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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 until the introduction of a race for men’s lightweight reserves crews, Nephthys and Granta, in 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 and the many contractors and organisations that are now essential for the smooth running of the event. Mike Sweeney, chairman of Henley Royal Regatta, was frequently race umpire in the early days and used his 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, and took over the lead role in 1999 until he handed over the reigns to Robert Treharne Jones after the 2003 event.
In previous years the Henley Boat Races have been able to rely on the support of sponsors, which has helped offset the training costs borne by the athletes as well as the costs of running the event itself. Other individuals and organizations continue to support the crews in a variety of different ways as the search for another major sponsor continues.
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