The SCRA was founded in 1895 and its objective is to promote the interests of yacht cruising and racing in the Solent. The membership includes 70 clubs, 40 classes and over 500 individual members and is open to all who are interested.

Through its website and this book, backed up by the Cowes based staff, the overriding aim of the SCRA is to be the automatic first choice contact point for information about Solent cruising and racing, be it about clubs, classes, racing fixtures, weather, Solent harbours, tides, ferries and almost any other related matter including members names and addresses.

The Solent Book, a unique and invaluable source of information to everyone interested in the Solent, is issued FREE to all SCRA members and is also obtainable from bookshops and chandlers throughout the area.

Another vitally important job is the coordination of the fixtures list. Over 400 sailing events take place in the Solent every season and it is the job of the SCRA to coordinate these events, reduce clashes of major fixtures and to promote good liaison between the Yacht Clubs. The SCRA website, www.scra.org.uk, lists these events, both racing and cruising, and is continually updated from information given by the member clubs and classes. A fixtures poster is produced every January for distribution around the Solent and representatives of clubs and classes liaise every June to discuss the following year's fixtures.

The SCRA has wide and longstanding associations with most leading maritime organisations within the area. It was a founder of the Solent Area Safety Advisory Committee in 1962 which does sterling work in liaising with Associated British Ports and the other Harbour Authorities. Two members of the SCRA sit on the RYA Southern Regional Association, and it appoints a member to the Cowes Harbour Commissioners and another to the Newtown Harbour Consultative Committee.