University Boat Race Stones University Boat Race Stones The University Boat Race Stones are two small stone markers on the southern bank of the River Thames in west London, one 129m upstream of Putney Bridge and the other at Mortlake, 112m downstream of Chiswick Bridge. The stones define the start and finish points of the Championship Course (4 miles and 374 yards (6,779 m) from Putney to Mortlake, as measured along the centre of the river). The course is used for rowing races including the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, Women's Boat Race, Head of the River Race and other races. The stones are
The Boat Race 1846 was rowed on the ebb tide, from Mortlake to Putney. For the first time in the history of the race, both boats used outriggers. Cambridge "rowed in an outrigger built by Searle, 60 ft in length, 2 ft 8 in in breadth", while Oxford's boat was "expressly built for this match by King of Oxford" and 58 ft 6 in long. Both crews had professional coaches: Oxford used John Noulton while Cambridge were trained by Robert Coombes, a champion sculler. It marked the start of the debate over the use of professional coaches which was not resolved until the 1852