The Lightweight Boat Races

The Lightweight Boat Races are a series of annual rowing races between men's and women's lightweight crews representing the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

The Lightweight Boat Races

Event information
Race area	The Championship Course[1] Formerly Henley Regatta course (downstream)[2]
Dates	1975–present
Competitors	CUBC (formerly CULRC / CUWBC), OULRC / OUWLRC
Distance	4.2 miles (6.8 km)[1]
First race	1975 (men), 1984 (women)[3]
Website	www.lightweightboatraces.co.uk

The first men's race took place in 1975, being joined by the women's race in 1984. Both races are currently held on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake, although they previously formed part of the Henley Boat Races, along with various other rowing races between the two universities, including the openweight women's Boat Race. Members of both teams are traditionally known as blues or half blues and each boat as a Blue Boat. Competitors at the events have gone on to compete at international and Olympic levels.

History

Richard Bates, a Cambridge undergraduate, organised a Boat Race between lightweight men's crews of Oxford and Cambridge universities in 1975, to take place at Henley-on-Thames. The race was joined by the openweight women's Boat Race two years later, thus forming the Henley Boat Races. The first lightweight women's boat race took place at the event in 1984.^[3] Reserve races have taken place since 2000 (except 2010–2015) for the lightweight men (Nephthys vs Granta) and in some years since 2012 for the lightweight women (Tethys vs CUWBC Lightweight Reserves).

In 2019, the lightweight men's race moved to the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake, where it has been held since. The lightweight women's race made the same move the following year in 2020.^[1]

For the men's race the average weight of the crew must not exceed 70 kilograms (154.3 lb; 11 st 0.3 lb), with no rower weighing over 72.5 kilograms (159.8 lb; 11 st 5.8 lb). For the women's race, no rower can exceed 59 kilograms (130.1 lb; 9 st 4.1 lb).

The races receive annual press coverage,^{[4][5][6][7][8]} and competitors from both Universities have gone on to compete at international and Olympic levels.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Results

The history of the results of the races are as follows.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}

Lightweight Men's Boat Race

• Cambridge: 30 wins
• Oxford: 20 wins

No.	Date	Winner	Time	Winning Margin (Lengths)	Oxford Wins	Cambridge Wins
1	1975	Cambridge	6:18		-	1
2	1976	Oxford	6:32		1	1
3	1977	Oxford	6:19	1	2	1
4	1978	Cambridge	5.48	2⁄3	2	2
5	1979	Cambridge	5.39	2/3	2	3
6	1980	Cambridge	6:15		2	4
7	1981	Cambridge	6:21		2	5
8	1982	Cambridge	NTT		2	6
9	1983	Cambridge	5:53		2	7
10	1984	Cambridge	5:40	1+1⁄3	2	8
11	1985	Cambridge	6:00	6 ft	2	9
12	1986	Cambridge	6:24	2	2	10
13	1987	Cambridge	6:09	1⁄2	2	11
14	1988	Cambridge	5:50		2	12
15	1989	Cambridge	5:51	4+1⁄2	2	13
16	1990	Cambridge	6:40	4+3⁄4	2	14
17	1991	Cambridge	6:39	1⁄3	2	15
18	1992	Oxford	5:40	2+1⁄2	3	15
19	1993	Cambridge	5:39	1⁄2	3	16
20	1994	Oxford	5:35	3⁄4	4	16
21	1995	Cambridge	5:29	1⁄3	4	17
22	1996	Oxford	NRO disq		5	17
23	1997	Oxford	5:49	1	6	17
24	1998	Cambridge	5:45	1⁄2	6	18
25	1999	Oxford	5:31	1+1⁄2	7	18
26	2000	Cambridge	5:40	2	7	19
27	2001	Cambridge	6:33	4 (raced at Holme Pierrepont)	7	20
28	2002	Oxford	5:21	2	8	20
29	2003	Oxford	5:55	1+1⁄4	9	20
30	2004	Oxford	5:36	1⁄2	10	20
31	2005	Oxford	5:51	3	11	20
32	1 April 2006	Oxford	5:18	2+1⁄4	12	20
33	1 April 2007	Oxford	3:44	1 (raced over a shortened course)	13	20
34	23 March 2008	Oxford	6:15	2+1⁄2	14	20
35	22 March 2009	Cambridge	5:49	3	14	21
36	28 March 2010	Cambridge	5:28	2 ft	14	22
37	27 March 2011	Oxford	5:54	Canvas	15	22
38	25 March 2012	Cambridge	6:00	3⁄4	15	23
39	24 March 2013	Oxford	6:49	1+2⁄3 (raced at Dorney)	16	23
40	30 March 2014	Cambridge	5:30	3+1⁄2	16	24
41	5 April 2015	Cambridge	5:55	4 ft	16	25
42	19 March 2016	Cambridge	6:19	Easily	16	26
43	26 March 2017	Cambridge	6:07	1+3⁄4	16	27
44	18 March 2018	Cambridge	6:26	1⁄3 (raced at Dorney)	16	28
45	24 March 2019	Oxford	17:43	2+1⁄3 (first race on the Tideway)	17	28
46	15 March 2020	Oxford	18:50	3+1⁄2	18	28
47	23 May 2021	Oxford	14:19	1+1⁄2 (raced at Ely)	19	28
48	20 March 2022	Cambridge	18:01	5	19	29
49	20 March 2023	Cambridge	18:18	11	19	30
50	29 March 2024	Cambridge	20:15	51⁄2	19	31

