Please read and enjoy our article and watch your FREE LONDON MUSIC VIDEO at the end The University Boat Race - A contest of Titans
It can take several minutes to start the Boat Race.
The long, narrow craft seemingly impossibly occupied by 8 bulky athletes and a minute cox are held fast against the strong, tricky tide while the two craft swing alarmingly in the Thames eddies. | | Both boats and their crews wait anxiously like greyhounds to be freed from their restraint; ready to spring off upstream to their destination, the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race finishing line more than four miles distant.
The two Boat Race coxes hold one arm aloft until both are satisfied their craft is pointing straight like an arrow and ready to race away up the Thames , London's river. Only when both cox's arms are dropped does the starter give the signal for the punishing race to begin.
And begin it does - with a vengeance!
The racing machines accelerate quickly to the maximum stroke rate, at which point, the Boat Race starts to settle down, if 'settle down' is the right phrase to describe the immense efforts both crews and coxes will be making over the next 16-17 minutes. Coxes jockying for position, oar blades clashing, both crews striving for maximum advantage.
The Boat Race, also known as the University Boat Race and The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race , is a rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London each spring. The protagonists are the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club.
The first Boat Race was held in 1829 and has been held annually since 1856 , with the exception of the two world wars. Members of both teams are traditionally known as 'blues' . Cambridge's colours are light blue and Oxford dark blue .
The tradition was started by one Charles Merivale , a Cambridge student and his schoolfriend Charles Wordsworth who was at Oxford. Cambridge challenged Oxford to a race on the River Thames at Henley . The second race did not take place until 1836 , with the venue moved to London between Westminster and Putney .
There followed a series of disagreements over the Boat Race venue but, with the formation of the Oxford University Boat Club , racing between the two universities resumed. The University Boat Race tradition continues to the present day, with the losing crew challenging the winner to a re-match the next year.
The Boat Race course is 4 miles and 374 yards (6,779 m) along the River Thames from Putney to Mortlake , passing under Hammersmith Bridge and Barnes Bridge following an S shape, east to west . The north bank of the Thames Tideway is referred to as the 'Middlesex station' and the south side denotes the 'Surrey station' .
The start and finish of the Boat Race are marked by the 'University Boat Race Stones' on the south bank . The clubs' presidents toss a coin (the 1829 sovereign ) before the Boat Race for the right to choose which side of the river (station) they will row on.
| | Avoiding clashing blades |
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|  | | | The decision is based on the day's weather conditions and how the various bends in the course might favour their crew's pace. The Middlesex (north) station has the advantage of the first and last bends, and the Surrey (south) station the longer middle bend.
During the Boat Race the coxes compete for the fastest current , which lies at the deepest part of the Thames . This frequently leads to clashes of blades and shouted warnings from the umpire through his megaphone. It's never quite clear that the coxes take much notice of the Boat Race Umpire but it makes a fantastic spectacle.
A crew that gets a lead of more than a boat's length in the Boat Race can cut in front of their opponent, making it extremely difficult for the losing crew to overtake back. For this reason the tactics of the Boat Race are generally to go fast early on . Few races have a change of the lead after half-way , though this happened in 2003 , and again in 2007 .
The Boat Race is rowed upstream , but is timed to start on the incoming Thames flood tide so that the crews are rowing with the fastest possible current . If a strong wind is blowing from the west it will be against the tide in places along the course, causing the Thames to become very rough .
The conditions are sometimes such that an international regatta would be cancelled, but the Boat Race has a tradition of proceeding even in potential sinking conditions . Several races have featured one, or both, of the crews sinking .
The race is for heavyweight eights meaning their are eight rowers with a cox steering . There is no restrictions on weight. Female coxes are permitted, the first appearing in the Boat Race in 1981 .
The main boat race is preceded by a race between the two reserve crews , Isis for Oxford and Goldie for Cambridge . | | 
| The Finish | Over 155 Boat Races, Cambridge recorded 79 wins to Oxford's 75 . There has been one dead heat in1877 when rumour has it that the judge was asleep under a bush as the crews came by . Subsequently he declared the Boat Race a dead heat .
Cambridge have most consecutive Boat Race victories , 13 between 1924 and 1936 . The Boat Race Course record set by Cambridge in 1998 stands at 16 minutes 19 seconds , an average speed of 15.5 mph (24.9 kilometres per hour) including the effect of the favourable Thames tide .
The heaviest crew were Oxford during the 2009 Boat Race with an average weight of 15st 9lb 13oz (99.7kg).
Cambridge Reserves ( Goldie ) have recorded 28 wins to Oxford Reserves ( Isis ) 17 .
Although the Boat Race is strictly open only to amateurs , and the competitors must be students of the university for whom they race, the training schedules each team undertakes are very gruelling . Typically each Boat Race team trains for six days a week for six months before the event .
When the Finishing Line gun sounds to signal the winning Boat Race crew, observers will get the sense of what that training was all about. Both crews show signs of extreme exhaustion but the losing crew will be slumped over their oars, the distress and disappointment all too evident.
Oh well, there's always next year! |
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