between 8ft and 10ft long – are suitable for bigger waves. Ben uses ingenious inflatable boards, which you can also buy or rent directly from him. “It’s an exciting product,’ he enthuses. “They roll-up and pack down small, so they are totally portable and you can transport them around without too much hassle. They are totally soft to land on and are completely indestructible!”

UKSA

UKSA (United Kingdom Sailing Academy) offer dinghy and keelboat sailing along with kayaking, windsurfing and kite surfing. A taster weekend of kitesurfing includes a basic introduction to kitesurfing enabling you to fly and launch kites safely. “Once on the water, you will experience the exhilaration of body dragging plus have the power to control the kites in a fun and safe environment,” says their website.

MEDINA VALLEY CENTRE

Medina Valley Centre is a Christian charity located on the sheltered banks of the Medina river and they have a fleet of open canoes as well as a fleet of sit-on kayaks and so can offer “taster” sessions in both canoeing and kayaking. “The canoes can be rafted together which produces a very stable ‘catamaran’, which is virtually impossible to capsize,” they say. Sessions are run with a ratio of one qualified instructor to a maximum of eight students- minimum age of eight. Tel 01983 522195.

Round the Island Race – Saturday 30th June

With over 1700 boats and 16000 sailors taking part, this is one of the biggest yacht races in the world and there are still places available aboard Solent Voyager to get out in amongst the action and see the fleet close up. Solent RIB Safaris will be operating RIB rides from Cowes Yacht Haven all day tomorrow, so just pitch up and grab yourself a 45 minute trip for £25 per person.

P&O Super Liner Fleet 175 Anniversary – Tuesday 3rd July

To mark the 175 anniversary of P&O Cruise liners a procession of seven mighty P&O cruise ships Adonia, Arcadia, Aurora, Azura, Oceania, Oriana, and Ventura will sail in procession from their berths in Southampton outbound for the Solent. Escorted under an armada of small ships and press boats the seven ships will for the first time ever, meet up outside Portsmouth Harbour.

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, will take the salute from the deck of THV Patricia in a Fleet Review of all seven P&O Cruises ships, as they pass Portsmouth on passage from Southampton. The ships will offer a final salute to one another before sailing off into the Horizon to far away destinations.

Solent Rib Safaris aim to be at the forefront of this spectacular event, leaving Cowes Yacht Haven at 17:00 returning at 20:00. Tickets for this unique experience are £55 per person and all lifejackets and weather gear will be supplied.