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Boats: Hire, build or buy a boat to Race

Do you need a boat to enter the Race?

You can hire a boat:

Take a look at our Boat Packages to review the eclectic selection of suitable boats we have available for hire. For help and advice on Package selection, please contact Sheila Lewis on 020 7223 9155 or lewis.sheila@gmail.com

You can buy or build a boat:

We have two options available for you to choose from:

  • The Thames Waterman Cutter: a six oared boat which is available to buy only

  • The Great River Race Jolly Boat: a four oared boat which can be bought fully built and ready to race, or bought in kit form for self assembly.

In its fifteen year life the Thames Waterman Cutter and has achieved some remarkable results including winning the Race, being sculled across the Channel in 2 hours 38 minutes and being sculled from Westminster to the centre of Paris in four and a quarter days.

Hulls are generally in Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) but can be built in wood. They are then finished with timber thwarts, floorboards and stretcher bearers, and fitted out to allow immediate rowing.

The Great River Race Jolly Boat is the generic name for the four-oared boat which was introduced following the success of the Cutter. It made a name for itself by being in the lead of the Thames Nelson Flotilla of many rowed boats in 2005 in that spectacular tribute to the country's greatest Naval hero. It is available in the following versions

  • Fitted out in a similar way to the cutter described above
  • A much more robust Low Maintenance Version, with minimum timber, designed for use by Sea Cadets or Sea Scouts and fitted out on a simpler scale
  • A DIY version, whereby a GRP hull is provided together with all the necessary parts and precut timber ready for final finishing and assembly by you

Both boats were designed by Mark Edwards, of Richmond Bridge Boathouses, and are built by him under contract to The Great River Race Race. Full details of our boats for sale including detailed specifications and prices are available; please contact Paul Satow on 020 7722 7806 or paul.satow@virgin.net

Boat Packages are available

Shallop - The "Lady Mayoress'

 

The Thames Waterman Cutter

 

The Great River Race Jolly Boat

You can even sail the Jolly Boat!