Joseph Mallord William Turner

These five drawings were made with the page turned vertically. The three main ones show busy scenes of yachts and other craft under way, including a steamer issuing smoke in the lowest, set against the laconically noted ‘B[lue] Sky’. At the centre right is a slightly confused thumbnail sketch of a jumble of sails.

At the bottom right is a loose study of a man, possibly with an umbrella and companion, perhaps observing the boats; for other spectators, see under folio 13 recto (D20615; Turner Bequest CCXXVI 12). The shoreline and buildings in the upper view may be at Cowes. For more on studies in this sketchbook relating to the regatta events at Cowes from late July 1827 onwards, see the Introduction.