Head of the River Race only open to men's eights and is considered to be the peak of the head race season — attracting the top UK crews as well as foreign clubs. Composite crews, drawn from more than one club or institution, are not permitted. The Championship Course is that of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race but, unlike the Boat Race, the Head of the River Race is raced on an ebb tide from Mortlake to Putney. The starting time for the race is different every year and depends on the tide — the first crew (winner from the previous year) starts the
Mortlake, Victoria his friend Major Thomas Henry Shadwell Clerke, and the nearby Hopkins River was named after Major John Paul Hopkins. The first white settlers to arrive in Mortlake were probably David Fisher and his party in 1839, who set up a station which was left under the charge of Thomas Anderson. Establishment of Mortlake as a settlement occurred in the 1850s and 1860s. The Post Office opened 2 February 1859. Many of the original bluestone buildings include those in the Shaw Street Bluestone Precinct, such as the former Mortlake courthouse and the former shire offices. The historic Mill (now privately owned)