Cowes for the use of Queen Elizabeth I sowed the seed for Cowes to grow into a world-renowned centre of boat-building. However, seafaring for recreation and sport remained the exception rather than the rule until much later. It was not until the reign of keen sailor George IV that the stage was set for the heyday of Cowes as 'The Yachting Capital of the World.' In 1826 the Royal Yacht Squadron organised a three-day regatta for the first time and the next year the king signified his approval of the event by presenting a cup to mark the occasion. This became
Cowes abandoned and since destroyed. The seaport at Cowes, Isle of Wight was the first stop on English soil before crossing the Atlantic Ocean with many ships loaded with Germans and Swiss passengers leaving from Rotterdam going to the New World destination of the port City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These Germans and Swiss passengers where going to become British subjects in Colonial America, and the English Captain's made a written record of the stop in Cowes, England. It is believed that the building of an 80-ton, 60-man vessel called "Rat o' Wight" on the banks of the river Medina in 1589