The PLA flag has unfortunately changed to Red which means that we have no choice but to cancel the race. We are as disappointed as you are.
Please bear with us over the next few days. We know that the question of refunds will be on many people’s minds. We cannot give any answers until we have confirmed details. Please don’t chase us for this – we have a lot of work still to do and we will let you know as soon as we can.
The PLA flag is currently Yellow but there is a high chance that it may turn to Red at their next review at 6am tomorrow morning. If that happens then unfortunately the race will be cancelled as it is a condition of our use of the river that we will not run the race under a Red flag. We will confirm the situation here and via social media as soon as we can after 6am. If possible, please check before setting off for the race. Obviously, we hope that the race will still be on but it is now out of our control.
Please can all competitors note that the Yellow flag signifies strong fluvial flows. This will make marshalling more challenging than usual. It also means that everyone should prepare for the row to the start (and home afterwards) to take longer than usual and therefore allow significantly more time when boating.
The start marshals will also be leaving slightly larger gaps than usual between crews, so listen carefully to their instructions.
We are continuing to monitor the conditions. The weather system that was forecast to past along the south coast yesterday unfortunately tracked about 100 miles further north, dumping extra rain into the River Thames catchment. This has increased the flow rates on the non-tidal sections.
The next update will be no later than 9pm this evening. We appreciate the kind words of support in this challenging situation and are doing everything we can to try and ensure the race runs tomorrow.
The PLA flag is currently Yellow and due to the amount of water in the Thames catchment area, is unlikely to revert to Green before the race. As a result, the committee have reluctantly taken the decision to limit the size of the field on safety grounds. All affected crews have been contacted via email to their Entries Secretaries/Club Captains.
The revised draw has been updated here.
We will continue to monitor the situation and our next update will be no later than 10am Friday.
As ever, we thank everyone for their patience – we are working hard to deliver a race under challenging circumstances. EDIT: please don’t chase us for refunds. We are still busy organising the race and won’t be in a position to discuss this until our committee meeting next week.
Following the recent heavy rains, the flows from upriver are high and the PLA flag remains on yellow. The committee is watching the conditions and we will continue to communicate our position over the next few days.
Next update will be by 10am on Thursday morning.
The press release for the 2020 draw can be found here. The full start order can be found on the Start List page.
We are just over two weeks away from race day and, as part of our routine preparation, the committee are monitoring the weather situation closely. We are also aware of the high fluvial flows coming down from upriver and how those are affecting the tidal Thames. We really appreciated everyone’s patience and support last year and hope that everyone will continue to bear with us for timely updates over the next fortnight.
Follow us on Twitter and our Facebook event to get updates directly!
Entries for the 2020 race will be open on BROE2 by the end of Monday 13th January. Overseas crews will need to get in touch with British Rowing as normal. We will confirm when entries are live through social media channels.
We remind all crews to carefully check the eligibility criteria for the event they are entering.
The Small and Medium Club lists have been confirmed as those previously published. Any crews that are not on one of these lists and feel they ought to be have unfortunately now missed the deadline for changes for this year.
Update: Entries for the 2020 race will open in the New Year.
The lists for the Small and Medium Club Pennants will be finalised at the same time. As a reminder, you have until 31st December to submit any queries to these lists.
The committee would like to remind crews intending to race for any of the Club Pennants (including Small and Medium) that all crew members are required to be paid up members of their club from 1st January.
The list of clubs qualifying for the Small and Medium Club Pennants for the 2020 race have been published and are available here:
If you believe that your club should be on one of those lists, and isn’t, please get in touch with us before 31st December 2019. The lists will be finalised for the 2020 race in the New Year.
Update: Lists updated as of 6th December 2019 as a result of feedback.