Boat racing (Regatta) is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term comes from the Venetian language, with regata meaning "contest, contention for mastery"(from regatare ("compete, haggle, sell at retail"), possibly from recatare) and typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas. A regatta often includes social and promotional activities which surround the racing event, and except in the case of boat type (or "class") championships, is usually named for the town or venue where the event takes place; for example “valley field”.
One of the largest and most popular rowing regattas is the Henley Royal Regatta held on the River Thames, England. One of the largest and oldest yachting regattas in the world is Cowes Week, which is held annually by the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, England, and usually attracts over 900 sailing boats. Cowes Week is predated by the Cumberland Cup (1775), Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta (1822) and Port of Plymouth Regatta (1823). North America's oldest regatta is the Royal St. John's Regatta held on Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, Newfoundland every year since 1818.
Contents
Rowing
World Rowing Federation championship events
World Rowing Cup
World Rowing Championships
World Rowing Junior Championships
World Rowing Under 23 Championships
European Rowing Championships
North America
American Henley Regatta, first world championships in the United States
Dad Vail Regatta, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, championships for college clubs
The Harvard–Yale Regatta – also known as 'The Race'
Head of the Charles Regatta, on the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts
Head of the Hooch, on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships, college championships for men and lightweight women
Marathon Rowing Championship a continuous 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) rowing regatta on Cane River Lake in Natchitoches, Louisiana
New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championships
Poughkeepsie Regatta was an historical regatta that hosted the IRA National Championship from 1895 until 1949.
Scholastic Rowing Association of America Championships
USRowing National Championships
The Windermere Cup - between the University of Washington and one or several challengers of their choice
San Diego Crew Classic – Mission Bay, San Diego, California. Founded in 1973, it is the inaugural race of the rowing season among rowers of all genders, levels, and abilities.
The Brentwood Regatta is held in the spring and is one of the largest high school rowing regattas on the west coast of North America.
Europe
Regattas on the River Thames lists all Thames rowing regattas and other rowing events
The Boat Race is a rowing race between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club. It is rowed annually each Spring on the Thames in London.
Henley Royal Regatta, held every year on the River Thames is one of several prestigious British events
Lent and May Bumps, the two main intercollegiate bumps races of the University of Cambridge, held on the Cam.
The National Schools Regatta is the largest regatta for junior rowers in Great Britain
The Boat Race of the North – between the University of Durham and the University of Newcastle
Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta, held annually at the end of August on the River Dart.
Summer Eights, along with Torpids, the two intercollegiate bumps races of Oxford University, held on the Isis in Oxford.
The Welsh Boat Race is a rowing race between the Swansea University Rowing Club and the Cardiff University Boat Club. It is rowed annually each Spring on the Taff River or the River Tawe in South Wales.
The City of Exeter Rowing Regatta, the oldest rowing regatta in the South West, is held annually in Exeter in July.
Regata delle Antiche Repubbliche Marinare, Italy
The Croco's Cup, international rowing regatta at University level held every year in Paris since 1985, organised by students of ENSTA (Paristech).
Sailing
Sailing race events are typically held for a single one design class and usually last more than one day. Regattas may be hosted by a yacht club, sailing association, town or school as in the case of the UK's National School Sailing Association and Interscholastic Sailing Association (high school) regattas or Intercollegiate Sailing Association (college) regattas.
The Barcolana regatta of the yacht club Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano is currently the Guinness world record holder as the "largest sailing race" with 2,689 boats and over 16,000 sailors at the starting line. Currently, The Three Bridge Fiasco, conducted by the Singlehanded Sailing Society of San Francisco Bay with more than 350 competitors is the largest sailboat race in the United States.
Types
Yacht racing – the sport of competitive yachting
Team racing – also known as teams racing, is a popular form of yacht racing
2025 ISAF Team Racing World Championship: Hosted 28 May–1 June 2025 by the New York Yacht Club in Newport, using a new 2-v-2 keelboat format.
2025 29er World Championship: Held 1–8 August 2025 in Porto, Portugal, with over 250 two-person dinghy teams.
Oldest sailing regattas
1775 – Cumberland Cup, organised by the Royal Thames Yacht Club, UK
1777 – Lough Ree Regatta, organised by Athlone Yacht Club, Ireland.
1792 – Whitstable Regatta UK
1822 – Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta, Dartmouth, UK
1823 – Port of Plymouth Regatta, Plymouth, UK
1826 – Cowes Week, Isle of Wight, UK
1828 – Kingstown Regatta, (now renamed Dún Laoghaire), Ireland
1828 – Royal Harwich Regatta, Harwich, UK
1834 – Lough Derg Regatta, at Killaloe, Williamstown and Drumineer, Ireland.