Lightweight Women's Boat Race

• Cambridge: 24 wins
• Oxford: 17 wins

No.	Date	Winner	Time	Winning Margin (Lengths)	Oxford Wins	Cambridge Wins
1	1984	Cambridge			-	1
2	1985	Cambridge			-	2
3	1986	Oxford			1	2
4	1987	Cambridge			1	3
5	1988	Cambridge	5:50	3	1	4
6	1989	Cambridge	6:37	1	1	5
7	1990	Cambridge	7:35	2+1⁄3	1	6
8	1991	Cambridge	7:48	2+1⁄4	1	7
9	1992	Cambridge	6:35	3	1	8
10	1993	Cambridge	6:18	Easily	1	9
11	1994	Cambridge	6:23	1 ft.	1	10
12	1995	Oxford	6:19	2	2	10
13	1996	Cambridge	6:36	Canvas	2	11
14	1997	Cambridge	6:37	Canvas	2	12
15	1998	Oxford	6:36	Canvas	3	12
16	1999	Oxford	6:01+1⁄2	2+3⁄4	4	12
17	2000	Oxford	6:22	2+1⁄2	5	12
18	2001	Cambridge	7:37	3 (raced at Holme Pierrepont)	5	13
19	2002	Oxford	6:06	4	6	13
20	2003	Oxford	6:51	2	7	13
21	2004	Oxford	6:08	3⁄4	8	13
22	2005	Oxford	6:55	1⁄2	9	13
23	1 April 2006	Cambridge	6:00	Canvas	9	14
24	1 April 2007	Oxford	4:11	1 (raced over a shortened course)	10	14
25	23 March 2008	Cambridge	7:01	1⁄3	10	15
26	22 March 2009	Oxford	6:30	2+1⁄2	11	15
27	28 March 2010	Oxford	6:01	2+3⁄4	12	15
28	27 March 2011	Cambridge	6:43	1+1⁄2	12	16
29	25 March 2012	Oxford	6:48	1+1⁄3	13	16
30	24 March 2013	Oxford	7:33	4+3⁄4 (raced at Dorney)	14	16
31	29 March 2014	Oxford	6:08	3+1⁄2	15	16
32	5 April 2015	Cambridge	6:26	3 ft.	15	17
33	19 March 2016	Oxford	6:54	Canvas	16	17
34	26 March 2017	Cambridge	6:45	3	16	18
35	18 March 2018	Cambridge	7:24	1⁄2 (raced at Dorney)	16	19
36	30 March 2019	Oxford	6:28	2+1⁄2	17	19
37	15 March 2020	Cambridge	23:24	6 (first race on the Tideway)	17	20
38	18 May 2021	Cambridge	18:08	2+1⁄2 (raced at Ely)	17	21
39	20 March 2022	Cambridge	19:59	15	17	22
40	20 March 2023	Cambridge	23:34	6	17	23
41	29 March 2024	Cambridge	23:04	5	17	24

Lightweight Men's Reserves (Nephthys vs Granta)

• Oxford: 11 wins (inc. 3 R/O)
• Cambridge: 8 wins

Date	Winner	Time	Winning Margin (Lengths)	Oxford Wins	Cambridge Wins
2000	Cambridge	5:50	2+3⁄4	-	1
2001	Oxford	7	1⁄2	1	1
2002	Oxford	5:33	2	2	1
2003	Cambridge	6:19	2+1⁄2	2	2
2004	Oxford	5:45	Canvas	3	2
2005	Oxford	6:07	4+1⁄2	4	2
1 April 2006	Oxford	5:26	5	5	2
1 April 2007	Oxford	4:08	R/O due to no Cambridge crew. Lost to Old Boys.	6	2
23 March 2008	Oxford	6:29	R/O due to no Cambridge crew. Lost to Old Boys.	7	2
22 March 2009	Oxford	6:15	R/O due to no Cambridge crew. Beat Durham.	8	2
			Race in abeyance 2010 - 2015
13 March 2016	Cambridge	-	1+1⁄4 (Raced in 4x)	8	3
19 March 2017	Cambridge	6:19	2+1⁄2 (Raced in 8+)[18]	8	4
18 March 2018	Cambridge	7:24	3⁄4 (Raced in 4+ at Dorney)	8	5
22 March 2019	Oxford		1 (Raced in 2– from Putney to Mile Post)	9	5
14 March 2020	Oxford		Canvas (Raced in 2- from Putney to Mile Post)	10	5
23 May 2021	Oxford		1 (Raced in 2- at Ely)	11	5
18 March 2022	Cambridge		2 (Raced in 2- from Putney to Mile Post)	11	6
18 March 2023	Cambridge		5 (Raced in 2- from Harrods to Putney)	11	7
27 March 2024	Cambridge		4 (Raced in 2- from Putney to Mile Post)	11	8

