Cowes Week 2026 - Fri 7th - Day 7

On waking up this morning to last night plates and Chinese meal paraphernalia still in the sink, we looked out to see the flags just hanging around the ,marina and the moored ship outside in the deep water.  The race committee soon announced "AP over 1" which meant that there would be at least a 1 hour delay to the start sequence due to commence at midday.

We decided to do a rig check in the intervening time to see everything was still tickety boo but sadly found an issue with part of the rigging that holds the mast up.  After a close inspection, we found it was beyond our current skill set to sort out so took the decision to call  a day to the racing and Cowes Week as a whole.

Whilst the others were flopping around waiting for a sea breeze to kick, the three old men on an old called "Aquila" decided to head for the hills and take the tide back to Portsmouth a day early.

There was a race that lasted nearly 2 hours and there will be some grand fireworks over the Solent at 21.30 tonight.  We won't be there in body but our spirits will be there "oohhing" and "Aarring" as the rockets explode.

Thought for the day - Discretion is the better part of valour.  Especially when a new mast costs £15,000 !