The Event
The Menai Strait at Beaumaris — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Every summer the Menai Strait fills with sails for the Menai Strait Regattas — a series of linked regattas run by the strait’s yacht clubs, based largely at Beaumaris towards the northern end of the water, with venues down the strait as far as Caernarfon. In 2026 the fortnight runs from 27 July to 8 August. The programme’s iconic races send fleets from Beaumaris to Caernarfon through the Swellies — the whirlpooled narrows between the two bridges — and round Puffin Island, some of the most demanding short-course sailing water in Britain.
Watching from Shore
Beaumaris is the best grandstand on the strait. The pier and the Green put you level with the start lines; the walk towards Penmon Point tracks the Puffin Island courses; and the terrace of any seafront pub works perfectly well as race control. Tides dictate start times, so no two days look alike — the fleet lists and daily programmes are published at menaistraitregattas.org.uk.
Visiting During Regatta Fortnight
Late July and early August is peak Beaumaris: accommodation books out well in advance and parking fills early, so consider the bus from Bangor. If you want the spectacle without the crowds, midweek race days are quieter than the weekends, and early-morning starts from the pier catch the fleets rigging on a rising tide.
A Little History
Organised racing on the strait goes back well over a century, run by the water’s historic clubs — among them the Royal Anglesey Yacht Club at Beaumaris, one of Wales’s senior clubs — and the regatta fortnight remains a genuine sporting event rather than a festival with boats: results matter, the tides are studied like scripture, and crews come back generation after generation. For visitors the etiquette is simple — enjoy it from shore, give launching slipways room, and remember the pubs will be busy and brilliant. Fleet lists, courses and daily programmes: menaistraitregattas.org.uk.
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