1837 – Sydney Australia Day Regatta, held every year since 1837, the longest running without a break
1838 – Royal Hobart Regatta, Australia
1840 – Auckland Anniversary Regatta, New Zealand
1844 – Royal Geelong Regatta / Audi Victoria Week, Royal Geelong Yacht Club, Australia
1845 – New York Yacht Club Regatta, United States
1849 – Pass Christian Regatta Club on July 21, 1849; twelve boats participated. First regatta on the U.S. Gulf Coast
1849 – Sandy Bay Australia Day Regatta Australia
Current sailing regattas
Aegean Rally, Aegean Sea, Greece
America's Cup, hosted by prior winner
The Athlone Yacht Club Regatta on Lough Ree, Ireland
Appledore & Instow Regatta – founded in 1885, tracing its origins back to 1831, is held annually on the River Torridge between the Villages of Appledore & Instow North Devon, UK.
Auckland Anniversary Regatta held annually on the Waitemata Harbour to celebrate Auckland Anniversary Day
Balmain Regatta held annually on Sydney Harbour, Australia
Barcolana Autumn Cup Regatta, one of the largest single start sailing regattas in the world, held annually on the second Sunday of October in Trieste, Italy
Bass Week, Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria
Bay Week, Put-in-Bay, Ohio
Block Island Race Week, Rhode Island
The Kékszalag/Blue Ribbon, Europe's oldest Round-the-Lake Regatta held annually on Lake Balaton, Hungary.
Canada's Cup, held periodically on the Great Lakes.
Canadian Olympic-training Regatta, Kingston (CORK) held annually in August in Kingston, Ontario Canada.
Carriacou Regatta Festival, Hillsborough, Carriacou, Grenada. W.I. - First weekend in August each year.
CASON Grand Prize Solo Regatta, Lake Balaton, Hungary, held annually in September.
School sailing regattas
Mallory Cup, United States high school sailing national championships.
Nixor College, the first college in Pakistan to launch a 'RAFT' regatta for team building.
Royal College Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia, Oldest Regatta in Sri Lanka. (Royal Thomian Regatta)
Sywoc, the Student Yachting World Cup organized by the students of the École Polytechnique.
The NSSA National Youth Regatta is the largest dinghy sailing regatta and the largest youth sailing regatta in the UK. Due to its size the NYR visits a new location each year alternating between coastal and inland venues. Previous years venues include Bridlington (North Yorkshire), Datchet Sailing Club (West London) Plymouth (Devon), Redcar (North East England), Deal (Kent), Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire), Weymouth (Dorset) to name just a few.
University / college sailing regattas
Charleston Open, College of Charleston
Fisher Hall Regatta, University of Notre Dame
Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships, various locations
Kennedy Cup, US Naval Academy
The Roth Regatta, Roth Pond, State University of New York at Stony Brook
The Regent Regatta, Regent Pond, Regent University
The CoEP Regatta, Mula River, College of Engineering, Pune - Held annually in March (since 1928), one of the oldest and most celebrated regattas in India
Mustang Open Regatta, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Motorboat racing
24 Heures Motonautiques de Rouen – a 24-hour circuit boat race in Rouen, France
Archer eade memorial – an unlimited outboard race consisting of six laps
APBA Gold Cup – an unlimited hydroplane race in the H1 Unlimited series. It is the oldest trophy in motorsports.
Inshore powerboat racing – and within this category, the F1 Powerboat World Championship
Offshore powerboat racing – racing by large, specially designed ocean-going powerboats promoted by Offshore Racing Organization
XCAT Racing – a sport involving Extreme Catamarans or XCATs; XCAT Racing is promoted by the World Professional Powerboating Association (WPPA) and governed by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM)
Drag boat racing – a form of drag racing which takes place on water rather than land
Hydroplane racing – a sport involving racing hydroplanes on lakes and rivers
Jet sprint boat racing
Swamp buggy racing – although not technically classed as boats, these specialist craft race tri-annually on swampy area circuits in the Florida region
Bathtub racing
Other notable regattas and boat races
Stuart Sailfish Regatta, Stuart, FL. Boat classes; Jersey Skiffs, Inboard and outboard Hydroplanes, Grand Prix Series
Beer Can Regatta, boats made from aluminium cans in Darwin, NT, Australia.
Madison Regatta, Madison, Indiana. (hydroplanes)
Kingston Multi-Hull Regatta, Kingston, Ontario (multihull sailboats and sailing hydrofoils)
Henley-on-Todd Regatta - an Australian dry-land event.
Hidden Lake Regatta, Columbus, Ohio. Sponsored in July each year by the Hidden Lake Yacht Club, featuring 8 non-motorized divisions.
Musi Triboatton – an annually occurring international boat race across more than 500 km of Musi River in South Sumatra, Indonesia
Royal Hobart Regatta - a multiple event 3 day regatta in Tasmania, Australia.
The Nehru Trophy Boat Race – One of the traditional Snake Boat Races (Vallam kali) that takes place in Alleppey, Kerala, India
Sy Barash Regatta - discontinued event at Penn State
Worrell 1000, between South Beach and Virginia Beach, Virginia
Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival, Toronto, Ontario
Drina Regatta is the most visited tourist and recreation manifestation and the central event in the Western Serbia
Race format types
Kyōtei – parimutuel boat racing in Japan, referred to as "BOAT RACE"
Match race – a race between two competitors, going head-to-head