| INTERNATIONAL DRAGON SAILORS WILL BE AT COWES IN AUGUST 2026 |
| August 2026 will see the top sailors of the International Dragon fleet assemble at Cowes, UK for the 2026 Edinburgh Cup and International Dragon Association UK Grand Prix. The Edinburgh Cup is presented annually to the winner of the Dragon British Open Championship, whilst the Dragon UK Grand Prix is one of the four European Grand Prix Series Regattas being held in 2026. The two events will run concurrently from August 16th to 21st. Under the leadership of British Dragon Association (BDA) Chairman Chris Grosscurth and Event Director Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, the event will be hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS), with racing taking place on windward-leeward courses in the central Solent. 2026 sees the BDA celebrate its 70th Anniversary, and alongside a world class racing programme, competitors will also enjoy a special celebratory social programme, which will include a welcome reception on the RYS’s famous lawn, and a Prize Giving Gala Dinner in the RYS Pavillion. The fleet will be based at Cowes Yacht Haven, where launching and recovery will also take place. Registration will commence on Sunday 16 August and continue until Monday 17 August when there will also be a special BDA 70th Anniversary Celebration Race and Practice Race. The championship series will run from Tuesday 18 to Friday 21 August. For overseas competitors travelling to Cowes there is a bumper summer of sailing on offer. From 1 to 7 August Cowes Week will celebrate its 200th Anniversary with a strong Dragon fleet participating. The Edinburgh Cup and UK Grand Prix will be immediately followed by the Marblehead Trophy, the International Dragon’s premier inter-club competition. Organised by the Royal Yacht Squadron and hosted by The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, with the Bluebottle crew, Dragon teams are welcomed to Cowes to challenge for the Marblehead Trophy, one of the sport’s most historic prizes. Any recognised club can challenge the holder in a series of races designated by the current holder in his or her country. BDA Chairman, and Dragon Solent Fleet Captain, Chris Grosscurth highlights the prestige of the combined event; “The Edinburgh Cup returning to Cowes as an International Dragon Association Grade 1 regatta is something we are extremely proud of. It is a privilege for the UK Dragon community to host one of the class’s premier events once again. “We are seeing a genuine swell of enthusiasm for Dragon sailing, not only across our regional fleets in the UK, but internationally as well. There has already been strong interest from British sailors, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming teams travelling from further afield to race on the Solent. The Edinburgh Cup has always held a special place in the Dragon calendar, and 2026 promises to be a particularly memorable edition.” Further information about the regatta, including the Notice of Race and online entry can be found at britishdragons.org. A discounted early entry fee is available to those who enter by 31 March, after which standard entry remains open until 31 July, with entries then being accepted until 7 August with a late entry fee. Press Release from Edinburgh Cup organisers. |
1929 will be the year the Dragon become a centenarian design. The boat was the brainchild of Norway’s Johan Anker who conceived it as an entry for a design competition run by the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg, to find a small keel-boat that could be used for simple weekend cruising among the islands and fjords of the Scandinavian seaboard. The original design had two berths and was ideally suited for cruising Anker’s home waters of Norway.
The featured image shows Bluebottle, the Dragon bought by Isle of Wight yacht club sailors for Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten as a wedding gift after their wedding in November 1947. Prince Philip is at the helm with the famous designer Uffa Fox, a young Prince Charles and Lt Cdr Alistair Easton – Bluebottle‘s Sailing Master, ca 1957.
Bluebottle is kept in Edinburgh along with Bloodhound – Prince Philip’s larger yacht as part of HMY Britannia Trust. She was being restored to race again (for the first time in 60 years) with Philip’s blessing when he died in April 2021.
The silver Edinburgh cup was presented to the British Dragon Association for the first time in 1949 by Prince Philip – Duke of Edinburgh, as a prize to make racing Dragons more popular. DH
International Dragon
1929 Johan Anker (designer)
LOA: 29.17 ft / 8.89 m.
LWL: 19.00 ft / 5.79 m. .
Beam: 6.42 ft / 1.96 m.
Displacement: 1.67tons / 1,696 kg.
Sail Area (upwind): 298 sqft/27.7m²
