The Oxford and Cambridge rowing teams are lining up for the annual Varsity Boat Race today but who will walk away victorus and add another win to their total?
Cambridge is currently in the lead in terms of most wins since the race began with 80 wins compared with Oxford’s 76. Last year Oxford beat their rivals with a time of 17 minutes and 32 seconds despite Cambridge being tipped as the favourites.
Oxford won the first ever race in 1829 with a time of 14 minutes and three seconds, although it should be noted that it was a different course. The current course runs from Putney to Mortlake. The Xchanging Boat Race website shows the route and the best places for spectators via a Google map.
The record time for the current 4 miles and 374 yard course belongs to Cambridge who finished in 16 minutes and 19 seconds in 1998. Interestingly the data shows that Cambridge have sunk their boat twice in the race’s history whilst Oxford have only sunk once.
A list of all the winning boats and winning time by year can be found below. There are also details of the reserves in the spreadsheet, which you can download. What can you do with this data?
Data summary
Varsity Boat Race winners
Click heading to sort table. Download this data
SOURCE: THEBOATRACE.ORG
NOTES: (MM:SS) – Minutes, seconds
The Course is Putney to Mortlake except 1829 (Henley); Westminster to Putney 1839-42; Mortlake to Putney 1846, 1856, 1862 and 1863; 1912 first race 30 March, both sank; 1925 first race 24 March, Oxford sank near start; 1998 Race record time
The first Boat Race was in 1829 but did not become an annual event until 1856. There were also interruptions during the two world wars. This table shows all the races since 1829.
NTT = No Time Taken
157
2011
Oxford
4 lengths
17.32
156
2010
Cambridge
1 1/3 lengths
17.35
155
2009
Oxford
3 1/2 lengths
17.00
154
2008
Oxford
6 lengths
20.53
153
2007
Cambridge
1 1/4 lengths
17.49
152
2006
Oxford
5 lengths
18.26
151
2005
Oxford
2 lengths
16.42
150
2004
Cambridge
6 lengths
18.17
149
2003
Oxford
1 foot
18.06
148
2002
Oxford
3/4 length
16.54
147
2001
Cambridge
2 1/2 lengths
19.59
146
2000
Oxford
3 lengths
18.04
145
1999
Cambridge
3 1/2 lengths
16.41
144
1998
Cambridge
3 lengths
16.19
143
1997
Cambridge
2 lengths
17.38
142
1996
Cambridge
2 3/4 lengths
16.58
141
1995
Cambridge
4 lengths
18.04
140
1994
Cambridge
6 1/2 lengths
18.09
139
1993
Cambridge
3 1/2 lengths
17.00
138
1992
Oxford
1 1/4 lengths
17.44
137
1991
Oxford
4 1/4 lengths
16.59
136
1990
Oxford
2 1/4 lengths
17.15
135
1989
Oxford
2 1/2 lengths
18.27
134
1988
Oxford
5 1/2 lengths
17.35
133
1987
Oxford
4 lengths
19.59
132
1986
Cambridge
7 lengths
17.58
131
1985
Oxford
4 3/4 lengths
17.11
130
1984
Oxford
3 3/4 lengths
16.45
129
1983
Oxford
4 1/2 lengths
19.07
128
1982
Oxford
3 1/4 length
18.21
127
1981
Oxford
8 lengths
18.11
126
1980
Oxford
Canvas
19.20
125
1979
Oxford
3 1/2 lengths
20.33
124
1978
Oxford
Cambridge sank
18.58
123
1977
Oxford
7 lengths
19.28
122
1976
Oxford
6 1/2 lengths
16.58
121
1975
Cambridge
3 3/4 lengths
19.27
120
1974
Oxford
5 1/2 lengths
17.35
119
1973
Cambridge
13 lengths
19.21
118
1972
Cambridge
9 1/2 lengths
18.36
117
1971
Cambridge
10 lengths
17.58
116
1970
Cambridge
3 1/2 lengths
20.22
115
1969
Cambridge
4 lengths
18.04
114
1968
Cambridge
3 1/2 lengths
18.22
113
1967
Oxford
3 1/4 length
18.52
112
1966
Oxford
3 3/4 lengths
19.12
111
1965
Oxford
4 lengths
18.07
110
1964
Cambridge
6 1/2 lengths
19.18
109
1963
Oxford
5 lengths
20.47
108
1962
Cambridge
5 lengths
19.46
107
1961
Cambridge
4 1/4 lengths
19.22
106
1960
Oxford
1 1/4 lengths
18.59
105
1959
Oxford
6 lengths
18.52
104
