Sailing: Influx of rich players swells the party

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Ainslie takes stylish break from world of hard competition

Whatever the woes of the stock market, Britain's yachties come out to play in force today as entries for Skandia Life Cowes Week rise to a shade under 900. As this includes nearly 200 paying higher late entry fees in the last fortnight, the appetite for racing is clearly strong, especially with 16 in the class for boats over 60 feet.

"I think this is indicative of the way the game is going," says Stuart Quarrie, the director of the umbrella organisation Cowes Combined Clubs, which runs the event. "Wealthy men are still confident enough to spend money on yacht racing."

So are those who are not so wealthy. At the other end of the scale, the day boats, often with an average of three or four crew, still account for a major percentage of the total entry.

The major prizes are still the Britannia Cup on Wednesday and the New York Yacht Club Challenge Cup on Thursday, with the Farr 52 Team Tonic seen by many as the boat to beat. Nick Hewson, its owner, is a relative newcomer to the game but, in Jeremy Robinson, he has one of the fastest inshore helmsmen in Britain.

His is also one of five boats chosen by Skandia for an ambassador squad which ranges from an XOD, Elicia, which sank last year but makes a comeback, to a team of 10 policemen, bringing another meaning to the word beat.

And then there are girlsforsail. Put together by a resourceful Anne O'Sullivan, they will be competing on sigma 38 under the team name of T&G Bolly Dollies, the first initials represent a clothes company, the middle name a champagne company and the whole name a play on that unflattering description of aeroplane cabin staff.

They will even be dressed up in bright pink, an approach which may not please some of their more politically forceful sisters. While the co-ed route is the increasingly preferred approach, O'Sullivan believes the game is still too male dominated and wants to give more women more opportunities to compete.

That is what Cowes Week offers in spades; the chance for ordinary mortals to compete instead of being mere spectators at one of Britain's great summer sporting events, and, in doing so, to reward themselves with a splendid bash in the evening.