10. Maintaining the Event

Maintaining the Regatta

1995

The 1995 Australian Henley was one of the largest in the event’s history, with 2,250 competitors entered to race. There were international entries from Japan, alongside numerous interstate crews from New South Wales, South Australian, Tasmania and ACT. The Regatta also contained the inaugural Australian School Eights River Course Championship, and Schoolgirl Fours River Course Championship, which were won by The King’s School (NSW) and Lauriston respectively.

 Mercantile RC dominated the winnings of the Challenge Cups, with victory in the Grand, Stewards’, Elswick and Old Oarsmen’s. The club also won the Elite Coxless Pair and the Open Coxless Pair. Scott Riddell won the Yarra Challenge Cup for Essendon RC, whilst Banks RC won the Ladies’ and Founders’ Challenge Cups. 

In the women’s events, Melbourne University Ladies RC won the Elite Eight, alongside the Youth Four, whilst Essendon RC won the Senior Four and Senior Coxless Pair. Walford School (SA) won the Schoolgirl Eight and Intermediate Eight events.

For the first time in many years there was no pre-Regatta dinner, with money and effort instead focussed upon the Regatta weekend. The raffle was drawn at the conclusion of the Regatta instead, with prizes donated by British Airways and Hunt Leather. The finances of the Regatta remained healthy, with a closing balance of $1,718.79, bolstered by a $12,005.00 donation from British Airways.

R.J. Stewart continued in his role as Chairman of the Executive Committee, with Sir James Gobbo A.C. continuing to serve as President. The Committee appealed for a new General Secretary of the Association following the retirement of R. Richardson. Obituaries were noted for J.W. Bradshaw, J.H.P. Clark, G.W. McMahon, C.W. Rooney, the Hon. Mr Justice W.B. Treyvaud and T.H. Warburton.

1996

The 1996 Australian Henley Regatta had over 2,000 competitors, again featuring international crews from Japan and multiple interstate entries. For the second year, the Regatta included the Australian Schoolboy Eights Championships and the Australian Schoolgirl Fours Champions as part of the racing programme. 1996 was also a year for the re-allocation of the Challenge Cups; for the first time a women’s event had a challenge cup, with the Ladies’ Challenge Cup won by Melbourne University Ladies RC for the Women’s Elite Eight. The International Challenge Cup was donated as a perpetual trophy by the Japanese family of former Henley competitor Toshiji Eda, and was won by a Sydney RC-Mosman RC-UTS composite in the Senior Eight event.

 The Grand Challenge Cup was won by a Mercantile-MUBC-Banks composite, a composite that also won the Stewards’. The King’s School (NSW) had success in the Founders’, now the Youth Eights event, and Lord Mayor’s Challenge Cups but could not retain the Schoolboy Eights Championship which was won by Melbourne Grammar School. The Schoolgirl Fours Championship was won by Geelong Grammar School, who also won the second division of the event.

 Peter Antonie won the Yarra Challenge Cup for a record eighth year, and was presented a duplicate of the Silver Sculls by President Sir James Gobbo in recognition of this achievement.

The Regatta continued to have British Airways as its primary sponsor, which ensured healthy finances despite rising costs of $60,000 to run the event, erect the Subscribers' Reserve and provide lunch. Again, there was no pre-Regatta function as there had been in previous years, although the raffle was drawn at the conclusion of racing. Sir John Young A.C. stood down as Patron of the Association, and was replaced by the Governor, The Hon. Richard E. McGarvie A.C.. Sir James Gobbo continued in his role as President, and R.J. Stewart continued as Chairman of the Executive Committee. Dr. D.M. Bourke had replaced R. Richardson as Honorary Secretary. Obituaries were noted for former Vice President of the Association K.G.C. Crossley, A.N. Jacobsen and M.W. Yunghanns.

1997

In the absence of an annual report to hand, results have been obtained by cross-referencing. If readers have more complete information, it would be gratefully received by the editors.

1998

The 86th Australian Henley was affected for the second year by the construction of the City Link along the river. This meant that entries were nearly half of those in 1996, with a number of the Challenge Cups not competed for; the Grand, Ladies’, Stewards’, International and Elswick. All racing was over a 500m short course instead of the 2km long course, and there were no international and limited interstate entries.

 The Australian Schoolboys and Schoolgirls Championships were once again held at the Regatta, with Scotch College defending their title in the eight whilst Loreto-Mandeville Hall won the four. Peter Antonie won a record tenth win the Yarra Challenge Cup and Silver Sculls, and Christine Camiller from Mercantile won the Women’s Elite Scull. There were further changes to the Challenge Cup allocations; the Old Oarsmen’s Challenge Cup, formerly for Lightweight Eights, was re-designated as the Women’s Intermediate Eight trophy. It was won by Lauriston School.

Despite the challenges of the CityLink construction reducing the course, and the limited entries, the core elements of the Regatta remained. The Subscribers' Enclosure hosted lunch for members and their guests, and British Airways continued to be the event’s primary sponsor, donating $11,239.30 and the raffle first prize (although Economy tickets to Bangkok as the prize was not the Club World tickets to London as had been in recent years!).

R.J. Stewart continued to serve as Chairman of the Executive, with Sir James Gobbo serving as President, who was also appointed as the Governor of Victoria. An obituary was noted for former Vice President A.E. Bamford.

1999

The 1999 Australian Henley had an entry of 272 crews, which was an increase on the previous year but still significantly below pre-City Link construction levels. Whilst there remained obstructions on the Yarra, for the first time in three years there was 2000m racing for two crews. There were several interstate entries, but no international crews as there had been in recent years.

