Cowes is one of the sailing capitals of the world.  Home to the famous Cowes Week racing, the start of the Fastnet race and the Round the Island race.   The prestigious Royal Yacht Squadron looks out over the harbour entrance and it’s start line is used for many sailing races.

Rainbow over Cowes by Kathryn Lewis

As a mecca for sailing there are numerous prestigious yacht and sailing clubs.  The town is on the Medina River, Isle of Wight.  It looks North to Southampton and is in the centre of the Solent.   There’s still some ship building and maintenance yards, along with sail training and sail and powerboat racing for boats of all shapes and sizes.

The town itself is relatively small with the high street containing a range of usual high street shops and restaurants.  These are interspersed with chandleries and shops for sailing specific brands such as Henri Lloyd and Musto  who use  their shops to exhibit their latest range of clothing and waterproofs.

The entrance to the harbour is changing as there’s an outer protective sea wall being installed.  This should protect the harbour better from the north-north easterly gales that can be dangerous to the moored boats.  The Cowes Yacht Haven is our usual mooring if we’re in Cowes.  We only seem to be at Cowes for sailing regattas and a berth at the Haven is usually included in the package.  Further up the river there is Shepherd’s Wharf marina which is quieter and East Cowes Marina but you need to take the chain ferry to get to Cowes from here.  Further up the Medina are numerous moorings as far as the Folly Inn a Pub about 2 miles from the harbour entrance.

First impressions are of a vibrant community both on and off the water.  The harbour is busy as there are two ferries operating: a car ferry and a fast passenger catamaran.  What with those, day sailing boats such as the Dragons and Etchells and all the other boats coming and going you need to hold your nerve and follow the Col Regs to ensure safe passage.  I’d like to say that it’s quieter off season but there are winter and spring sailing regattas so it’s fairly busy year round.   If you’re looking for a quiet night with a bottle of wine and good food then you’ll need to go to Newtown or Beaulieu.

Cowes Yacht Haven is a marina geared for visitors.  There are lots of berths and when it’s busy expect to be moored alongside at least another boat.  Boats of all shapes and sizes will be in here for one reason or another they could be victualling before an off-shore race, cruising boats using it as a stop off point, using it as the centre for day racing series or simply taking in the scene.  The marina itself is functional, the showers functional and recently refurbished.  During Cowes week and other blue ribbon events during the year the hard standing is used for shore-side parties so it can get noisy.

The shoreside entrance to the marina is directly from the high street so it’s a very short walk to the shops and restaurants which makes it popular with sailing crews.  The Red Jet passenger ferry is only a 5 minute walk away – again a good location to collect crew members from the mainland.

The Pier View and the Anchor Inn Pubs are geared towards sailors – they’re large and efficient. The yacht clubs also welcome visitors and we’ve been welcomed at the Royal London Yacht Club, the Island Sailing Club, Royal Corinthian Yacht Club (recently merged with the Royal Ocean Racing Club).  We’ve been to the Royal Yacht Squadron for formal events and the view from their lawn is superb.