So, what do Brits think of as the perfect holiday? A recent survey showed that according to the average Brit, their perfect holiday is one they can book using their smartphone, travel to in summer or autumn and for a smaller budget than they paid two years ago. A tall order, but not impossible.

“People are looking for holidays where they feel they are getting a good deal.  With more information at their fingertips and the increased role of smartphones to research and book holidays it’s now a buyer’s market.” Says Dan Lockyer of Lateboat.com

Cowes Week Limited is delighted to announce that Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week has been selected as the new qualifying event for Sportsboats interested in participating in the 2014 EFG Pan American Sport Boat Championship which will be held in March in Miami.

This championship event is held in conjunction with the Bacardi Cup and Miami Sailing Week which brings together American and international sailors for a week of racing in Biscayne Bay. Sportsboats were added to the regatta four years ago when EFG International and the Viper 640 Class created the Pan American Championship as a feeder series for a final in Miami. 

Lucy Reynolds, owner of Performance Yacht Charter will be taking part in the Rolex Fastnet Race aboard her First 40, Southern Child with an all-female crew this summer.

"It's not about being an all-female crew, gender doesn't come into it," explains Portsmouth-based, 25 year-old Lucy Reynolds. "Our goal is to do well by finishing in the top 25% of the fleet; to beat Northern Child (The Swan 51 she also owns with husband, Christian) and to finish in a respectable position in the race. We'll provide the tools and structure to give female crew a chance at competing on an equal footing in this testing offshore race, " says Lucy.

Apprentice George Woolliss, 18, found himself hovering above the rooftops of Bournemouth & Poole College last week. George, from the village of St Leonard’s near Ringwood, was given a bird’s eye view of the latest high-tech equipment loaned to the college on a long-term basis by Raymarine, one of the region’s leading marine electronics company based in Fareham. 

The Raymarine equipment, fixed to the roof of the new Marine Engineering Centre which opened last year, is the latest piece of kit gifted by forward-looking companies to help apprentices improve the depth of their training. 

Award-winning* footwear brand Chatham Marine introduces its new men’s and women’s professional deck shoes for summer 2013. New styles include sail cloth shoes Fibrecon® and Contender® and striped canvas deck shoe Candy.

Designed for durability and featuring Chatham’s unique two year guarantee is the DAME award winning sail cloth shoe collection.

Fibrecon® G2 - a men’s deck shoe with a modern twist - a lower profile and a more ‘sneaker’ style look, available in white and navy, and the Contender® G2 is a more traditionally styled men’s deck shoe in navy. Both are lace-ups.

Raymarine will be showcasing its range of innovative new products at this year’s Seawork International show.

The six new additions have it all covered with the DragonflyTM Sonar/GPS, Ray 260 VHF, T200 thermal camera, a-Series now with Wi-Fi, gS Series and EvolutionTM autopilot. There really is something for everyone from the smallest, fastest RIB to the largest offshore workboat. 

Raymarine’s high-performance Dragonfly Sonar/GPS brings the power and crisp detail of advanced CHIRP sonar to inland and coastal anglers at a very affordable price. 

Ben Ainslie stormed across the finish line at 0802:15, accompanied by a swarm of RIBs and Ian Roman's photo helicopter, to smash the 12-year-old race record.

He finished the race in 2 hours 52 minutes 15 seconds, carving more than 16 minutes off Francis Joyon's 2001 time and taking the record time to less than three hours.

Second across the finish line was Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard. Having sailed the first half of the race in 1 hour 40 minutes the giant monohull looked to be well inside the record time of 3 hours 53 minutes she set in 2008. 

On the eve of this year's Race the competitors are unanimous in their excitement as they look forward to tomorrow's rounding of the Isle of Wight in the iconic J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

At today's packed pre-Race press conference at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes, there was a mix of guests interviewed on stage by MC Tracey 'TC' Clarke, ranging from Dame Ellen MacArthur to 90-year old competitor Ray Moxley and Emily Sarsfield, Britain's Ski Cross Champion who is sailing for the first time! Here's an overview with some of the highlights.