Cowes is an English seaport town and also civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller community of East Cowes on the eastern bank. The two communities are connected by the Cowes Drifting Bridge, a chain ferry. The population was 9,663 in the 2001 census, which doubled throughout the regatta in very early August. The population at the 2011 census was 10,405. Charles Godfrey Leland's 19th century verses describe the communities poetically as "Both terrific Cowes that in loud rumbling roar/This on the eastern, that the western coast". Cowes has actually been seen as a home for international yacht racing given that the beginning of the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1815. It gives its name to the globe's oldest regular regatta, Cowes Week, which happens annually in the initial week of August. Later on, powerboat races are held. Much of the town's architecture is still heavily influenced by the style of ornate building that Prince Albert popularised.