The Boat Race public tests are in November at the British Indoor Rowing Championships, where each university sends around 20 rowers to compete. Everyone races 2 km on an indoor rower with the club presidents using adjacent machines. Both universities also send crews to the Head of the River Fours race in London, which is raced over the reverse Boat Race course, that is to say the Championship course from Mortlake to Putney. In December, the coaches put out "Trial Eights" where two crews from the same university race each other over the full Boat Race course. These crews are given names such
Putney, New South Wales the North Coast timber country, from shipyards and fishing fleets, they flocked to the old river as the gladiators flocked to Rome in the last days of the Empire." A punt service was established before 1896, crossing the river between Putney Point and Mortlake Point. This service was driven by hand. A cable ferry was opened in 1928, and was officially called the Mortlake Ferry. It is the last surviving punt in the Sydney metropolitan area. In 1943, during World War II, Slazengers (Australia) Pty Ltd established a ship building yard on Pellisier Road, Putney. The company manufactured wartime equipment