A summer without a summer break: after four regattas in southern England in a row, interrupted only by a single outing in Sweden, the Black Star Sailing Cape 31 team now returns to the Solent for what is arguably one of the biggest stages of the season – Cowes Week, the fifth round of the Cape 31 UK Series, which in 2026 also marks its 200th anniversary on the Isle of Wight.

Racing has been held off Cowes since 1826, first under the flag of what would become the Royal Yacht Squadron. Over two centuries it has grown into an institution: across a good week, several hundred yachts and thousands of sailors share the narrow, tide-swept waters of the Solent, with up to forty races a day at the peak. Amid this vast turnout, the Cape 31s sail their own Mini Series, based at Cowes Yacht Haven.

None of this is unfamiliar ground for Black Star Sailing. The team raced here as early as 2023 for the 44Cup World Championship title in the RC44 class, and after a summer full of Solent regattas, the strong tidal streams and quickly shifting winds of these waters have become familiar territory. Cowes Week now tests that knowledge more intensively still: crowded start lines, a schedule dictated by the tide and countless starts across the competing classes all add to the challenge.

And that is precisely where the appeal lies for Black Star Sailing. Few regattas bring top-level sport and spectators as close together as Cowes Week: throughout the week, onlookers line the waterfront while the fleets race just off the town. For the Black Star Sailing Cape 31 team, it is the chance to measure itself against the international elite of the class in this setting.

With Cowes Week, the UK Series enters its final phase: September brings the season finale, and October the declared goal of the season, the Cape 31 Gold Cup in St Tropez.

Until then, one thing holds: anyone in Cowes will experience Cowes Week up close in its anniversary year – and every cheer from the shore or from the water is welcome to the Black Star Sailing Cape 31 team. Anyone who cannot be there can follow the racing via the official channels of the Cape 31 class and the team’s Instagram channel.