Mercantile RC dominated  the Challenge Cups. The men won the Grand, Founders’ and Executive Cups, whilst the women won the Ladies’ and Old Oarsmen’s. The Elswick Challenge Cup was re-allocated from the Men’s Senior Four to the Women’s Senior Four and was won by Power House RC. Nigel Sullivan won the Yarra Challenge Cup and Silver Sculls for the first time. There were no races in the Stewards’ or International Challenge Cup events. The Australian River Course Championships for Schoolboy Eights and Schoolgirl Fours were won by Xavier College and St. Catherine’s College respectively.

The Association sadly reported the loss of Australian Henley’s major sponsor, after 11 years and with over $110,000 cumulatively donated, as British Airways closed their Melbourne office after 70 years of flying to the city. Despite this, the Subscribers' Enclosure was still erected and lunch provided, although there was no raffle as had been a tradition with British Airways as sponsor. The Governor of Victoria, and Patron of the Regatta, Sir James Gobbo A.C. was in attendance, as was the new President of the Association, Sir Roderick Carnegie A.C.

2000

The 88th Australian Henley had 262 crews entered, a number slightly down on the previous year and well below the records set in the mid-1990s. The Association lamented a clash with a school’s regatta at Barwon on the same day, although 3 lane racing was once again held which enabled all the racing to be conducted on the same day.

Mercantile RC dominated the men’s and women’s events, winning the Grand, Stewards’, Elswick and Lord Mayor’s Challenge Cups. Melbourne University BC won the Ladies’ and Executive Challenge Cups, whilst Peter Antonie won the Yarra Challenge Cup for a record eleventh time. The Australian River Course Championships for Schoolgirls was changed from the four to the eight, and was won by Geelong Grammar School, whilst the boys' event was won for the first time by Geelong College.

Following the loss of British Airways as the Regatta’s primary sponsor, the Association continued to seek a replacement to support the running of Australian Henley. Despite this, the finances of the Regatta remained healthy, with a closing cash balance of $8,283.30. There continued to be a long list of minor sponsors, including the City of Melbourne, who sponsored the Grand Challenge Cup, and the Howden family. The Subscribers' Enclosure was erected, lunch provided. The trophies were presented by the Patron of the Association, and Governor of Victoria, Sir James Gobbo and the former Deputy Premier of Victoria Pat McNamara MLA.

R.J. Stewart continued to serve as Chairman of the Executive Committee, and alongside Dr D.M. Bourke as Honorary Secretary. Obituaries were noted for A.W. Oakley, J. Fairbank, F. Fogarty and J.L. Hardie.

2001

The 89th Australian Henley had a slightly larger entries list of 274 crews than the previous year, although this was still significantly smaller than in the 1990s before the river was closed for City Link works. There were several new events this year; the International Challenge Cup, formerly for ‘Senior Eights’ was redesignated as a University Challenge Cup event, whilst a Mixed Masters Eight was held for the first time. Additionally, an inaugural Corporate Cup was competed for, which was won by a crew representing Blake Dawson Waldron.

Despite the continuing lack of a major sponsor, following the departure of British Airways several years earlier, there was international representation at the Regatta from Tokyo Rowing Club, which entered several crews. There were several interstate entries, with Sydney Grammar School winning the Australian River Course Championships for Schoolboy Eights for the first time.

Mercantile RC won the senior events at the Regatta, with success in the Grand, Stewards’ and Ladies’ Challenge Cups, alongside various Non-Challenge events. Melbourne University BC won the inaugural Men’s University Eights event, whilst Melbourne RC dominated the ever-growing list of Masters events for both the men and women. The Regatta - The Regatta was attended by the former Governor of Victoria and former Patron of the Association Sir James Gobbo AC, alongside President of Rowing Australia The Hon. Pat McNamara. The customary Subscriber’s Enclosure was erected and lunch served.

The Association continued to lament a lack of a primary sponsor to ‘take the Regatta back to its former pre-eminence’. However, the finances remained relatively healthy with a closing balance of $4,948.86 and assets worth $17,700.57.

The new Governor of Victoria, John Landy M.B.E. agreed to become Patron of the Association. R.J. Stewart continued to serve as Chairman of the Executive Committee, and obituaries were issued for N.W. Cairns, D.J.McC. Crighton, J.M. Pearce and T. Rimington.

2002

The 2002 Australian Henley had a larger entry than the previous year, with 295 crews, although the Association lamented this remained less than the 400 racing in 1996. A handful of interstate crews competed, alongside two crews from Black Sheep RC (GBR).

The Grand Challenge Cup was won by a Mercantile RC-Wendouree RC composite, which beat British competition to win the event. Melbourne University BC won the Stewards’ and International Challenge Cups, whilst Mercantile also won the Ladies’ event. Melbourne Grammar School won the Schoolboy Eights Championships, with Geelong Grammar winning the Schoolgirls event. The Corporate Cup was held for the second year and was won by IOOF Ltd.

The Regatta was attended by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Cr. John So, with the Subscribers' Enclosure erected and lunch served. The Committee continued to lament the lack of a major sponsor, although they conveyed their appreciation for the support of the Australian Sports Foundation, which had donated $16,500 over the course of two years. This, alongside support from minor sponsors, meant that the finances remained healthy with a closing balance of $5,929.56.

R.J. Stewart stepped down as Chairman of the Executive Committee, and was replaced by N.P. Batters. Sir Roderick Carnegie continued to serve as President of the Association, with the Governor of Victoria John Landy MBE serving as Patron, although it is unclear if they attended the Regatta this year.

top of page