I was on site in Cowes from the opening skippers’ press conference to the spectacular departure of the Fastnet Race on the following weekend.
Here are the things I loved about the experience…
That opening press conference was a real breath of fresh air. It was hosted superbly by double Olympic gold medallist (and local Cowes resident) Shirley Robertson, whose profound depth of knowledge about the Admiral’s Cup and her easy rapport with the top name skippers that she called onto the stage made the session a pleasure to attend.
The press conference was the first chance I got to get a feel for the calibre of the sailors heading up the teams.
Mysteriously not all the skippers attended – more about that in my suggested improvements list later in this article – but with the likes of Mike Sanderson, Ian Walker, Vasco Vascotto, Gordon Maguire, and Gavin Brady, the conversation sparkled with open and honest answers proffered by the smiling participants.
That meant the hour-long event never came close to dragging – not something that’s a given at the majority of press conferences I attend.
Making sure all the competing yachts based themselves in the basin at the Cowes Yacht Haven made for a great regatta atmosphere. Having the fleet all in one place gave the event a central focus and that’s important. It’s something you miss at events like the America’s Cup where – like in Barcelona at AC37 – the team bases are dotted all around the waterfront and pretty much impenetrable fortresses as far as the general public are concerned.
The 30-boat Admiral’s Cup fleet filled the pontoons on the far left of the Yacht Haven and it was cool to wander through before and after racing to get a feel for the atmosphere amongst the crews and to pick up some ad hoc interviews.
If the Yacht Haven was the centre of the Admiral’s Cup as far as the boats were concerned, then the newly refurbished RORC clubhouse was where the sailors and bystanders gathered throughout the regatta. The view out over the Solent when the boats were racing was excellent and the club's atmosphere was calm and welcoming, with never ever even a hint of stuffiness. If all yacht clubs were as warm and friendly as this one I might well be persuaded to end my close-to-15-year boycott of such institutions.
Also worth mentioning was the atmosphere around the town and in particular the coffee shops, pubs and restaurants up and down the Cowes High Street. Although not even close to the heady days of the Admiral’s Cup heyday years – when, to be fair, the regatta was held alongside the major hubbub of Cowes Week (also in its heyday) – it was cool to see the likes of Dean Barker, Chris Nicholson, and Bouwe Bekking beetling to or from a debrief session. That and the fact that Admiral’s Cup sailors or shore crew could be seen in just about every hostelry around the town throughout the week, made you feel like you were attending something special.
I didn’t get out on the water to watch the racing up close as space on the lone press boat was oversubscribed with photographers. I did, however, enjoy watching from the shore as the Admiral’s Cup boats struggled on a tight spinnaker reach to lay the outer end of the Royal Yacht Squadron’s finish line.
Based on what the sailors told me and from the on-the-water footage I have seen, the racing was as tightly contested as we could have hoped for at a premier Grand Prix event like the Admiral’s Cup. Start lines and mark roundings were hotly contested and the boat handling from the largely professional crews seemed impressive. Although stuck in the media centre on most days, the Yellow Brick tracker did a pretty good job of making it easy to follow the action online.
I can’t tell you what a pleasure it was to be interviewing people at a mixed handicap event on a racetrack as challenging as the Solent, rather than at a tideless light airs Mediterranean event where the wind mostly does exactly the same every day. The Solent is a place that can leave the world’s best scratching their heads – and that’s a scenario that makes for great interviews and good stories.
I also very much liked the combination of offshore and inshore racing. Based on what the sailors and owners told me, I am not alone in that. An event like the Admiral’s Cup that combines both disciplines provides a much more interesting challenge for the competitors than straight one-design windward/leeward racing and I got the strong impression that everyone would be happy to do more of it.
As a final word on things I really liked about attending the 2025 Admiral’s Cup, I have to highlight how much fun it was to watch the start of the Fastnet Race from the Cowes esplanade. There have been windier, more spectacular starts to this 100-hundred-year-old race, but despite the gentle breezes, the close-to-450-boat fleet was impressive to watch as part of the crowd lining the shore and a lovely way to wrap up my Admiral’s Cup experience.
So, what could be improved for next time?
The answer is plenty, but that is not to criticise the organisers of this year’s event. The important thing was to attract a strong fleet and to deliver a good experience for the owners and the sailors.
