September 26, 2019 JohnM

Durham Small Boats Head

21st February 2026 – cancelled

Durham Small Boats Head Cancelled
Feeling very disheartened this morning with very marginal conditions we are a few cm too high to proceed with racing, especially through Elvet Bridge.
Our priority is to provide safe and fair racing and over years of running events we have worked out the maximum levels for our river. Whilst crews will be training happily this morning, max levels are there for a reason.
Thank you for bearing with us but the river has beaten us unfortunately

This is one of the most popular head races in the north. The Head takes place every year on the first weekend of February and regularly attracts around 400 entries spread over 4 divisions. This makes it an ideal event for clubs to try out various combinations of crews throughout the day. The course covers an 1800m stretch of the River Wear and requires a competent cox to navigate through the narrow arches of Elvet Bridge. The added challenge the bridge creates for crews ensures a big crowd of spectators in the city centre watching crews on the approach to see who will clear the arches successfully.

The crews from across the four divisions of this time trial event have the times amalgamated to produce an overall winner for each event, with the winners receiving custom produced presentation medals.

Poster – PDF
Competitors Instructions – PDF – Coaches and Competitors should acquaint themselves with these.
Start Order (Feb 21st) – (PDF) & (XLS)
Per division provisional results –  Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, Division 4.
Results – (PDF) Consolidated over the four divisions with winners indicated.
Results – (PDF) Grouped by Gender and Boat Class.

Volunteers are essential to the success of  the event. If you would like to help to run it please sign up for vacant volunteer slots through the Club Captain.