It's turning out to be a great season and 2008 looks set to be a vintage year for both British and international yacht racing. At the time of writing, the JP Morgan Round the Island Race had a record entry of over 1,800 boats, including several high-profile boats and crews. Edward Gorman, motor racing correspondent for The Times will be racing on board Alex Thomson's Open 60 Hugo Boss along with F1 star Lewis Hamilton and double Olympic Gold medallist Ben Ainslie. See our story on page 24.
Then, of course, there is the increasingly successful Rolex Commodores' Cup, which saw 12 teams taking part in early July, the ever-popular ACC Bank Cork Week and then the grand daddy regatta of them all, Cowes Week, celebrating the end of a remarkable run of 14 years of Skandia sponsorship. We preview Skandia Cowes Week on page 118 with tips from previous winners and the top ten situations to avoid.
Later in the year two epic races head round the world - in October the Volvo Ocean Race, which despite early reservations about the new course and number of competitors, looks set to be a classic and in November, the toughest race of them all, the Vendée Globe, leaves from Les Sables d'Olonne. On page 23 we're running a competition, with Garmin, to win a visit to Les Sables before the race and dinner with Mike Golding, an experience money cannot buy.
But the biggest event of the lot and the one in which the Brits hope to bring back more than their fair share of medals is the sailing Olympics which starts in Qingdao, China, on 9 August. In our preview on page 70 we look at who is favourite in each class, examine Team GBR's medal prospects, interview Ben Ainslie and let you know how to follow the racing on www.yachtingworld.com