The first thing I would look to change is to make a return to running the event during Cowes Week. That way both regattas would benefit from the increased size and scale. Cowes Week would get kudos from being associated with the Admiral’s Cup, which in turn would benefit from being part of a bigger event.
The sponsors – both team and event – would love it, I think, and the mainstream media would surely find the larger event more of a draw than the two run separately. There could even be some cost reduction of sharing resources like committee boats and marks.
This move would also help connect the Admiral’s Cup with the town and the people of Cowes – something that didn’t seem to be a priority this year. Other than the Fastnet, none of the races were started from the RYS start line. That’s a massive missed opportunity to engage with the town and local community and to give the Admiral’s Cup its own unique identity. Any regatta can start races from a committee boat, but only Cowes Week and the Admiral’s Cup can use the RYS cannons.
While I’m on this subject, I think the inshore racing for the Admiral’s Cup should be kept inside the Solent. There was an option this year to race in Christchurch Bay, where the winds are more predictable and the current is much less of a factor.
A plan for the final day of racing to be held there got scuppered the night before, basically because of a mass revolt from the teams who did not want to motor for several hours to get to the proposed race area. The Admiral’s Cup is a Cowes/Solent-based event and it should play to that as a strength and not a weakness. Teams don’t travel from Hong Kong, Australia, and the United States to race in Christchurch Bay. They come to race on the world’s trickiest stretch of water, so give the people what they want.
The combination of offshore and inshore racing was clearly a big hit this time around. But I think the format needs a few little tweaks to amp up the competition.
First of all, I propose the return of a Maxi class. Two boat teams were fine for this first year of the event’s rebirth, but although the 40+ and 50+ foot boats were an impressive enough sight out on the Solent, they were overshadowed when the 100-footers like Scallywag began to train ahead of the Fastnet. Think how impressive the fleet would look with 15 or 20 Maxis ripping around the place.
I also propose that the Admiral’s Cup fleet races every day. This year the 165-mile RORC Channel Race on the opening Saturday saw the Admiral’s Cuppers finish on Sunday morning – most of them in time to hot-foot it over to Portsmouth to watch the second day of SailGP. Then there was a lay day on the Monday. Why? Next time there should be no lay days, except on the final Friday when the teams do need a day to prep their boats for the Fastnet.
Yes it’s a tough schedule for the sailors, but the Admiral’s Cup is, after all, the unofficial offshore racing world championship.
I would also suggest trading one of the inshore days for a race around the Isle of Wight. Again, let’s play to the strengths of the island. The around the island course is an iconic route, so why not factor it in?
A few other thoughts…
Let’s have an Admiral’s Cup race village at the Yacht Haven. Let’s hold daily press conferences after racing – in public on the Esplanade if possible. Compulsory attendance punishable by jury penalties. Let’s live stream the racing on a big screen in the race village, and make it available to the pubs and restaurants around the town. Would it be a step too far to put on board reporters on all the boats? Maybe, but just think how cool that would be – even if it was just for the Fastnet.
Let’s bring back the Admiral’s Cup scoreboard with live updates on the team standings while the racing is going on. All communications should, I believe, focus on the team standings and not – as they tended to this year – talk about the individual class results. Whoever is leading Class 1 or 2 is irrelevant in a team competition and to focus on this serves to confuse the media and general public.
I have saved what I believe is my most contentious suggestion until last. Brace yourself. While it is so great to culminate the Admiral’s Cup with an iconic race like the Fastnet, it is also such a shame that doing so means the event finishes not just in another city, but in another country.
How much better would it be to see the winners crowned in the Admiral’s Cup Race Village in Cowes, thronged by spectators and media who had been following the competition throughout the previous 10 days or so?
Nobody is going to want to give up completing the Fastnet Race, so is it possible that the Admiral’s Cup teams race on to Cowes from Cherbourg. I can hear the groans and sense hands being thrown up in the air in horror as some of you read this. I know this one specifically is not an easy thing to sort out, but the payoff for the event and its mainstream profile could be massive.
I will finish with a hearty congratulations to everyone who was involved in resurrecting the Admiral’s Cup after its 22-years in the wilderness. You all did a fantastic job.
Any suggestions in this story come from a place of love and appreciation and are aimed solely at building on the excellent base you have created. This year’s event has shown that a full revival of the Admiral’s Cup to popularity it was at its height back in the 70s and 80s is a real reality. The ‘other’ AC is a jewel in the crown of competitive sailing and we should do everything in our power to make it the best it can be.
