An aerial view of the Varsity Boat Race course.
The Varsity Boat Race first began in 1995, and is held annually in the floating docks of Bristol Town Centre. The start is towards the Cumberland Basin, just past Brunel's S.S. Great Britain, whilst the finish is at Canon's Wharf Amphitheatre. The course is 1.25km, and takes around 4 minutes to row out.
An aerial view of the Varsity Boat Race course.
Similar to the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, all racing is done in VIIIs (eights). This refers to the type of boat used to race in, which is made up of eight rowers and a coxswain, as pictured below.
The 2004 Bristol men's senior VIII leading UWE by half a length
at the end of the first bend. They went on to lose by one length.
However Varsity Boat Race is very different to the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race in that the race distance is much shorter, 1.3km compared to 6.8km. This makes the Varsity Boat Race a flat out sprint, and a much more intense spectator orientated experience.
The race itself generally goes like this:
Both crews start attached to a pontoon, and the umpire having checked that the crews are ready to go will make two quick calls to start the race.
Both crews will look to start the race with a stroke rate of over 40 strokes a minute, which they will maintain for the first ten to twenty strokes before settling into their race rhythm of 35 to 40 strokes per minute. The start can be a very tense experience and the anticipation is palpable. As a spectator it is well worth walking down to the start to get the buzz of absolute silence breaking into a cacophony of noise.
The race is performed in two racing lanes, with the lanes being chosen by the winner of a coin toss at the Varsity Challenge. The winner of the toss chooses the lane that both the novice and senior men will race in, with the women's squads racing in the other lane to maintain fairness.
The Varsity Boat Race course is essentially an S shape. This is very important to race tactics and the choice of lane, as the crew on the inside of the first bend will naturally get what seems like an advantage over the crew on the outside of the bend. However as the overall course length is identical for both lanes, then that crew's advantage will disappear as the race continues. The psychological advantage that the first bend gives cannot be overstated, as a crew that is passed cannot see its opponent and this can have a demoralising effect. Generally it is thought that the crew in the inside lane for the first bend must be at least 2 boat lengths ahead of the other crew if they are to win the race overall.
As the race progresses to the finish, so the cheers of the crowds get louder and the crews will naturally respond increasing their stroke rates to around 40 strokes per minute. The finish line is marked out by a line of coloured buoys, and an impartial marshal will announce the result of the race.
