Beautiful, elegant classic boats are on their way from Scotland, Ireland, the East Coast of England, La Rochelle in France, Holland and one boat is in mid-Atlantic on her way from Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.

Some 23 French boats are entered, 2 are from Belgium and 1 is from Holland. There are a good number of local entries from the Dart in the Regatta.

A spokesman for the Regatta said: “We hope Kingswear Castle will be back in commission to lead the Parade of Sail on Saturday morning which will start at approximately 10.30am on Saturday July 8th.

“It will start near the Higher Ferry and boats will sail down the river close into the Dartmouth Embankment and then out to sea in readiness for their first race of the day. The best places for seeing the boats will be from South Embankment and Dartmouth Castle.”

Most of the yachts will be moored together in the middle of the river off Dartmouth, with some on the inside of the Town Jetty.

One famous yacht coming to Dartmouth for the regatta is Pen Duick II, the yacht designed and built for French national hero, the late Eric Taberly. He won the 1964 Observer Single-Handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR), the win that started his rise to the status of national icon.

There are two days of racing in Start Bay off Dartmouth organised in association with the Royal Dart Yacht Club. The first is on Saturday, 8th with the start scheduled for 12.00 noon. There will be one longer race on Sunday 9th starting at 10.00am and going right round Start Bay.

The Classic Channel Race from Dartmouth to Paimpol with a stopover in St Peter Port in Guernsey, will begin with the first leg in Start Bay in the afternoon of Monday, July 10th. The classic boats will race overnight and be due to arrive in St Peter Port the following morning.