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Services: Towage, Crane, Passenger Boat, Camping & Bus Tickets

A tow-down service from Ham, Richmond and Putney to the Start is being run from early Race day morning and timed to have your boat available for collection when you arrive at Registration. To take advantage of this service, boats must be launched by 18.00 on Friday and the cost is £60.00 per boat.

This year, the Start and Finish cranes, for which there is no charge, will be positioned on the riverside in the Ham Street car park, immediately after the Finish line. On Friday, it will be in operation from 14.00 to 18.00 hours to enable boats to be towed to the Start (extra charge; please request tow). On Saturday, it will be available from 15.30 hours.

If required, Towage and Crane Assistance must be requested via the entry maintenance facility; we will be in touch with full details on receipt of a request.

There are also a number of ways to enjoy the Race without necessarily getting into a sweat; click on the images below to get a taste of alternative ways of being involved with the action.

Camping/BBQ	ShuttleBus	Passenger Boat

Camping/Hogroast BBQ/Party:

As usual, we will be operating our very successful campsite at Thames Young Mariners in Riverside Drive, just a few minutes walk from the Race Finish. The 14th Richmond Sea Scouts will once again organise and host this very popular service.

The Friday night BBQ party will include a delicious hog roast and the entertainment will be provided by our regular blues band.

On Saturday evening the bar will be open.

Buy camping tickets.

Shuttlebus:

The ShuttleBus service has become an integral part of Race Day. In the morning of this year’s Race, it will take crews and spectator boat passengers from the Holiday Inn Hotel, Thames Ditton, the campsite and Finish area to the Start in time for registration and boarding. The service starts at 08.00 hours. Later, we will be running buses from the party area at the Finish (Ham Street car park) at 22.30 hours to the Start, calling at Waterloo and Liverpool Street stations.

Buy shuttlebus tickets.

Passenger Boat:

With its good visibility, low freeboard, licensed bar and friendly cooperative crew, The Viscount makes the ideal viewing platform for The Great River Race. The boat will be leaving Masthouse Terrace Pier promptly at 11:45 hours with boarding starting from 11:15 hours. Light lunches will be available on board.

Masthouse Terrace Pier is a short ten minute walk from the Start. Just walk along Westferry Road (away from Canary Wharf), turn right on Napier Ave and then right onto Maritime Quay. Mudchute Docklands Light Rail Station is also nearby and the D3 and D7 buses both stop on Westferry Road close to Napier Avenue.

To maximise the Race viewing opportunities for passenger boat spectators we will follow the course as far as Hammersmith Bridge before anchoring up and waiting until most of the Race has passed. Then we will steam through the fleet to beyond the Finish line, turn round and cruise back through the rest of the field before tying up at Richmond Landing Stage to watch the last boats finish. Having seen the vast majority of competing boats once and many two or three times, you can disembark and enjoy a stroll upriver to join the crowds around the Great River Race bar or, if you prefer, stay on board and take the return journey back to central London.

Note: The trip will last approximately 3.5 hours. There will be a return to Westminster Pier leaving the finish at 17:45 hours.

Buy passenger boat tickets.

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