1958
Cambridge
3 1/2 lengths
18.15
103
1957
Cambridge
2 lengths
19.01
102
1956
Cambridge
1 1/4 lengths
18.36
101
1955
Cambridge
16 lengths
19.01
100
1954
Oxford
4 1/2 lengths
20.23
99
1953
Cambridge
8 lengths
19.54
98
1952
Oxford
Canvas
20.23
97
1951
Cambridge
12 lengths
20.05
96
1950
Cambridge
3 1/2 lengths
20.15
95
1949
Cambridge
1/4 length
18.57
94
1948
Cambridge
5 lengths
17.50
93
1947
Cambridge
10 lengths
23.01
92
1946
Oxford
3 lengths
19.54
91
1939
Cambridge
4 lengths
19.03
90
1938
Oxford
2 lengths
20.03
89
1937
Oxford
3 lengths
22.39
88
1936
Cambridge
5 lengths
21.06
87
1935
Cambridge
4 1/2 lengths
19.48
86
1934
Cambridge
4 1/4 lengths
18.03
85
1933
Cambridge
2 1/4 lengths
20.57
84
1932
Cambridge
5 lengths
19.11
83
1931
Cambridge
2 1/2 lengths
19.26
82
1930
Cambridge
3 lengths
19.09
81
1929
Cambridge
7 lengths
19.24
80
1928
Cambridge
10 lengths
20.25
79
1927
Cambridge
3 lengths
20.14
78
1926
Cambridge
5 lengths
19.29
77
1925
Cambridge
Oxford sank
21.05
76
1924
Cambridge
4 1/2 lengths
18.41
75
1923
Oxford
3/4 length
20.54
74
1922
Cambridge
4 1/2 lengths
19.27
73
1921
Cambridge
1 length
19.45
72
1920
Cambridge
4 lengths
21.11
71
1914
Cambridge
4 1/2 lengths
20.23
70
1913
Oxford
3/4 length
20.53
69
1912
Oxford
6 lengths
22.05
68
1911
Oxford
2 3/4 lengths
18.29
67
1910
Oxford
3 1/2 lengths
20.14
66
1909
Oxford
3 1/2 lengths
19.05
65
1908
Cambridge
2 1/2 lengths
19.02
64
1907
Cambridge
4 1/2 length
20.26
63
1906
Cambridge
3 1/2 lengths
19.25
62
1905
Oxford
3 lengths
20.35
61
1904
Cambridge
4 1/2 length
21.37
60
1903
Cambridge
6 lengths
19.33
59
1902
Cambridge
5 lengths
19.09
58
1901
Oxford
2/3 length
22.31
57
1900
Cambridge
20 lengths
18.45
56
1899
Cambridge
3 1/4 length
21.04
55
1898
Oxford
Easily
22.15
54
1897
Oxford
2 1/2 lengths
19.12
53
1896
Oxford
2/5 length
20.01
52
1895
Oxford
2 1/4 lengths
20.05
51
1894
Oxford
3 1/2 lengths
21.39
50
1893
Oxford
1 1/4 lengths
18.45
49
1892
Oxford
2 1/4 lengths
19.01
48
1891
Oxford
1/2 length
21.48
47
1890
Oxford
1 length
22.03
46
1889
Cambridge
3 lengths
20.14
45
1888
Cambridge
7 lengths
20.48
44
1887
Cambridge
2 1/2 lengths
20.52
43
1886
Cambridge
2/3 length
22.03
42
1885
Oxford
2 1/2 lengths
21.36
41
1884
Cambridge
2 1/2 lengths
21.39
40
1883
Oxford
3 1/2 lengths
21.18
39
1882
Oxford
7 lengths
20.12
38
1881
Oxford
3 lengths
21.51
37
1880
Oxford
3 3/4 lengths
21.23
36
1879
Cambridge
3 lengths
21.18
35
1878
Oxford
10 lengths
22.15
34
1877
Dead Heat
Dead-Heat
24.08
33
1876
Cambridge
Easily
20.20
32
1875
Oxford
10 lengths
22.02
31
1874
Cambridge
3 1/2 lengths
22.35
30
1873
Cambridge
3 lengths
19.35
29
1872
Cambridge
2 lengths
21.15
28
1871
Cambridge
1 length
23.01
27
1870
Cambridge
1 1/2 lengths
22.04
26
1869
Oxford
3 lengths
20.04
25
1868
Oxford
6 lengths
20.56
24
1867
Oxford
1/2 length
22.39
23
1866
Oxford
3 lengths
25.35
22
1865
Oxford
4 lengths
21.24
21
1864
Oxford
9 lengths
21.04
20
1863
Oxford
15 lengths
23.06
19
1862
Oxford
10 lengths
24.34
18
1861
Oxford
16 lengths
23.03
17
1860
Cambridge
1 length
26.05
16
1859
Oxford
Cambridge sank
24.04
15
1858
Cambridge
7 1/2 lengths
21.45
14
1857
Oxford
11 lengths
22.05
13
1856
Cambridge
1/2 length
25.45
12
1854
Oxford
7 lengths
25.29
11
1852
Oxford
9 lengths
21.36
10
1849 (December)
Oxford
Cambridge disqualified
NTT
9
1849 (March)
Cambridge
Easily
22.00
8
1846
Cambridge
3 lengths
21.05
7
1845
Cambridge
10 lengths
23.03
6
1842
Oxford
4 1/2 length
30.01
5
1841
Cambridge
22 lengths
32.03
4
1840
Cambridge
3/4 length
29.03
3
1839
Cambridge
35 lengths
31.00
2
1836
Cambridge
20 lengths
36.00
1
1829
Oxford
Easily
14.03
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