Today is Boat Race Day

When the entire country’s attention will focus on a four mile section of the River Thames in London going from Putney to Mortlake which can be done in a fast a time as 16′ 19″ (10 knots) and over the last 189 years has been won by Cambridge 83 times and by Oxford 80 times (including a tie in 1877). However, rowing on open water, in the early spring does cause one or two problems as has been only too well demonstrated in the past.

1859: Oxford
“It would not have been easy to pitch on a more unfavourable day for an eight-oared race” reported the Times the following day due to the weather conditions, but it was the toss of the coin that decided things as Oxford won and chose Middlesex allowing them to avoid the worst of the weather leaving Cambridge on the Surrey side and as a result they sank at Hammersmith

1912: No winner
The spring of 1912 was a terrible spring with the weather leading up to the event completely at ends with itself, so it should come as no surprise to hear that neither team managed to reach the end of the course sinking (Oxford sinking at Hammersmith Bridge and Cambridge at the Harrods Depository)

1925: Cambridge
Thanks to a strong wind just after the start of the race, Oxford (who were drawn on Surrey) found that they simply could not navigate and less than a minute later sank and led to an almighty row that very nearly stopped the Boat Race entirely

1951: Cambridge (at the second attempt)
The weather was so bad that the referee announced a “no row” (the same as being cancelled) and a few days later they held it again.

1978: Oxford
The race started at 2.45pm in reasonable conditions however just after Barnes bridge this happened

2016: The women’s race became the first women’s race to be looked at very closely when this happened to Cambridge

And what of the forecast for today? Well, if there is going to a weather effect it will most likely happen at Hammersmith Bridge and the forecast for there for the time of the race? Heavy rain with winds gusting to 12mph (in other words, place your bets on a sinking!)