Head of the River Race
| Head of the River Race | |
|---|---|
Crews racing under Hammersmith Bridge at HORR 2005 | |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Locations | Championship Course, River Thames in London, England |
| Years active | 1925–1936, 1938–1939, 1946–2003, 2005–2006, 2008–2012, 2014–2016, 2018–2019, 2022– |
| Previous event | 22 March 2025 |
| Next event | 28 March 2026 |
| Participants | approximately 340 to 420 crews |
| Organised by | HoRR Committee |
| Website | www |
| Latest Head Pennant winning crew: Leander Club | |
The Head of the River Race (HORR) is an against-the-clock ('processional') rowing race for men's eights held annually on the River Thames in London, England; other such races are the Schools' Head of the River Race, Women's Eights Head of the River Race and Veterans' Head of the River Race. Its competitors are, with a few experienced junior exceptions, seniors of UK or overseas clubs and it runs with the ebb tide down the 4.25 mile (6.8 km) Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney which usually one or two weeks later hosts the Oxford and Cambridge head-to-head races.
The race was founded on a much smaller scale, in 1925, by Steve Fairbairn – an influential rower then rowing coach of the early 20th century, who transformed the sport into one involving today's lengthier slides enabling conventional (Fairbairnized) racing shell propulsion.
"My dear boy, you are under a wrong impression. It is not a race, it is merely a means of getting crews to do long rows"
— Steve Fairbairn, founder of the race