A rush of early entries for the 2025 Taittinger Royal Solent Yacht Club Regatta
by Oliver Dewar 22 Apr 14:46 BST
4-6 July 2025
Taittinger Royal Solent Yacht Club Regatta © Tim Jeffreys Photography
Champagne Taittinger are returning to the English South Coast for the 17th edition of the Taittinger Royal Solent Yacht Club Regatta 2025 (Friday 4 - Sunday 6 July) organised and hosted by the RSYC in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight.
Last year, 188 boats raced at the regatta and a rush of 50 entries were confirmed in the first 24 hours of online registration opening for this year's event. With an early bird entry discount available until midnight on 20th May, the RSYC, Champagne Taittinger and supporting sponsors River Yar Boatyard, Wight Marine and the Edelweiss & Gurgl Hotel are expecting high competitor numbers for the regatta weekend of three races in the Western Solent.
As usual at the South Coast's most popular yacht club regatta, the racing fleet will be large and diverse. IRC, IRC Swan and IRC Classic Cruisers will be competing and the One Design fleet includes XOD, YOD, Contessa 32, J24, J105, J80, J111, P40s, Sonatas, Sigma 38s and Folkboats. A fresh innovation for 2025 is the Bembridge Feeder Race organised by Bembridge Harbour Authority providing a competitive challenge for Taittinger RSYC Regatta entries to race east-west through the Solent on Friday 4th.
Competition within some of the IRC fleet will be heightened by the regatta's status as Event 3 of the IRC Solent Championship; Series 2 of the Folkboat Summer Weekend Series and the Allot Cup Series, Golden Tiller Series and Persephone Series for the XODs.
Onshore, the Taittinger RSYC Regatta's blend of entertainment for the competing crews, and their shore-based families and friends remains a key element of the event. The Champagne Taittinger Reception held on the waterfront lawns at the RSYC opens the regatta and while crews are racing, the club will be open throughout Saturday hosting live music and the popular Wightwood Pizza van.
In the evenings, there are back-to-back parties at The Towers adjacent to the RSYC with a private, fundraising rock concert on Friday and bands include the Blue Water Giants featuring members of Status Quo, Procul Harum and Tears for Fears while food is provided by Cowes-based restaurant, Spice Central. The hugely popular Towers Party on Saturday night features live music, fireworks and a broad range of refreshment and food. Last year, the Towers Party, hosted and organised by local sailor and businessman John Caulcutt CBE, raised a phenomenal £85k for the party's two chosen charities; the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Cure Parkinson's.
Meanwhile, the 2024 Taittinger RSYC Regatta's sales of branded Taittinger caps raised £1,860 for the national disability powerboating charity, The Wetwheels Foundation. Geoff Holt MBE, founder of Wetwheels, confirms that the money raised in 2024 will enable 60 people to get out on the water this year. The RSYC and Taittinger will continue to support the foundation and barrier-free sailing in 2025.
Following the single race for all classes on Sunday, the regatta prize-giving will be held at the RSYC. Alongside the enormous quantity of silverware available to the regatta's winners, a bottle of Champagne Taittinger will be presented to the wining team in each class with the coveted jeroboam of Champagne Taittinger going to the regatta's overall winner. A prize draw from the regatta's supporting sponsor, the Edelweiss & Gurgl Hotel, will provide a week's stay for two people at this luxury hotel in the Austrian Alps. The winners of the Champagne Taittinger prize draw will take a trip for two to the Champagne Taittinger cellars in Reims.
The Royal Solent Yacht Club, Champagne Taittinger and the regatta's supporting sponsors look forward to seeing you in Yarmouth in July.
Further information and online registration for the 2025 Taittinger RSYC Regatta here.
Information and contact details for the Bembridge Feeder Race 2025 here.
For further competitor information, please contact the RSYC:
Tel: 01983 760256