Cowes is getting ready to host the Pro Sailing Tour, offshore sailing’s most exciting new competition, on July 5 and 6.

Renowned for its intensity, its boat-on-boat battles and a very high level of racing, eight talented Ocean Fifty skippers will be racing foiling trimarans as long as they are wide (15 metres) reaching speeds of up to 42 knots on both inshore and offshore racecourses.

Brit Sam Goodchild, onboard Leyton, is the current defending champion, hotly contested by his French rivals during the two-month competition that started in May. Tour organisers recently met representatives from the Royal London Yacht Club, who will host the visitors, and Cowes Harbour Commission (CHC) to finalise plans ahead of the arrival of the fleet.

Gary Hall, chief executive of CHC, welcomed the event. He said: “We are delighted to welcome the Pro Sailing Tour to Cowes this July. The event will bring high-speed multihull racing into the heart of the Solent, delivering the thrilling spectacle of Ocean Fifty trimarans accelerating in our home waters. Cowes is known as ‘the home of yacht racing’ and hosting the Pro Sailing Tour combines our heritage with cutting edge technology.

“It will be a fantastic experience for spectators ashore and afloat, and a highlight of summer 2022.”

The course is being designed to take in some of the Solent’s most famous landmarks such as Osborne House, Norris Castle and the major forts, as well as the Needles.

“To bring the Pro Sailing Tour to Cowes, home of yacht racing, is an honour and a pleasure. The welcome here has been superb, and we are full of anticipation for some exciting racing on the Solent and some wonderful moments ashore,” said Julien Mauriat, CEO of the Pro Sailing Tour.

Words – courtesy of IW Observer 10 June 2022.