Cowes is one of the most famous and legendary cities of sailing history. The America's cup was born there, the Cowes week is an extremely popular regatta and the round the island race, which is now a real record, reinforces its supremacy as one of the main events in the world. This course is very small, 50 nautical miles, but hundreds of yachts meet every years for this race (1800 in 1989! ). The round the island race was created in 1931, won by Peter Brett aboard a converted fishing boat. In 2001, Steve Fossett with Playstation participates to this regatta and creates a huge impression. This marks the entry of this course in the records table with a time of 2hrs 33mins and 55secs! Maiden II, another maxicat, will attempt to break it in 2002 but will fail for… 13mins!