Cowes Powerboat Festival 2026 Cowes-Torquay-Cowes

Date: 30 August 2026

Location: Royal Yacht Squadron Line, Cowes, United Kingdom

Organizer: British Powerboat Racing Club

Cowes-Torquay-Cowes is the oldest offshore powerboat race in the world, first run in 1961 as the first event of its kind outside the United States. The British Powerboat Racing Club organises it from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, and in 2026 the sixty-fifth staging headlines the Go GPS Cowes Powerboat Festival, held over the bank holiday weekend of 28 to 30 August. The fleet assembles at Cowes Yacht Haven for scrutineering on the Saturday, then races on Sunday 30 August, starting around 10:00. The course is about 210 miles: non-stop down the Channel to Torquay, a stop of roughly ninety minutes in the Devon resort, then non-stop back to Cowes, all under UIM rules with the quickest boats exceeding 100 mph. The shorter Cowes-Poole-Cowes race starts just after the main fleet. Sixty-five years on, the format has barely changed, which is exactly why people keep coming.

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