Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2011 | Page 59
YOUR GUIDE TO
ON THE
WATER
Rocking off to Fastnet
Up to 300 yachts will be setting off from
Cowes on Sunday, August 14 for the
bi-annual Rolex Fastnet Race.
The event was first staged in 1925, and
some critics refused to acknowledge it as
a true ocean race as racing did not cover
long distances across an ocean or sea.
However, the race quickly evolved due to the
popularity of the new sport of ocean racing
in England, and has grown in stature over the
years to become one of ocean racing's most
testing and spectacular races.
Setting off from Cowes, competitors will
head west down the Solent and out past the
Needles. They will then travel to Lands End
before rounding the famous Fastnet rock and
returning via the Scilly Isles before finishing
at Plymouth.
Powering out of Cowes
The British Powerboat Festival
will roar into action off Cowes
on the weekend of August 27
and 28.
It promises to be a high-octane
Festival that will begin on the
Saturday with the Aqua X off
Egypt Point with 15 entries.
Then on the Sunday morning
at 10.0am more than 20
powerboats will be on the start
line for the ever-popular
Cowes-Torquay-Cowes
race, which was first
introduced to the waters
off the Island by Sir Max
Aitken in 1961.
Half an hour after
the C-T-C race gets
underway, 16 Powerboat
P1 boats will rev up for the
Cowes-Poole-Cowes race.
The British Powerboat Racing
Club was formed in 2001 to
celebrate the 40th running of
the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes
offshore powerboat race, and
has continued to grow in stature
ever since, giving powerboat
enthusiasts a series of races to
relish.
www.visitislandlife.com
59