Chris Bake’s Team Aqua, steered by Royal Yacht Squadron Commodore Robert Bicket, has won the King’s Cup on the Solent as the curtain-raiser to the 2026 44Cup World Championship in Cowes.
The charity event brought the Royal Yacht Squadron together with the RC44 fleet, with guest helms including Sir Ben Ainslie and Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon taking the controls of the high-performance one-designs.
As Afloat reported in its preview of the King’s Cup, the special racing was organised to raise funds for 11 Isle of Wight charities associated with sailing.
Team Aqua Wins Three-Way Tie
After a delay while the northwesterly breeze settled, racing got under way off Hill Head in the northeast Solent.
Nico Poons’ Charisma, with experienced Cowes sailor Peter Morton at the helm, won the opening race ahead of Vladimir Prosikhin’s Team Nika, steered by Olivia Dowling, with Hugues Lepic and Pietro Loro Piana’s Aleph Racing third under Lucy Harrison.
The ebb tide and underwater terrain of the central Solent complicated race management for Principal Race Officer Maria Torrijo.
The second race featured a short upwind leg before taking the fleet around Brambles Bank and towards the Royal Yacht Squadron finish via Gurnard. Team Aqua, with Bicket steering for Bake, led the fleet home ahead of Aleph Racing and Team Nika.
That left Team Aqua, Aleph Racing and Team Nika tied, with the tie-break handing the King’s Cup to Bicket and Bake.
“It was absolutely wonderful out there. This (winning) is of course the height of bad manners…but I don't really care!” Bicket said at the prize-giving outside the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Prizegiving: King’s Cup guest helms and participants gather at the Royal Yacht Squadron after the charity racing on the Solent. Photo: Nico Martinez
The trophy itself dates from 1826, when King George IV donated it to what was then the Royal Yacht Club as the principal prize for the Cowes Regatta.
Bicket described the conditions as “the Solent at its best”, adding: “You had to be careful of the depth around the Brambles Bank. It was a great fleet of nine boats. It couldn't get any better.”
Six-Figure Charity Fundraiser
Bake said the event had raised a six-figure sum for the Isle of Wight charities. “It was really successful. Using the RC44s for this has been great,” he said. “Bringing the communities together, as well as being able to help all the charities on the island feels really good.”
Dame Ellen MacArthur attended the prizegiving and highlighted the impact sailing can have on young people supported by the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.
Among the guest helms, Isle of Wight sailor Lucy Harrison enjoyed a strong outing aboard Aleph Racing, while Le Bon took the helm of Turkey’s Wow! Sailing Team.
“Simon was really cool. He's a really good sailor,” Wow! owner Murat Edin said. “It took him a little bit of time to get adjusted to the boat, but once he did, it was cool.”
Le Bon described the experience as “fantastic”, saying the RC44 was “incredibly responsive” and praising the close-quarters racing. “I'm particularly in support of anything that gets kids on the water, as that’s what happened to me and it changed my life,” he said.
Solent Squeeze: Wow! and Aleph Racing negotiate the Solent marks during the King’s Cup, where tides and shallow water around Brambles Bank added to the challenge. Photo: Nico Martinez
World Championship Racing Next
Attention now switches from the charity racing to the 44Cup World Championship itself, with the first three championship races scheduled for Thursday and the opening warning signal at 1200.
Ten teams are entered for the Cowes championship, which runs until Sunday, September 27, with racing on the Solent.
Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team arrives after spending much of the summer racing locally, while Wow! Sailing Team has also brought in Solent knowledge, with Irish navigator Ian Moore involved with its shore team.
Close Quarters: Black Star and Peninsula Racing go bow-to-bow in the Solent during the King’s Cup ahead of the 44Cup World Championship. Photo: Nico Martinez
“The Solent is challenging with the sea breeze and the current, but it's good, it's cool, it's nice,” Zuerrer said. “It looks like a little bit light this week, but it's the same for everybody.”
The Cowes regatta is the fourth event of the 2026 44Cup season, following earlier rounds in Lanzarote, Sardinia and Marstrand.
