Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the three other regattas rowed over approximately the same course, Henley Women's Regatta, Henley Masters Regatta and Henley Town and Visitors' Regatta, each of which is an entirely separate event. The regatta lasts for five days (Wednesday to Sunday) ending on the first weekend in July. Races are head-to-head knock out competitions, raced over a course of 1 mile,
Henley Royal Regatta of its history, Henley Royal Regatta has only been open to male competitors but this has changed more recently. Women coxswains of male crews were permitted from 1975 and as such the first female competitor in the regatta was Christine Paul, cox of Furnivall Sculling Club in the Thames Challenge Cup in that year. There was much discussion about the introduction of events for women. The Stewards felt that they faced a dilemma: on the one hand it was argued that women's rowing would never flourish while there were no women's events at Britain's premier regatta; on the other it