The women's race will close Boat Race day on 11 April 2027 for the centenary, at 16:40. New trophies were unveiled at the Presidents' Challenge on 30 September.

The women’s race will be the last race of Boat Race day in 2027. It is the first time the order has been reversed. The change marks 100 years since the first Women’s Boat Race in 1927.

The Boat Race Company announced it on 30 September, at the Presidents’ Challenge. It also unveiled new trophies for the winning men’s and women’s crews. Its announcement sets out the details.

The race times for 11 April 2027

The races are on Sunday 11 April 2027, on the Championship Course on the Thames in London.

Race Start time
Men’s Boat Race 15:40
Women’s Boat Race 16:40

The organisers say the races are timed for 2.5 and 1.5 hours before high tide. Channel 4 will show the races live, and Times Radio will cover them.

Cambridge’s position going in

Cambridge’s men won in 2026 and Oxford’s women won. The Boat Race Company confirmed that Oxford Women and Cambridge Men will defend their titles.

The race only happens after a formal challenge. Under a tradition more than 200 years old, the presidents of the losing crews challenge the winners to defend their titles. That makes Cambridge’s women the challengers this time.

Cambridge University Boat Club’s presidents for 2027 are Simon Hatcher and Eloise Etherington:

  • Simon Hatcher has rowed in two winning Cambridge crews, both times in the bow seat. He is studying for a PhD in nuclear energy.
  • Eloise Etherington leads the women. She was the youngest competitor on Boat Race Day 2025, and she studies Natural Sciences at Gonville and Caius.

What the new trophies look like

The trophies were designed by Arnaud Chastaingt, who runs Chanel’s watch design studio. Chanel has sponsored the race since 2025, and the organisers say these are the first sporting trophies the company has made.

The announcement describes them as follows:

  • a silver trophy set inside a rectangular frame
  • a white frame for the women’s trophy and a black one for the men’s
  • a medallion of gold-plated silver at the centre
  • both trophies are the same size

They were made by the British trophy makers Thomas Lyte. The organisers say the work took almost two years and more than 320 hours in the workshop. The 2027 winners will be the first crews to lift them.

Siobhan Cassidy chairs The Boat Race Company. She said: “The Centenary is the perfect time to deepen our longstanding partnership with CHANEL, with the unveiling of the J12 Boat Race trophies.”

The Cambridge side of the centenary

The first Women’s Boat Race was held on 15 March 1927 on the Isis in Oxford. The Cambridge crew came entirely from Newnham College. That is according to the boat club’s account of its centenary launch weekend, held last weekend.

The 1927 crews were not allowed to race each other directly. Each crew rowed separately and was judged on style as well as speed.

The club’s launch weekend included:

  • a visit to its training boathouse at Ely
  • a garden party at Newnham College, hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice, for more than 250 guests
  • a dinner at Newnham for rowers from the 1950s to current students
  • an archive exhibition at Goldie Boathouse on the Sunday

The club also announced a fundraising campaign for two new women’s boats, as a lasting legacy of the centenary. Eloise Etherington and the lightweight president, Lauren Allegretti, will lead it.

What it means for you

  • If you plan to watch: the women’s race is now the later one, at 16:40. Anyone who leaves after the first race will miss it.
  • Mark 15 March 2027: the club says a re-enactment of the first race will take place on the Isis that day, exactly 100 years on. Rowers will wear replica 1927 kit, including hand-knitted jumpers made by former members.
  • If you rowed for Cambridge: the club is inviting alumni and supporters to its centenary events, listed on its launch page.