Cowes Week Ltd is delighted to announce updates to its Inter-Club Team Trophy with changes to the entry criteria designed to make it a more all-round competition across the 800 boat fleet and significantly to encourage more international entries.

For 2019 the new Solent Team Trophy will be awarded to the top team of three boats, at least one of which must come from the Black Group and at least one from the White Group.  Challenges will be accepted from teams in the name of individual yacht clubs where all three are from the same club or from countries sailing under the national flags where a country has three boats in attendance, even if they are not from the same club. In the fullness of time Cowes Week Ltd hope that this might become an international competition between countries as much as it is between yacht clubs. Entries for the new Solent Team Trophy can be made in the normal way via the regatta website.

Defending champions, the Royal Thames Yacht Club, have won the previous inter-club trophy for the last two years, and are sure to enter a strong team again in 2019.  They will, however, have to find a White Group boat to join their team having won on both occasions with Gladiator (Tony Langley), Strait Dealer (David Franks) and Yes! (Adam Gosling) all in Black Group.

A new trophy is being designed for the Solent Team Trophy and will be awarded at the Cowes Week prize giving on the evening of Friday 16th August before the Fireworks round out the week with a bang as ever.

Laurence Mead, Regatta Director at Cowes Week Ltd commented:

“I’m really pleased that we are bringing back a distinctly international element to the regatta. Cowes Week was home to one of the world’s major international team trophies and it was always a huge highlight for me to watch the scoreboard being updated each evening. This friendly competition between clubs and nations will, I hope, go some way to bringing back those days and we look forward to building the competition such that it becomes a respected and desired trophy to win for yacht clubs and countries worldwide.”

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