• Registration complete and teams ready to race for the 75th Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix sponsored by Clear Solutions International Ltd.
• Sailors and guests enjoy champagne and canapes at the Yanmar sponsored Opening Ceremony, where historic and current Edinburgh Cup champions mingle and compare notes.
• 41 teams from 12 nations and 4 continents will be under starters order for the opening races on Tuesday 15 August.
• Racing to take place in the Central Solent with eight races scheduled over four days.

14 August 2023 – Cowes, UK – A delightful Opening Ceremony and Cocktail Party sponsored by Yanmar at the Royal Yacht Squadron Pavilion marked the official start of the 75^th Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix sponsored by Clear Solutions International Ltd. The sailors and their guests enjoyed champagne and canapes as Regatta Chair Gavia Wilkinson-Cox welcomed the competitors and thanked everyone involved in making the regatta possible and the many sponsors for their generous support.

Special guests in attendance included Ireland’s Tony O’Gorman, winner of four Edinburgh Cup’s between 1978 and 1984, and Martin Parry, who won the Edinburgh Cup in 1963 and came fourth in the Dragon Class at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Defending 2022 Edinburgh Cup Champion Andy Beadsworth, who will be racing with his Turkish Provezza Dragon team of Simon Fry and Enes Çaylak, was particularly delighted to meet Martin Parry, with the pair being the most recent and the longest standing Edinburgh Cup winners present. Andy summed up the appeal of the Dragon Class beautifully saying, “I love the camaraderie, sportsmanship and above all the excellent level of competition from many already accomplished sailors around the globe – it’s the best one design racing in the World. It’s been an honour to meet Martin this evening and compare notes about our experiences in this extraordinary class and competition.”

41 teams from 12 nations and 4 continents will race for the honour of having their name engraved on the historic Edinburgh Cup, which has been awarded to the winner of the Dragon Open British Championship since it was presented by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1949. With the event also incorporating the UK Dragon Grand Prix, one of just four European Grand Prix Circuit events in 2023, it has attracted an exceptionally high calibre entry.

Ireland’s Martin Byrne, owner/helm of Jaguar Sailing Team and winner of the 2011 Edinburgh Cup is looking forward to the competition. “It’s the 75th Anniversary this year but the Edinburgh Cup is an event we would not want to miss at any time. Clearly, the competition is at its highest in this Anniversary year and that will be our biggest challenge. We enjoy the welcome we receive each year when we travel over from Ireland to compete. The Edinburgh Cup has always been a must-do event for us, but Irish Dragons have a long and successful history in this competition, and we are proud and privileged to continue this tradition.” 

Fresh from victory in the Dragon Class at Cowes Week 2023 comes 1999 Edinburgh Cup winner Martin Payne who has been impressed with the organisation so far. “We have all the ingredients for a fantastic event. Huge thanks to Gavia Wilkinson-Cox for the exceptional organisation, to the measurement team led by our IDA measurer Bence Toronyi, and to all the Cowes Yacht Haven Staff for helping launch the boats. The registration at the RYS has been a delight and we all look forward to a great 75^th Edinburgh Cup.”

Racing in his first Edinburgh Cup will be Australia’s match racing legend Peter Gilmour, at the helm of the Yanmar Racing Team’s Y-RED with crew Jasuhiro Yaji and Sam Gilmour. “The 75th Edinburgh Cup is going to be a tremendous event. It’s exciting for the Yanmar Racing team to be a part of it and for the Yanmar Group to be a supporting sponsor. The amazing prestige and heritage of the Edinburgh Cup goes hand in hand with Yanmar’s long history. There is a tremendous field of sailors, and it will be interesting once again to take on the tricky and challenging conditions of the Solent. A big thanks from Yaji san, Sam and myself for letting us be a part of it.”

Very much looking forward to the competition is Graham Bailey, current Turkish Open Dragon Champion, Bronze Medallist at the 2023 Dragon Worlds and three-time Edinburgh Cup winning helm, who will race the 75-year young Bluebottle with Julia Bailey, Will Heritage and Mark Lees. “It’s wonderful to be here for the double celebration of Bluebottle and the Edinburgh Cup’s 75^th birthdays. There are some strong teams entered and we’ll put our best foot forward, but one thing we are certain of is that we are going to have fun!”

Also racing will be British Olympic Bronze Medallist Lawrie Smith, top French sailor Gery Trentesaux, Danish double Olympic Gold Medallist and five time Edinburgh Cup Champion Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, Australian World Match Racing Champion Torvar Mirsky, TP52 and MOD70 veteran Peter Cunningham from the Caymen Islands, top Hong Kong Dragon sailor Marc Castagnet, and a host of other top names from across the UK and Europe.

Speaking on behalf of the Royal Yacht Squadron, Rear Commodore Yachting Bruce Huber said, “We are delighted to be hosting the 75th Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix Regatta and to welcome such a strong international field. This highly competitive trophy is a wonderful legacy of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and his enduring spirit, and this regatta will include his indomitable yacht Bluebottle, an historic competitor since 1949. We look forward to a great week, on and off the water.”