Lightweight Women's Reserves (Tethys vs CUBC Lightweight Women's Reserves)

• Cambridge: 5
• Oxford: 2

Raced on the Friday before the main event in a 4+ in 2012, and incorporated into main race day in 2016.

Date	Winner	Time	Winning Margin (Lengths)	Oxford Wins	Cambridge Wins
2012	Cambridge		(Raced in 4+, CUBC had open weight rowers who did not weigh-in, OUWLRC had a lightweight crew)	-	1
19 March 2016	Cambridge	8:55	3⁄4 (Raced in 2-)	-	2
26 March 2017	Cambridge		easily (Raced in 2-)	-	3
18 March 2018	Oxford	8:15	easily (Raced in 4+ at Dorney)	1	3
30 March 2019	Cambridge		1+1⁄2 (Raced in 2-)	1	4
14 March 2020	Oxford		7 (Raced in 4+ from Putney to Hammersmith)	2	4
18 May 2021	Cambridge		Oxford unable to field a crew	2	5
19 March 2022	Oxford		Cambridge unable field a crew	3	5
18 March 2023	Cambridge		3 (Raced in 4+ from Harrods to Putney, CUBC boat had 3 openweight rowers who did not weigh-in)	3	6

See also

• The Boat Race
• Henley Boat Races

References

1. "The Lightweight Boat Races". Lightweight Boat Races. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
2. "Henley Boat Races - Course Map". Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
3. "History". Henley Boat Races. 14 April 2015. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022.
4. "Rowing: Day for Light Blue celebration as Cambridge sweep Henley Boat Races". The Independent. 22 March 1993. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2016; "Women's Boat Race: Cambridge women pass examination of rowing prowess". The Independent. 21 March 1994. Retrieved 16 April 2015; "The Henley Boat Races". Cherwell. 31 March 2010.
5. "Natalie Redgrave helps Oxford win Women's Boat Race". BBC Sport. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
6. "Rivals share spoils at competitive Henley". The Telegraph. 25 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
7. "Clean sweep for Oxford over Cambridge at Henley Boat Races at Dorney Lake". The Telegraph. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
8. "Oxford Dominate Henley Boat Races 2013". Henley Herald. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2017; "Oxford Dominate in Last Women's Boat Race in Henley". Henley Herald. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2017; "Cambridge Win 3 out of 4 at the Henley Boat Races". Henley Herald. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2017; "Oxford and Cambridge Share Race Wins at Henley Boat Races". Henley Herald. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2017; "Oxford and Cambridge Share Race Wins at Henley Boat Races". Henley Herald. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2018; "Cambridge University lightweights enjoy success at Henley Boat Races". Cambridge Independent. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019; "Cambridge Blues make light work of Henley Boat Races". Varsity Online. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
9. "The Other Boat Race". BBC Sport. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
10. "CULRC". CULRC Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
11. "Men's Lightweight Rowing Club". Oxford University Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
12. "International Success". Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
13. "Results". Henley Boat Races. 14 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021.
14. "The Boat Race Lite". Hear The Boat Sing. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
15. "The Lightweight Boat Races: Results". The Lightweight Boat Races. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
16. "Cambridge dominates the 2023 Interactive Investor Lightweight Boat Races". Cambridge University Boat Club. 20 March 2023.
17. "Cambridge Dominates in Men's Lightweight Boat Race Amidst Challenging Conditions". Rowing News. 31 March 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024; "Cambridge Women's Lightweight Crew Secures Victory in a Tense Battle Against Oxford". Rowing News. 31 March 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024; Weir, Iain (29 March 2024). "Cambridge Dominates in Men's Lightweight Boat Race Amidst Challenging Conditions". The Boat Race. Retrieved 2 April 2024; Weir, Iain (29 March 2024). "Cambridge Women's Lightweight Crew Secures Victory in a Tense Battle Against Oxford". The Boat Race. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
18. "2017 Boat Races – Reports". Archived from the original on 22 March 2023.

External links

• Official website