Saturday 2 August . . . The opening day of Cowes Week 2025
The first day of Cowes Week dawned with light north-westerly airs with a forecast that predicted a sharp change in wind direction, with Storm Floris moving in from Iceland later in the day.
The bigger boats were moved from the Squadron Line to a Committee Boat start off Beaulieu, with the remaining committee boat fleets starting just off Thorness. All classes were initially postponed as the breeze slowly made its way up the Solent with the call made to lower the AP at 13:24 hrs.
First off was the 36-strong J/70 Class. The following classes became a bit bunched as the breeze went more east and proved rather fickle for a while.
With the SB20s, Sportsboats, Etchells, Daring, Dragon and Flying 15s away, Principal Race Officer Phil Warwick postponed the Sonar, Redwing, Solent Sunbeam, Seaview Mermaid, Victory and XOD fleets to give them a bit of a buffer.
Meanwhile, in the western Solent the larger boats on committee boat starts delayed their first starts until 14:25 and were rewarded with a consistent breeze, giving fabulous racing for all the fleets.
Read more here . . . Report by Gael Pawson
Full results available here . . .
Racing continues Sunday with Family Day, with plenty of activities ashore including music, entertainers, face painting and glitter tattoos on the high street and a magician on the Parade.
See the day’s shoreside programme here . . .
Weather-wise, Sunday looks breezy and cloudy, with a 24-knot south-westerly forecast, and 33-knot gusts. The breeze is due to build until midday, shifting right as the front comes in, anticipated to be around 14:00, then shifting left and dropping later.
