Christ Church Regatta is a boat race in the University of Oxford which is held annually during seventh week of Michaelmas term, in which novice crews (of eight rowers with a cox) representing each college, compete against each other. There are separate men's and women's races, with many colleges entering more than one crew.
Contents
Course
The regatta is held on the Isis, the stretch of the River Thames running through Oxford, in Christ Church Meadow (the park in Oxford belonging to Christ Church). The stretch of the river that is used is generally familiar to novice crews as the stretch where they train. The course is only between about 500 and 750 metres long, from a part of the river between "Longbridges" and the start of the boathouse island to a finish line near the Head of the River pub.
Racing
The competition is run over about four days in total, usually from Wednesday of 7th Week in Michaelmas to Saturday of 7th Week. Races are head-on-head between two teams that are chosen at random. The winner of the race will progress to the next round of races. The loser may be knocked out so that they no longer race. However, the loser of a first round race will enter the repechage, meaning that they have the chance to stay in the competition. The knock-out rounds of the competition proceed until two teams are left to race against each other in the Final.
Problems
A regatta of novice crews clearly has potential problems. During the course of the regatta, several races have to be stopped once they have started due to novice crews becoming stranded within the racing lanes. Also, at this time in Michaelmas, weather is often not especially agreeable. It is generally quite cold and often raining, with the result that the river can be higher and faster than is perhaps ideal. The regatta in 2006 had to be cancelled two days in because of the river's condition. The entire regatta was cancelled in 2000 and 2007 for the same reason. In 2012, some crews did get out for the first day but rapid stream and weather changes forced a cancellation of the regatta.