Cowes Week
Cowes week is the oldest and largest sailing regatta in the world. The competition started in 1826 and is one of the most popular and successful sailing events in the world. The regatta offers a mix of competitive sailing and social activities with over 8000 participants from the Olympics & professional sailors to amateur sailors.
The event is held August every year in the Solent area and run by Cowes Week in the town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
Official homepage: http://www.cowesweek.co.uk/web/code/php/main_c.php?section=home
The Ocean Race
The competition is a race around the world where the sailors are tested to their limits. The competition started in 1973 and one of the most popular offshore races in the world. The race takes place every three or four years. The race was originally named Whitebread round the world race and in 2001, it changed the name to Volvo Ocean Race when Volvo started to sponsor the race. In 2019 it was once again renamed to the Ocean race.
The route of the race changes for each event, but it normally departs from Europe and has either 9 or 10 legs to the finish line. Each team in the race sails day and night for more than 20 days for each leg.
The next race will start in Alicante in the autumn of 2021 and finish early in the summer of 2022.
Official homepage: https://www.theoceanrace.com/
Read more about the new boats here https://www.boatingglobal.com/imoca-60/
America’s Cup
The race was founded in 1851 and is the oldest trophy in international sports. The trophy is awarded to the winner of America’s Cup in a match race between two sailing yacht teams. The team that currently holds the American’s Cup is called the defender and the second yacht team is called the challenger. If the challenger wins the match, it gains the stewardship of the cup.
Due to the very long winning streak of the Americas team, the race has historically been held in the United States.
The next America’s Cup race takes place in 2021 and is the 36th edition of the yacht race presented by Prada. The defender of the cup is the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Official homepage: https://www.americascup.com/
Vendee Globe
The race is a single-handed non-stop yacht race around the world without assistance, to this day, the only competition of this kind in the sailing world. The race is considered by many to be the toughest sailing competition in the world both physically and mentally and called the Everest of the seas. The race was founded in 1989 and takes place every fourth year. The route of the race starts and ends in Vendee, hence the name of the event.
The next race will take place in November 2020.
Official homepage: https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/