Cowes Week

[colhel]

I didn't go this year but have been the previous 3 years. My main interest (sorry) is the live music and other shoreside stuff.
Obviously this year would have been affected by covid, but do you think the event will ever grow back to the size it was a few years ago?

 

[st599]

I didn't go this year but have been the previous 3 years. My main interest (sorry) is the live music and other shoreside stuff.
Obviously this year would have been affected by covid, but do you think the event will ever grow back to the size it was a few years ago?

Compared the the hedonism of the late 90s/early 00s it's been tame and small for a few years. Can't see it getting back to how good it was, but I held that view before the pandemic too.

 

[Blue Sunray]

There isn't the corporate money around these days largely due to the legislatve restrictions on entertaining. That’s got to have a knock on effect.

 

[ridgy]

I was there this year and there seemed to be no live music, at the haven anyway like there is for rtir. Maybe it was somewhere else. It was pretty busy though, only just scraped in to mojacs on a 5.30 sitting. Anecdotally a resident taxi driver told me it had been going downhill for years. Shame really but the pathetic last minute renaming of ladies day to "womens day" made me care a bit less about it.

 

[flaming]

Can't disagree with much of what's already been said. Shoreside has been smaller for a while. To be honest I've found that suited me as I've *cough* matured since I first started doing Cowes in the early noughties.

This year I stayed pretty clear of the beer tent. Think I had 1 beer in the haven, and a couple in the sugar store in Shepherds, but mostly as a crew we kept to ourselves in our house, save a couple of the younger members who went out on a few nights.

But...
If anyone is staying clear of Cowes these days because of some crap experiences with race courses, and race management, in years past. Forget that. In my humble opinion Laurence is doing a simply fantastic job at managing the racing side of the regatta, with some very sensible decisions moving starts about being taken throughout the week, and very clearly communicated. I think those of us who enjoy Cowes, and want it to survive and prosper as a major event, need to start shouting this. The old days of rubbish courses without a decent beat, or wooden decisions to keep fleets tied to one start line with no wind when there is wind in another part of the Solent seem to have gone. In my eyes, despite the challenging weather conditions they had this year, this was a regatta for sailors first and foremost, and extremely welcome for it.

I have for a long time held the view that to be a great regatta with an amazing social scene, the former has to come first and the latter follows. For a long time Cowes was trading off past glories on the racing side, and hadn't moved with the times in terms of its offering on the race course. All the while squeezing the punters for every last penny ashore. The result of which was large numbers of "I race every weekend" sailors choosing not to come. It'll take a while for the message to get through, but I'm happy to tell anyone that in my eyes the event is worth doing as a racing event first and foremost. I wouldn't have said that 5 years ago.

 

[Summer Sailor]

Did the Red Arrows go this year?

 

[DJE]

I was there this year and there seemed to be no live music, at the haven anyway like there is for rtir. Maybe it was somewhere else.

A friend's band were playing at The Anchor.

 

[flaming]

Did the Red Arrows go this year?

No Red Arrows or fireworks this year.

I expect they will return next year.

 

[Blue Sunray]

No Red Arrows or fireworks this year.

I expect they will return next year.

I was rather hoping the MoD would have seen sense and binned the Red Arrows by then to spend the money on something with military utility..