All races are held over the full Henley Course on the River Thames. The length of the Course is one mile 550 yards (2,112 metres) – upstream.
All races are rowed two abreast and the winner proceeds to the next round.
The Draw takes place at 3.00 pm on the Saturday before the Regatta in the Town Hall in Henley-on-Thames, and is posted on the Regatta website that evening. In the Draw, in each heat, the first crew drawn has the No. 1 station – the Berks. station.
Traditionally the Committee has 'selected' certain crews in the Draw for a number of the events. The purpose of this is to achieve the fairest and most satisfactory racing programme. Crews may be 'selected' because they are considered to be the fastest in their event or in order to keep apart overseas crews from the same club or country or for other similar reasons. This means that ‘selection’ is not the same as ‘seeding’.
The Regatta takes place over five days. The first rounds of The Thames, Temple, Princess Elizabeth, Wyfold, Britannia and Fawley Challenge Cups will begin racing on Wednesday 1st July. The racing timetable for the Wednesday will be posted on the Regatta website on the afternoon of Sunday 28th June. This timetable is subject to change annually and is dependent on the number of entries received.
The first rounds of all other events will begin racing on later days as indicated in the Racing Programme
There have been changes to the arrangements for the licensing of rowing craft, and Henley Royal Regatta can no longer provide temporary licences to competing crews.
Boats must be licenced by the Environment Agency through British Rowing who will issue a boat identification code which must be printed and displayed clearly on every boat competing or training at the Regatta.
Licences can be obtained from the British Rowing website.
The Notes and Instructions for Competitors and Coaches for 2019 is available here as a PDF download.
The Traffic Rules and Training Times for 2019 are available here as a PDF download.
All competitors and coaches at the 2020 Regatta will be given free entry to the River & Rowing Museum on production of their Competitor's Badge. This concession will extend for a period of three months from the final day of the Regatta.
The River & Rowing Museum celebrates the three themes of Rowing, the River Thames and the historic town of Henley-on-Thames, and is now the home to a permanent exhibition based on Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Please note the free offer excludes entry to The Wind in the Willows.
