Cowes Week continues support of Youth Sailing with Discounted Entry Fees

Cowes Week continues support of Youth Sailing © Paul Wyeth

Cowes Week Limited, organisers of Cowes Week, one of the world's best-known sailing regattas and a highlight of the British sporting summer, are delighted to announce that they will continue their youth initiative which offers discounted entry fees to boats with crews of under 25 year olds.

The Cowes Week Under 25 Youth initiative, which has been running since 2012 has succeeded in doing what it was originally designed for – inspiring and making it possible for young people to race at Cowes Week.

By offering an extremely attractive package to young sailors under the age of 25, numbers have, not surprisingly, increased over the last few years. Entries for the Under 25 Trophy at the 2016 regatta increased by 12%.

This year Cowes Week Ltd is offering the first 25 crews to enter, who are all under age 25 at the time of the regatta, a 50% discount on the entry fee. The sooner teams sign up the more chance there is of securing one of the highly desirable discounted places.

Kate Johnson, Commercial & Marketing Director at Cowes Week Ltd commented "We are committed to making racing at Cowes Week more attractive and cost-effective for the next-generation of sailors, and are delighted by the increase in youth entries over the past few years. Now going into the sixth year of the initiative we are very pleased to be able to offer the first 25 boats to enter with a full crew of under 25 year olds a 50% discount on their entry fee."

Competition in the MUSTO Under 25 Trophy couldn't have been more intense in 2016. Jack Davies and his team on the J/70 Yeti were back to reclaim their title from 2014 after Hugo Sloper and his team on the Itchenor-based Swallow Marengo won it in 2015. After a fantastic week of sailing it was a convincing win for Team Yeti, who had also won the MUSTO Pimp my Ride competition, winning new kit and a training session with Annie Lush.

Skipper Jack Davies commented "As with every Cowes Week there were so many highlights, both on and off the water. This year was special for us though; our most memorable moments were definitely managing to finish 3rd in the very first race after starting in last place, sneaking in front of our two closest rivals just moments from the finish line in a five hour race on Thursday and finally crossing the finish line in the final race to secure our regatta win!"

Teams wishing to take advantage of discounted entry fees should make their entry as soon as possible by calling the Regatta Office on 01983 295744 or visiting the website www.cowesweek.co.uk

Cowes Week 2017 takes place from the 29th July - 5th August.