Christmas Head
Our annual Christmas race takes place on (usually) the first Saturday of December each year.
The course is 1,800m long running from the Pike and Eel to outside Jesus boathouse.
It’s a light-hearted race with many crews getting involved with the festive spirit by wearing fancy dress. Come join in the fun and Christmas cheer!
2026 Race
2026 RACE - 5th December
The 2026 race will take place on Saturday 5th December
Entries
Boats can be entered under Student or CRA.
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Christmas Head features race categories for Open, Women’s and Mixed categories and in: 8+, 8x+, 4-, 4+, 4x, 4x+, 2-, 2x, 1x, and will be £13.00/seat.
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Entries will open on roughly the 7th November
Entries will close at latest on the 29th November
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The last two seasons this race has reached capacity early and therefore entries have closed earlier. If this happens again we will implement a waiting list, where entries will be emailed to the event organiser (events@cityrc.co.uk), the waiting list will largely be first come first served with two exceptions, novice boats that have been unable to race much over the term and a rule of cool for anyone wanting to do a particularly interesting costumer/rigging setup​​​
Prizes
​Pots will be awarded for:
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Senior categories with 3 or more entries
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Junior categories with 2 or more entries
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The best fancy dress
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The best line under the Green Dragon Bridge
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Special additional prizes for the fastest mixed town and college eights
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Prize giving will be in the City of Cambridge Boathouse at 4.30pm
Division Times
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Division 1: 09:00
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Division 2: 11:00
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Division 3: 13:00
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Division 4: 14:45
Competitor Information
All participants should read the competitor information.
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Detail competitor information can be downloaded here: Christmas Head Competitor Info. [currently 2025 paperwork]
The event risk assessment is here. [2026 paperwork also this is from WH2H], make the link as above Christmas Head Risk Assessment
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Numbers can be collected from the City of Cambridge Boathouse on the morning of the event. Please note we will be using Empacher number boards so each boat will need an Empacher slot.
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Boats must be ready to marshal along the Reach at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the division.​​
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Photos:
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If photographers would like to cover this event please email: events@cityrc.co.uk
Contact and row-through requests
If you would like to request a row though please contact the Events Secretary.
Marshalling instructions and sign-up
City members must sign up for marshalling.
Marshal instructions can be found here: Christmas Head Marshal Instructions [2025 paperwork]