Yacht Clubs & Regattas
Experience life on the sea
With a proud sailing and maritime history, South Devon has long been a renowned destination to experience international race competitions and world-famous regattas and events. But this beautiful coastline is also the ideal setting to head out on the water and enjoy it for yourself. With a host of fine yacht clubs and exceptional marinas with comprehensive facilities nearby, Bovisand Harbour gives you easy access to it all.
Premium Marinas
If you’re enjoying sailing life at Bovisand Harbour with your own cruiser or yacht, some of the best marinas in Devon are available to you right across The Sound. Alongside safe and secure premium berthing, each provides an unrivalled range of boatyard and marine services and facilities, repairs, fuel stations, boat storage, and more.
Some of our nearest marinas include MDL Marina, Plymouth Yacht Haven and Sutton Harbour.
Premier Yacht Clubs
Boating is a way of life, whether sailing or motorboating, and there’s nowhere better to live that life than South Devon. Alongside the superb marinas, there’s a selection of premier yacht clubs, each attracting a broad membership from the area. While offering a range of club racing events for the more competitive, there’s also a full social events calendar throughout the year.
Some of nearest Yacht Clubs include Royal Western Yacht Club, Yealm Yacht Club and Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club.
Devon’s Famed Regattas
With a rich background of yachting and sailing embedded into South Devon over many decades, it’s no surprise that the area features a wide range of events taking place each year. The region’s major sailing and yacht clubs all enjoy renowned annual regattas, featuring sailboat races with hundreds of classes, all alongside plenty of shore-based events, activities, and refreshments to enjoy.
Notable mentions go to the locally famed Yealm Regatta, Plymouth Regatta, and Salcombe Regatta all of which run through July and August each year – and of course, possibly the most famous of Devon regattas, the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta. Running at the end of every August, the event is a week-long South Devon sailing regatta for yachts, keelboats, sports boats, and dinghies.
Transatlantic Races
But the region is not without its own international race events. Sailing enthusiasts will no doubt be aware of the biennial, offshore Lonely Rock Race through the English Channel, run with the assistance of our own Royal Western Yacht Club.
But alongside its own club race events, the Royal Western Yacht Club also organises major transatlantic races of its own – the original single-handed Transatlantic race, OSTAR, and the two-handed Transatlantic race, TWOSTAR – along a westward course covering over 3,000 nautical miles.
The club also organises the Plymouth Fastnet 500 Race, starting from Plymouth Sound and following the route to round Fastnet Rock, alongside the Original Lonely Rock Race, a course that starts in Ryde in the eastern Solent, taking in the Isles of Scilly and the Fastnet Rock, before finishing in Plymouth Sound.
International Race Events
The global championship race series, SailGP, takes in different venues around the world and consists of 2-days of exhilarating, high-drama inshore racing between 8 countries in high-performance F50 foiling catamarans. For the second SailGP season In July 2021, it was Plymouth who was chosen to host the GB leg of the championship in the natural amphitheatre of Plymouth Sound. Broadcast in over 175 countries around the world, it’s an event that puts Plymouth’s sailing reputation firmly on the map.
It’s been confirmed that SailGP will return to Plymouth Sound on 30 and 31 July 2022 and with the bidding process of future events taking place annually, it may return for years to come. And if it does, it means you get the chance to see all the exhilarating action taking place right on your doorstep, with front row seats.