The Boat Race
The Boat Race is an annual rowing race between eights from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, rowed on the tidal Thames in west London. The men’s race was first held in 1829 and the women’s race in 1927.
The 2027 races take place on Sunday 11 April, with starts at 15:40 and 16:40. The year marks 100 years since the first Women’s Boat Race.
The course
Both races use the Championship Course, which runs upstream from Putney to Mortlake. It is 4 miles 374 yards long, a little under 6.8 kilometres.
That is more than three times the Olympic distance. A men’s race usually lasts between 16 and 20 minutes, and the women’s race a few minutes longer.
The race is timed to start on the incoming tide, so the crews row with the stream. The fastest water is in the deepest part of the river, and both coxes want it.
Landmarks in order from the start:
- Putney Bridge, just below the start
- The Mile Post
- Hammersmith Bridge
- Chiswick Eyot, the island on the Middlesex side
- Chiswick Steps
- Barnes Bridge
- The finish, just before Chiswick Bridge
Stations and the coin toss
The two sides of the river are called stations. Middlesex is the north bank and Surrey is the south bank. Before the race the two club presidents toss a coin, and the winner chooses a station.
The choice matters because the course is one long S-bend.
| Stretch | Bend favours |
|---|---|
| Putney to the Mile Post | Middlesex |
| Around Hammersmith to Chiswick Steps | Surrey |
| Barnes Bridge to the finish | Middlesex |
The Surrey bend is the longest. A crew on Surrey that is level at Hammersmith Bridge has the inside of the river for the longest bend on the course. A crew on Middlesex has to use its early advantage to get clear before then.
Wind decides which station is better on the day. A rough stretch on one side can outweigh the bend.
How the race is won
There are no lanes. Each crew has its own water at the start, but once one boat is a clear length ahead it may move across and take the best line in front of its rival.
The umpire follows in a launch and warns coxes who steer into the other crew’s water. Blades often overlap in the first few minutes. A crew that causes a clash while out of its water can be disqualified.
Most races are settled by Barnes Bridge. A crew behind there has a short final bend to work with and very little river left.
The crews
Each university boats a first eight, known as the Blue Boat, and a reserve crew.
| Oxford | Cambridge | |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s reserves | Isis | Goldie |
| Women’s reserves | Osiris | Blondie |
Rowers must be students at their university. The squads train from September and the crews are named a few weeks before the race.
Going into 2027, Cambridge hold the men’s title and Oxford hold the women’s.
Watching
The banks are open to the public and free along the whole course. Putney is best for the start, Hammersmith and Barnes for the bends, and Mortlake for the finish. You will see the crews pass once, so most spectators pick a spot near a big screen.
In Britain the 2027 races are shown live on Channel 4.
A little history
The first race in 1829 was rowed at Henley-on-Thames, not in London. The men’s race moved to the Tideway later and has used the Putney to Mortlake course for most of its history.
The women’s race began on the Isis in Oxford in 1927. It has been held on the Championship Course, on the same day as the men’s race, since 2015.
The men’s race reaches its 200th anniversary in 2029.