Skiff Championships Regatta
Encyclopedia
Skiffing
Skiffing refers to the sporting and leisure activity of rowing a Thames skiff. A Thames skiff is a traditional hand built clinker-built wooden craft of a design which has been seen on the River Thames and other waterways in England and other countries for nearly 200 years...
regatta
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...
on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
in England. It is held annually at Henley
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
on the Sunday of August Bank Holiday weekend.
Events and course
The regatta is run under the rules of the Skiff Racing AssociationSkiff Racing Association
The Skiff Racing Association is the governing body in the United Kingdom for the sport of skiff racing. The SRA is affiliated to British Rowing...
and there are five Championship events:
- Gentlemen's Double Sculls for the Albany Challenge Cup
- Gentlemen's Single Sculls for the Pulman Challenge Cup
- Mixed Double Sculls for the Newman Challenge Cup
- Ladies Double Sculls for the Ladies Double Challenge Cup
- Ladies Single Sculls for the Beverley Challenge Cup
There is also a full regatta programme for all other status levels
The course is approximately 750 metres down stream, starting just downstream of Henley Bridge
Henley Bridge
Henley Bridge is a five-elliptical-arched stone road bridge built in 1786 at Henley-on-Thames over the River Thames, between Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The bridge links Hart Street in Henley with White Hill leading up a steep hill to Remenham Hill...
and finishing at the Remenham Club
Remenham Club
The Remenham Club is a private members club near the village of Remenham on the Berkshire bank of the River Thames near Henley-on-Thames, on the reach of the river that plays host to the annual Henley Royal Regatta....
clubhouse, whence the regatta is organised. The Upper Thames Rowing Club
Upper Thames Rowing Club
The Upper Thames Rowing Club is an English rowing club. It is based on the River Thames near the town of Henley-on-Thames, with a clubhouse and frontage on the course of the Henley Royal Regatta. The club was established in 1963....
facilities are also made available for the regatta.
Many former champions have been rowers
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
in Great Britain Olympic and National teams including Penny Chuter who won 21 skiff championships and Elise Laverick
Elise Laverick
Elise Mary Laverick is a British rower. She won bronze at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the double scull with Sarah Winckless, and again at the 2008 Summer Olympics with Anna Bebington...
.
History
The regatta was originally the Teddington Reach Regatta held at TeddingtonTeddington Lock
Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames in England at Ham in the western suburbs of London. The lock is on the southern Surrey side of the river....
, which was founded in 1892 as the Teddington Reach Aquatic Sports. At that time there were events for canoeing, dongola racing
Dongola racing
Dongola racing is a popular event in traditional local regattas, especially on the River Thames in southern England and was first competed at Maidenhead in 1886. Competitors use wide punts and a team of people with single-bladed paddles, facing forwards and kneeling, normally with one leg up and...
, tug-of-war in punt
Punt (boat)
A punt is a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow, designed for use in small rivers or other shallow water. Punting refers to boating in a punt. The punter generally propels the punt by pushing against the river bed with a pole...
s and swimming as well as the skiff racing. The Gentlemen's Double Sculls event at that regatta was nominated as the Championship of the Thames in 1897 and by 1906 the Gentlemen's Single Sculls, the Mixed Double Sculls and Ladies' Double Sculls were accorded Championship status. The Ladies' Single Sculls were introduced in 1957. The course was 1000 metres upstream from Teddington Lock to Steven's Eyot
Steven's Eyot
Steven's Eyot is an ait in the River Thames in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London, England, on the reach above Teddington Lock. It is just below Kingston Railway Bridge and opposite Kingston Rowing Club....
.
In the 1970s the regatta enclosure at Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
became unavailable because of redevelopment. The last regatta was held at Teddington in 1972, and in 1974 it moved to its present site at Henley to become the Skiff Championships Regatta.
Past and present Presidents of the regatta are
- H Pullman
- F S Lowe
- J E Edgecombe
- C W Wise
- K E Foat
- F J Rosewell ( –1974)
- V A C Wood (1975–1992)
- R F Thompson (1993–2002)
- D W Gramolt (2003– )