A season in British waters

Yacht racing grew up in the Solent, London can be reached by water, and the rivers of the south west take a large yacht into the middle of a town.

Yacht racing, as an organised sport, grew up in these waters. The Yacht Club was founded in London in 1815 and, as the Royal Yacht Squadron, made Cowes its home; the first Cowes regatta was sailed in 1826; and in August 1851 the schooner America beat fifteen of the Squadron's yachts round the Isle of Wight for a cup that now carries her name. The Fastnet followed in 1925 and the Round the Island Race in 1931, and the Admiral's Cup returned to the Solent in 2025 after more than twenty years away. A yacht that spends July in the Solent is at the centre of that calendar rather than a visitor to it.

London is the other half of the case. The Port of London Authority governs 95 miles of tidal Thames, from Teddington to the sea, and a yacht can lie on a tier in the Upper Pool within sight of Tower Bridge, which has lifted for shipping since 1894 and still does so about 800 times a year on 24 hours' notice. St Katharine Docks, beside the Tower, is the only marina in central London. From May to September the city's season runs from Chelsea and Trooping the Colour to Wimbledon, Henley and the Proms.

West of the Solent the coast changes character. Falmouth, which its harbour authority describes as the third deepest natural harbour in the world, lies at the mouth of the Channel with Carrick Roads behind it, and the Fowey and the Dart are deep, sheltered rivers where a large yacht lies to a buoy between two towns. Between them are Plymouth Sound, Poole and a coast that can be cruised in day passages.

The arrangements suit a private yacht owned outside the United Kingdom. Temporary Admission allows up to 24 months in Great Britain, against 18 in the EU; there is no Schengen count for the crew, who need no permission to enter when they arrive and leave with the yacht; and each harbour authority publishes its tides, pilotage and berths in detail.

The weather is the honest reservation. The season is shorter than the Mediterranean's, and a passage along the Channel is planned to the tide and the forecast rather than to the calendar. Within those limits the United Kingdom offers a racing calendar that goes back to 1826, a capital reached by water, and a coast of deep harbours between the two.