J/Crews Loved Awesome Cowes Week 2025

ByStuart Johnstone
A fleet of sailboats racing on the water under a cloudy sky.


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(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- For the first week of August, the Cowes Combined Clubs hosted their annual highlight of the summer sailing season on the Solent- the famous Cowes Race Week off Cowes, Isle of Wight. Yet again, hundreds of boats and thousands of sailors graced the quaint seaside town with raucous parties and challenging sailing on the capricious waters of the famously fast-flowing Solent Water.

Again, dozens of J/Teams were sailing for a full seven days on the water and garnered plenty of silverware! Cowes Week 2025 delivered everything sailors could have hoped for: competitive racing, changing conditions, and the kind of dockside entertainment that makes the week so memorable. Here’s the roundup for the J/Boat fleet:

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J/70 – Short Series (Aug 2-5)
JELVIS (Martin Dent) dominated with seven wins from nine races, finishing nine points clear of CASTING COUCH (Cate Muller-Terhune), with CALYPSO (Ali Hall) taking third.

J/70 – Overall Week
In the J/70 Overall series, YETI RETURNS (Jack Davies) claimed the title ahead of XV MANTA (Izzey Hung & Rob Stein) in second and VALKYRIE (Patrick & Thomas Seely) in third.

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IRC 2 Division
The J/112E LEON (David Franks) was in imperious form, winning five of six races to take the class title ahead of another J/112E JACK RABBIT (Rutger Krijger & Caroline van Beelen) and YES (Adam Gosling).

Capping an outstanding week, LEON also clinched an impressive 3rd place overall in the prestigious Black Group – an epic achievement!

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IRC 4 Division
The J/99 WARP 5 (Jan Scholtes) edged the J/105 JAVELIN (Richard Newsom) on countback to take the title, both tied on 8 points. The J/92 NIGHTJAR (Libby Finch, Jack & Joe Banks, Penny Jeffcoate) claimed a strong 3rd, ahead of sister J/92 J’RONIMO (David & Libby Greenhalgh) in 4th and another sister J/92 JAMBO (Simon & Sally Shillaker) in 5th.

J/109 Class
JOULE (Arjen van Leeuwen & Silvy Leijh) was so consistent that they had the class sewn up with a day to spare.

Dockside
The evenings were as lively as the racing – the pontoon was buzzing with stories, tactical debates, and more than a few celebratory toasts.

Tuesday’s sundowners featured the infamous “Dark & stormy” dock drinks sessions. While Wednesday’s beer delivery crew ensured supplies reached the fleet after racing – possibly the best logistics operation of the week!!

For more Cowes Week sailing information
http://www.cowesweek.co.uk