Isle of Wight sailing spectacle as Cowes hosts Cervantes Trophy Race

The 2026 Cervantes Trophy Race, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) in association with the Société des Régates du Havre and the Royal Yacht Squadron, will set sail from Cowes on Saturday, May 2.

Spanning 110 to 160 nautical miles, the course will take crews west off the Royal Yacht Squadron line and across the Channel to Le Havre in Normandy, home to France’s oldest yacht club, the Société des Régates du Havre.

Winning the Cervantes Trophy will be determined by the best corrected time under IRC, and class trophies will also be awarded.

The Sun Fast 3600 in action in last year's Cervantes Trophy Race (Image: Paul Wyeth)

Points will count towards the 2026 RORC Season’s Points Championship, the world’s largest offshore racing series.

The Cervantes Trophy Race also opens this year’s RORC Cowes Offshore Series.

Among this year’s early entrants is Graeme Lewis’ CM60 Venomous, returning to defend last year’s IRC Zero Class win.

RORC commodore, Deb Fish, and Rob Craigie will return aboard their Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, which secured the overall RORC Season’s Points Championship title three years running.

In IRC Four, Mark Brown’s JPK 1010 Jetpack will aim to defend its class victory from last season.

A young team is also set to take on the Channel, with Nuala Sellwood skippering the Sun Fast 3600 RORC Griffin, crewed entirely by sailors aged under 25.

Five of the eight sailed together last year as part of the Griffin Pathway development scheme run in Cowes.

Nuala said: "The Cervantes Trophy is the first real opportunity to put all of our Griffin training into practice.

"The Cervantes gives us a chance to test ourselves, refine our processes and start to get a clearer picture of what we can achieve as a team."

Spectators can watch the fleet depart from The Parade in Cowes.

The Cervantes Trophy was first presented to the RORC in 1972 by Bob Watson.