Cowes is bathed in sunshine and over flowing with the crews of 982 yachts.

Photo – Mark Lloyd

If Friday is anything to go by, Skandia Cowes Week is set to be an absolute thriller; the Volkswagen Tourag King of Cowes and the iShares Cup having lit the fuse for some highly eventful yachting.

After five races on day one of the iShares Cup at Skandia Cowes Week, Rob Greenhagh’s crew of Basilica top the leaderboard on 44 points. Nick Moloney’s team on BT are currently 2nd also on 44 points, with Basilica claiming top spot on tie break. US team Tommy Hilfiger were consistent on the water putting them 3rd in the standings ahead of Shirley Robertson’s team on JPMorgan Asset Management who posted a 2nd place in the final race of the day. It was a day of thrills and spills – two broken rudders, a man overboard with the entire fleet racing right on the edge.

Today marks the start of Cowes Week for all 34 classes. The pubs and bars were over flowing with competitors until the small hours of this morning. Somewhere in the order of five thousand sailors will be competing today from fourteen different countries, making Skandia Cowes Week, the biggest multi-national sailing event in the world.

Today is set to be another fantastic day on the water, this morning there is a light south westerly breeze but that is set to be enhanced by a sea breeze this afternoon, the weather really can’t get better than this.

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