Cowes Week

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The Book A Berth programme is operated by Yacht Ventures of Southampton.

To make a booking or to find out more about our events, click on the email link at the bottom of each page, or call 0870 80 30 120.

We also operate corporate events – take a look at our main site reached via the About us menu button.

Friday 31 July - Sunday 2 August 2009
Monday 3 - Wednesday 5 August 2009

Cowes Week is one of the highlights of the British sporting summer. It offers yacht racing for a full week and attracts thousands of entrants. We’re offering two three-day book-a-berth package on Azzurra and Pi Squared, our two First 47.7s

Both yachts will be in the charge of a professional skipper assisted by an experienced mate and a competent deckhand. They will be based in East Cowes Marina, close to the heart of the action. We expect guests to join their boat the evening before the first day's sailing, so that we are sure of making an early start. You will stay on board (unless you prefer to fix accommodation ashore), sleeping in one of the yacht's comfortable cabins or under a boom-tent in the cockpit if you prefer (on a warm night, these spaces are in great demand!).

Lunch will be provided on board while sailing. The exact form this will take will depend on the conditions and the racing programme – but you will not go hungry!

The racing
We will be racing under the IRC handicap system, which aims to produce ‘corrected’ times so that slightly mismatched boats can compete against one another fairly. The IRC group is broken down into smaller classes in order to make the races and in particular the starts manageable; we are in IRC 2. There will be one race per day, and our starts are generally between 1045 and 1130.

Your competence
You do not need racing experience to take part in Cowes Week on our yachts. You do need sailing experience, so that you will be able to behave sensibly without constant supervision, and hopefully play an increasingly useful part in sailing the boat as fast as possible.

Your equipment
We provide good waterproofs and auto-inflating lifejackets, though you are of course welcome to bring your own if you prefer. You need grippy soft-soled shoes, which will get wet in rough or wet conditions.

The cost
We are charging £395 for the weekend package and £350 for the weekday package. Both are including fuel, regatta entry fees, berthing charges, breakfasts and lunches - ie everything except post-race drinks and supper, which we expect our guests to take ashore in Cowes.