trubrit wrote:The annual struggle between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge takes place today on the river Thames in London. Just below the House of Parliament and Big Ben.

trubrit wrote:Well not a lot of forum interest on this one. Maybe no other old blues in Udon. But for the record books. Oxford won in a record time of exactly 17 minutes,

Brian Davis wrote:

stokiebaz wrote:as billy connelly once said i can,t understand how the same 2 teams keep getting to the final..

You just beat me to it with that one.

Whilst I do admire the dedication and training which goes into being selected for the 'crew' (these are very fit young men), I always felt ,perhaps wrongly, that the race itself was almost decided on the toss of a coin - i.e. the Uni which got the most favourable bank, although I can't recall now whether that was the Middlesex or Surrey side, as I think they call it. Thinking that the two crews are usually very equal, interesting if anyone has the stats on that. I do enjoy a contest in most sports, but prefer as it were 'a level playing field' to start with.

An estimated quarter of a million people watch the race live from the banks of the river, around seven to nine million people on TV in the UK, and an overseas audience estimated by the Boat Race Company of around 120 million,[1] however, other estimates[2] put the international audience below 20 million.

The course is 4 miles and 374 yards (6,779 m) from Putney to Mortlake, passing Hammersmith and Barnes; it is sometimes referred to as the Championship Course, and follows an S shape, east to west. The start and finish are marked by the University Boat Race Stones on the south bank. The clubs' presidents toss a coin (the 1829 sovereign) before the race for the right to choose which side of the river (station) they will row on: their decision is based on the day's weather conditions and how the various bends in the course might favour their crew's pace. The north station ('Middlesex') has the advantage of the first and last bends, and the south ('Surrey') station the longer middle bend.

During the race the coxes compete for the fastest current, which lies at the deepest part of the river, frequently leading to clashes of blades and warnings from the umpire. A crew that gets a lead of more than a boat's length 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 race are generally to go fast early on, and few races have a change of the lead after half-way (though this happened in 2003 and again in 2007).

The race is rowed upstream, but is timed to start on the incoming flood tide so that the crews are rowing with the fastest possible current.[6] If a strong wind is blowing from the west it will be against the tide in places along the course, causing the water 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. This happened to Cambridge in 1859 and 1978, and to Oxford in 1925 and 1951. Both boats sank in 1912, and the race was re-run, and in 1984 Cambridge sank after crashing into a stationary barge while warming up before the race.[7][8] Cambridge's sinking in 1978 was named in 79th place on Channel 4's list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.