A veritable line up of 28 Skandia Cowes Week 2006 winners, have confirmed they will compete in the Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes Regatta at Skandia Cowes Week this August. With names such as Andy Budgen (winner in the Sigma 38 Class), Graham Bailey (Etchells), Alastaire Richardson (Extreme 40), and Russell Peters (Laser SB3), the event promises to be hotly contested.

Performance Sailcraft Europe Ltd and Volkswagen Touareg have teamed up to create a very special invitation-only sailing regatta to take place on Friday 3 August 2007. With a brand-new Volkswagen Touareg as the prize for the winning helmsman, news of the event has spread fast. see previous yachtingworld.com news story here.

Twenty-nine helmsmen of the most competitive classes of Skandia Cowes Week 2006 were invited to come together racing identical one design Laser SB3s off Cowes in a one-day, three race regatta to compete for the title ‘Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes at Skandia Cowes Week’. An impressive 28 of the 29 invited helmsmen confirmed their attendance.

A draw to match winning helmsmen with qualifying SB3 owners was made on Tuesday 29 May 2007. Qualifying helmsmen were randomly selected to team up with Laser SB3 owners and their boats. The likes of Kenny McCullough (Skandia Cowes Week winner in IRM – TP52) was drawn with SB3 owner Jerry Hill. Alistaire Richardson (Extreme 40) will team up with Toby Litton. Current favourite Russell Peters (Laser SB3) will partner David Wilkinson. The owner and helmsmen have been put in touch with each other and will now choose a crew to sail with them for the event.

Mike (Moose) Sanderson has confirmed that ABN AMRO 1, winner of Class O, will also be represented at the regatta. Mike hopes to take the helm, if commitments to TEAMOrigin allow, on Chris Darling’s SB3. Click here for draw results.