Big IRC boats at Cowes-photo credit Rick Tomlinson
By William Mills
The UK’s top annual yachting regatta, Cowes Week started on Saturday 8th August giving a whole week of racing to sailors from all over and sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management.
Each day has seen excitement out on the water and parties onshore.
The week finishes with a fantastic firework display which can be seen for miles all over the Solent and on the mainland.
Sunday sees the start of the Fastnet Race. Held every other year, a fleet of yachts race from Cowes westwards out of the protected waters of the Solent and down the English Channel to the Atlantic.
The yachts round the Fastnet Rock, which is home to an isolated lighthouse to the south of Ireland, then return to the finish line at Plymouth in the south west of England.
