Excitement is mounting across the Channel as there are now just a few days to go to the start of the Panerai British Classic Week, the high point of the racing season at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, with around 60 grandes dames of the sea expected to line out. The Panerai British Classic Week is also part of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge and has been taking place since 2001 at Cowes, the home both of sailing itself and the Royal Yacht Squadron, which organises the regatta with British Classic Yacht Club.
The list of entrants includes a large group of beautiful Eight and Six Metres which are sure to deliver some spectacular clashes in the waters of the Solent. Also competing is one of the leading protagonists in the Mediterranean stages of the Challenge, the lovely William Fife III-designed 31-metre gaff cutter, Mariquita, built at the W. Fife & Son yard in 1911.
