Women's_Eights_Head_of_the_River_Race

Women's Eights Head of the River Race

Women's Eights Head of the River Race

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The Women's Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) is a processional rowing race held annually on the Tideway of the River Thames in London on the 4+1⁄4-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney.

Quick Facts Frequency, Location(s) ...
Championship Course on a flood tide (e.g. for the Boat Race). The Start and Finish are reversed when racing on an ebb tide. "Middlesex" and "Surrey" denote banks of the Thames Tideway, not the actual English counties

A mirror of the Eights Head of the River for male crews, it is held a fortnight earlier when the tides are similar. It is raced on the outgoing tide and starting around one hour after high tide in order to maximise advantage from the tidal flow.

Around 300 crews of women (with the occasional male coxswain) compete for over a dozen trophies and pennants.[1] There are categories for beginners, elite and veteran rowers.

History

The race was first held in 1927 following the first running of the men's version in 1926. At first it was simply a match between Ace and Weybridge LARC. This race was run as a side-by-side race, with Weybridge winning in a boat borrowed from Thames Rowing Club. The second year featured the same two crews, and the same result. In 1929, for the third race, there was the addition of Alpha, having formed in a split from Ace in 1927. Alpha won this running of the race.

The first running of the race in processional format was in 1930, as the entries had risen to five, making it impossible to run fairly in the side-by-side format on the tidal river. Furnivall Sculling Club (then an all women's club) won this first processional version of the race. It then continued in similar format annually until the outbreak of war in 1939.

The event restarted in 1950, with a shortened course of 2 miles, as it was felt that the effects of the war years and food rationing made the full course too hard. Entries grew from the original five to twelve by the mid 50s, and then declined to only six by the mid 60s. The lack of sectional boats meant that it was extremely difficult to transport boats from further afield, so the event was largely confined to the London clubs.

In the period from the 1970s onwards, entries rose ten-fold from 27 in 1977 to 300 in 2009.[2] International crews have been visiting London to compete and entries have come from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and United States.

Records

[3]

More information Award, Year ...

Past winners

More information Year, Crew ...

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "WEHoRR Website". Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  2. [2]
    British Rowing Women's Head Prizegiving Archived 26 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  3. [3]
    "Results - Women's Eights Head of the River Race". wehorr.org.
  4. [4]
    "Women's Head of the River Race 2016 results" (PDF).
  5. [5]
    "Women's Head of the River Race 2015 results" (PDF).
  6. [6]
    "Women's Head of the River Race 2014 results" (PDF).
  7. [7]
    "Women's Head of the River Race 2013 results" (PDF).
  8. [8]
    "Women's Head of the River Race 2012 results" (PDF).
  9. [9]
    "Women's Head of the River Race 2011 results" (PDF).
  10. [10]
    "Women's Head of the River Race 2010 results" (PDF).
  11. [11]
    "Women's Head of the River Race 2009 results" (PDF).
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