Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt,[1] and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.[2]

A regatta is a series of boat races. The term comes from the Venetian language, with regata meaning "contest, contention for mastery"(from regatare ("compete, haggle, sell at retail"), possibly from recatare) and typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas. A regatta often includes social and promotional activities which surround the racing event, and except in the case of boat type (or "class") championships, is usually named for the town or venue where the event takes place; for example “valley field”.

Although regattas are typically amateur competitions, they are usually formally structured events, with comprehensive rules describing the schedule and procedures of the event. Regattas may be organized as championships for a particular area or boat type, but are often held just for the joy of competition, camaraderie, and general promotion of the sport.

One of the largest and most popular rowing regattas is the Henley Royal Regatta held on the River Thames, England. One of the largest and oldest yachting regattas in the world is Cowes Week, which is held annually by the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, England, and usually attracts over 900 sailing boats. Cowes Week is predated by the Cumberland Cup (1775), Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta (1822) and Port of Plymouth Regatta (1823). North America's oldest regatta is the Royal St. John's Regatta held on Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, Newfoundland every year since 1818.

There exist other traditional and centuries old boat races like Vallam kali of Kerala, India and Dragon Boat Race from China.

Rowing

Rowing, by Lucien Davis, 1898.

World Rowing Federation championship events

North America

United States

Canada

Europe

United Kingdom

Continental Europe

Sailing

Sailing race events are typically held for a single one design class and usually last more than one day. Regattas may be hosted by a yacht club, sailing association, town or school as in the case of the UK's National School Sailing Association and Interscholastic Sailing Association (high school) regattas or Intercollegiate Sailing Association (college) regattas.

The Barcolana regatta of the yacht club Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano is currently the Guinness world record holder as the "largest sailing race" with 2,689 boats and over 16,000 sailors at the starting line.[3] Currently, The Three Bridge Fiasco, conducted by the Singlehanded Sailing Society of San Francisco Bay with more than 350 competitors is the largest sailboat race in the United States.

Types

Oldest sailing regattas

Current sailing regattas

School sailing regattas

  • Mallory Cup, United States high school sailing national championships.
  • Nixor College, the first college in Pakistan to launch a 'RAFT' regatta for team building.
  • Royal College Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia, Oldest Regatta in Sri Lanka. (Royal Thomian Regatta)
  • Sywoc, the Student Yachting World Cup organized by the students of the École Polytechnique.
  • The NSSA National Youth Regatta is the largest dinghy sailing regatta and the largest youth sailing regatta in the UK. Due to its size the NYR visits a new location each year alternating between coastal and inland venues. Previous years venues include Bridlington (North Yorkshire), Datchet Sailing Club (West London) Plymouth (Devon), Redcar (North East England), Deal (Kent), Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire), Weymouth (Dorset) to name just a few.

University / college sailing regattas

Motorboat racing

A boat race seen from the International Space Station, 2006

Other notable regattas and boat races

Race format types

See also

References

  1. Strouhal, Evžen (1992), Life of the ancient Egyptians, p. 46
  2. "What is Boat Racing?". www.rookieroad.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  3. "Barcolana, the largest regatta in the world is presented in London". Sail-World. 14 Jun 2019.
  4. Hunts Yachting Magazine 1865
  5. Leinster Express, 30 August 1834
  6. Sapp, Claudette Gaudet. Sailor & Rattling Teacups: A History of the Chester Yacht Club.
  7. Athlone Sentinel, 31 Aug. 1835
  8. "Appledore & Instow Regatta". Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  9. "Barcolana record falls, Esimit Europa 2 leads fleet of 1852 in the world's largest single start regatta". TheDailySail. Archived from the original on 2016-08-07. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
  10. http://www.yachtregatta.co.uk Archived 2013-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "FOWEY ROYAL REGATTA 2015 | RED ARROWS, CARNIVAL, FIREWORKS, GIANT PASTY & SO MUCH MORE!". Foweyroyalregatta.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  12. HarvestMoonRegatta.com
  13. "IYRL International Yacht Regatta Limited". Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  14. World Professional Powerboating Association Archived May 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, UIM
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