Henley Boat Races

The Henley Boat Races were founded in 1975 by Richard Bates, an undergraduate at St John's College, Cambridge, when he arranged the first Lightweight Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge over Henley Reach. This echoed the first Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, which took place at Henley in 1829.

Although the Women's Boat Race was first raced in 1927, in the form of a time and style contest, it was also undergoing a revival in the 1970s and the event joined the men at Henley in 1977. The Blondie-Osiris race followed, and with the inauguration of the women's lightweight race in 1984 a successful 4-race formula ran for more than 15 years. The increased standard of men's lightweight rowing in recent years has resulted in the formation of another race for the reserve crews, Nephthys and Granta, who have led the afternoon's programme since 2000.

As Race Day became more popular so the duties required to run the organisation became too demanding for the unfortunate president on whom they fell. In 1989 a committee was set up, comprising the club presidents under the chairmanship of Mark Blandford-Baker, to agree the umpire, the date and other race details for the benefit of all. The chairman co-ordinated event development and helped maintain the excellent working relationship with Henley Royal Regatta, Leander Club, Remenham Club and the myriad of contractors and organisations that are now essential for the smooth running of the event. In the early days Mike Sweeney was frequently race umpire and used his rowing skills to help draft the initial version of the Race Agreement under which all subsequent races have been run. This goodwill continues with the Henley Boat Races still relying heavily on the support of HRR.

In 1995 Patrick Gillespie (CULRC 1989/90, OULRC 1992) who holds a unique title as the only man ever to have won Boat Races representing both universities, joined the committee as chairman's assistant, in the knowledge that Mark Blandford-Baker could not stay indefinitely, and took over the lead role in 1999 until he handed over the reins to Robert Treharne Jones after the 2003 event.

The Henley Boat Races have been without significant sponsorship for a number of years, with race day costs rising, and the recent economic crisis has made the situation even worse. As a result athletes from the Henley squads, already paying above average to support their club's training costs, may face investing even more of their own money to maintain race day facilities as the search for another major sponsor continues.