1st – 7th Aug: Cowes Week
This year was the bicentennial Cowes Week. With the hot dry summer is continuing I tried to book on at the NCI Stone Point station on days when it looked like there would be enough wind for some more interesting photos.
I was not there on the Saturday (1st August) but Cathy M. took a few photos of the yachts coming back towards the station with spinnakers set. The next day I did my usual Sunday afternoon slot but the racing was predominantly in the central Solent.
On Tuesday (4th August) afternoon I got to Lepe Park just in time to see many of the yachts coming close along the mainland shore as they tacked against wind and current. this turned out to be the best day for photos being a mix of cruising yachts with many white sails as well as the black carbon sails which are less photogenic. However, in contrast to the hot sunny weather and clear blue skies that we have been experiencing, some low cloud rolled in for part of the day. It was still warm but there was a fine mist which developed into drizzle. Nowhere near enough to make a difference to the yellow grass and baked dry ground however [4th August Photo Album].
For Wednesday (5th August) I was on the morning watch and we had a prospective Watchkeeper doing a “taster watch”. There were also workmen replacing the shutter “legs” on the station! This time it was the racing yachts with predominantly black, carbon sails which came to the western Solent. With less of an adverse current during the first leg the fleet spit with only some of the yachts keeping to the mainland shore. As they returned along the Isle of Wight side the wind rapidly strengthened from force 4 to force 6 gusting 7. I assume the courses were shortened and so we did not see any more racing that day [5th August Photo Album].
Although I was booked on the afternoon watch on Thursday (6th August), I got to Lepe at around 0730 to open the station for the work on the shutters which they completed before the station was officially opened at 1030. With low tide now occurring later in the day, most of the racing in the western Solent was towards the Isle of Wight side. However some of the races used the yellow buoy (strangely named “Cowes Week 2027”) at the start of the Beaulieu River fairway as a course marker so we were able to watch the action there [6th August Photo Album].
Lighter winds were forecast for the last day of Cowes Week (Friday 7th August) and with the NCI Bulletin to prepare, I stayed away from Lepe.