Racing will take place from Tuesday 15 to Friday 19 August with up to eight races scheduled over the four days with a first warning signal at 10:55 daily. Racing will take place on windward leeward courses in the central Solent under the supervision of the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Race Officer Rob Brown, himself a past Edinburgh Cup winner.

The forecast for the opening day is promising plenty of sunshine with a light 3 to 8 knot westerly breeze in the morning, which is expected to back to south-westerly and build to 10 to 15 knots with gusts into the low twenties during the afternoon. With Wednesday’s forecast threatening very light winds, the Race Committee has announced that it intends to run three races on the opening day.

You will be able to follow the latest news from the regatta at the Event Website and the British Dragon Association’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Photos from the preview day of the 75th Edinburgh Cup can be found in the Edinburgh Cup gallery >>>

Watch the video here >>>

• Final plans are being put in place for the 75^th Edinburgh Cup and International Dragon UK Grand Prix sponsored by Clear Solutions International Ltd.
• The British Dragon Association and the Royal Yacht Squadron look forward to welcoming 42 teams from 13 nations and 4 continents to compete.
• Registration opens on Sunday 13 August. Championship racing runs from Tuesday 15 to Friday 18 August with up to eight races scheduled.

10 August 2023 – Cowes, UK – The final countdown is running for the 75^th Edinburgh Cup and International Dragon UK Grand Prix sponsored by Clear Solutions International Ltd, which will be raced from Tuesday 15 to Friday 18 August 2023. From Sunday 13 August the Royal Yacht Squadron and the British Dragon Association (BDA) will begin welcoming competitors to Cowes for two days of registration and pre-regatta preparation. With the biggest entry in over a decade and the largest number of overseas competitors ever – 42 teams from 13 nations and 4 continents – this special celebration event is going to offer exceptional competition and a spectacular social programme.

The teams will compete for both the historic Edinburgh Cup, which is awarded to the winner of the British Dragon Open Championship, and the UK Dragon Grand Prix, part of the International Dragon Association’s premier regatta circuit which features four international regattas plus a Grand Final. The UK Grand Prix is the third in the series, with the teams having already raced the Turkish Grand Prix in Bodrum and the Italian Grand Prix in Malcesine. The fourth Grand Prix and Grand Final will take place in Vilamoura, Portugal in November.

Organising top level National and International regattas of this type takes a great deal of time and experience. The inaugural Dragon Edinburgh Cup was run from Cowes and so it was natural to return to the venue for the 75^th celebration. The Royal Yacht Squadron was selected as the host club as it has extensive experience in running both top level racing and excellent social events. To coordinate the event the BDA appointed Cowes based Dragon sailor and event coordinator extraordinaire Gavia Wilkinson-Cox as the Regatta Chair. Gavia worked for the Royal Yachting Association and then the International Yacht Racing Union (now World Sailing) for 18 years before forming her own very successful event management company, which she ran for 25 years until retirement. Now based in Cowes, she has raced Dragons since childhood and has been one of the top female helms on the international circuit for nearly 20 years. This will be her fifth Edinburgh Cup as Regatta Chair and she will also be competing in the regatta.

“From the outset of the organisation my goal has been that the 75^th Edinburgh Cup and UK Grand Prix be a celebration and festival of Dragon sailing: excellent racing and excellent shoreside fun. I am delighted that we have attracted such a large international entry and look forward to welcoming teams from across the globe. I am also particularly pleased that so many past Edinburgh Cup winners and sailors will be joining us for the social events to help us celebrate the illustrious history of the trophy, which was presented to the class by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1948. I hope that, together with my team, I deliver a truly memorable regatta – one that I can be proud of. One that the Solent Dragon Fleet, the British Dragon Association and the International Dragon Class Association can all be proud of.” – Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, Regatta Chair, 75^th Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix 2023. Click here to read a full interview with Gavia.

Amongst those competing will be British Olympian, current Edinburgh Cup holder and 2019 Dragon World Champion Andy Beadsworth with his Turkish Provezza Dragon team, four-time World Match Racing Champion Peter Gilmour with the Japanese YRED team and 2017 World Match Racing Champion Torvar Mirsky from Australia. From the Cayman Islands comes Peter Cunningham, who’s MOD70 Powerplay has broken numerous multihull records in recent years, and from France top Dragon and offshore sailor Gery Trentesaux, while Marc Castagnet makes the journey from Hong Kong to compete against the top UK and European sailors.

With a host of VIP guests including multiple past Edinburgh Cup winners joining the competitors for social events, this truly will be a celebration worthy of the 75^th Edinburgh Cup. There will be après sailing gatherings and parties each evening with sponsors including MTM Integrated Marketing, The Royal Yacht Britannia, Yanmar, Hendrick’s Gin and Wessex Distillery. 

The 75^th Edinburgh Cup and UK Grand Prix sponsored by Clear Solutions International Ltd will take place from 13 to 19 August 2023 with championship racing from Tuesday 15 to Friday 18 August. You will be able to follow the latest news from the regatta via the Event Website and the British Dragon Associations Facebook and Instagram accounts.