About

Welcome to one of the world’s oldest and most famous amateur sporting events.

The Boat Race course, known as the Championship Course is 4 miles, 374 yards or 6.8 km long.

It stretches between Putney and Mortlake on the River Thames in South West London.

This course was first used for The Men’s Boat Race in 1845 and has been used for every Men’s Boat Race since; apart from 1846, 1856 and 1863 when the race was held in the opposite direction between Mortlake and Putney and 2021 when the Race was held in Ely.

The Fulham/Chiswick side of the course is known as the Middlesex station. The Putney/Barnes side of the course is known as the Surrey station.

The Boat Race is rowed upstream, but is timed to start on the incoming “flood” tide.

The Men’s Boat Race is an hour and a half before high tide, with The Women’s Boat Race a further hour before so that the crews are rowing with the fastest possible current.