Compare world Regatta ages

Among the sources from which I gathered material while researching 19th century Regattas at St. John’s was the famous Oxford University rowing club in England. The information I collected enabled me to illustrate an important historic fact related to St. John’s Regatta history.

With regards to our Regatta’s place in rowing history, the Royal St. John’s Regatta is also one of the oldest surviving Regattas in the world.

Compare the St. John’s Regatta, which began in either 1824 or 1825, with the world’s famous Regattas:

The Oxford-cambridge Regatta — 1829 The Henley Regatta — 1839 The Royal Hobart Regattas — 1827

First U.S. Regatta — 1845

Like the St. John’s Regatta, all of the above were interrupted at one time or another due to war or national calamities.

Two boat-racing competitions older than the Quidi Vidi Regatta are the Oxford Eight (1815) and the Doggett Coat and Badge in 1715.

However, neither is recognized as a Regatta by Oxford University. According to information obtained from them, “The United Kingdom classes private fixtures as races, even if several are run and regattas tend to be open or largely open in terms of who can enter. The Doggett event is a single-scull type match. The Oxford Eight is not an open competition.”

It is interesting to note that although there was a harbour regatta at Hobart in 1818, the actual Royal Hobart Regatta dates from 1827.

I verified the above information with the Oxford Rowing Club while I was serving on the Regatta’s Hall of Fame Committee in the 1990s.