LNTM - 21/08/25

Notice is hereby given jointly by the Cowes Harbour Master and the Harbour Master ABP Southampton to advise mariners that powerboat racing will be taking place in the Solent on Sunday 24 August 2025.

Safety Control will be at the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) and Race Officials will operate from there throughout the event. Up to 40 boats, 6 – 12m in length, are expected to take part across the two races. The faster race boats are capable of speeds of 90 knots+.

Date                                      Race                                                                      Start                      Finish (approx.)

Sunday 24 Aug                  Cowes-Torquay-Cowes Race                       0900                       1215 – 1600       

                                          Cowes-Poole-Cowes Race                           0915                       1200 – 1400 

Race Starts (Fig 1)

Participating vessels will depart Cowes Yacht Haven at approximately 0800 and conduct a low-speed parade towards Egypt Point before turning east to muster 2.8 cables due north of Old Castle Point by approximately 0835. On Sunday participating vessels will depart at approximately 0900 and will muster by approximately 0935, also off Old Castle Point.

Fig 1: Start Line and Start Chute

At 0858 the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes race boats will come into a pre-start formation abreast on the starboard quarter of the start boat, which will fly a yellow flag and be positioned at the Southern boundary of the race corridor. The fleet will then head west at speed, passing between the Snowden race mark and Prince Consort buoys before crossing the Outer Fairway and the RYS line; at this point if the course ahead is clear the race will be started by displaying a green flag from the start boat and the race boats will accelerate towards East Lepe passing to the north of the Gurnard North Cardinal Buoy. The fleet will remain within the north and south boundaries of the start run at all times (see Fig 1). All spectators and mariners are advised to remain outside of these boundaries for the duration of the start sequences.

This procedure will then be repeated for the Cowes – Poole – Cowes Race, with race start at 0915. The pre-start corridor off Cowes will be marshalled by 10 boats flying a BPRC Marshal flag (see Fig 2) with the Cowes Harbour Master Launch stationed in the Outer Fairway monitoring VHF Channel 69.

Fig 2: BPRC Marshall Flag

Any vessels including commercial vessels and ferries wishing to use the Outer Fairway between 08:30 – 10:30 shall contact Cowes Harbour Radio on VHF Ch69 for clearance to proceed.

Finish

Both races will finish across a line between the East Lepe Buoy, and a Committee Boat stationed approximately 1.5 cables to the north. Boats competing in the Poole race are expected to finish between 1200 – 1400, Torquay boats finishing between 1215 – 1600. A safety patrol will be in the area; however, spectators or mariners who are not associated with event are requested to keep well clear of the line. Craft participating in the race will be observed to ensure that they have come off the plane as soon as possible after crossing the finish line and proceed to Cowes Harbour, observing the 6-knot speed limit when entering the Cowes Inner Harbour.

Spectator Craft

These are high-speed races taking place on a potentially busy summer Sunday and, in the interests of safety, all craft not participating in the event are advised to keep well clear of the start and finish areas. All vessels should proceed with caution and keep a good look out whilst navigating in or near the areas of racing.

Race Marshal Patrol Boats

Race Marshals will patrol the area between the Muster Area and Gurnard Buoy for both starts.  For the finishes, the area between the finish line and Cowes Harbour entrance will be patrolled by Race Marshals to ensure that the race boats are off the plane once over the line and at less than 6 knots before passing south and east of the Gurnard Buoy.

The International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (1972) as amended will take precedence over all other considerations at all times.

For further information on the event please visit https://cowestorquaycowes.com

This local notice to mariners will self-cancel at 2359 on 24 August 2025.