Henley Regatta Moorings

[Gavi]

I have applied for a mooring at Kings Coppice Farm for this year's regatta, but I wondered if anyone had any other ideas. I want to stay over on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. 27ft length (plus a little bit for stretch marks) with a 4ft draft and 8ft beam. And I fancy a ponce up and down during the day. Any tho9ughts? I am well behaved...

 

[Brayman]

I have applied for a mooring at Kings Coppice Farm for this year's regatta, but I wondered if anyone had any other ideas. I want to stay over on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. 27ft length (plus a little bit for stretch marks) with a 4ft draft and 8ft beam. And I fancy a ponce up and down during the day. Any tho9ughts? I am well behaved...

You won't see much from there Brendon, it will also take you all day to get to the regatta course since Kings Coppice Farm is in Cookham. It is the Copas Partnership Head Office.

You probably need to be at Remenham Farm for what you want to do.

 

[Gavi]

Fair point, a bit of digging and it seems the moorings are split above and below the lock:

http://www.copas.co.uk/regatta/_img/MooringSitesMap.jpg

I am not afraid of a good walk.

From memory, the public moorings require a £50 ticket on the day and get eaten up...; are there any other options? I can use P.Court for drop off and pick up, but that is all.

 

[rr_123]

I was struggling to find a public mooring the year before last and was contemplating dropping a hook in the weir stream.

I suspect the EA may come and hassle you, but if you are allowed to anchor "without impeding navigation" the rest of the year I can't see why Regatta week should be any different

R

 

[storm-force]

I have applied for a mooring at Kings Coppice Farm for this year's regatta, but I wondered if anyone had any other ideas. I want to stay over on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. 27ft length (plus a little bit for stretch marks) with a 4ft draft and 8ft beam. And I fancy a ponce up and down during the day. Any tho9ughts? I am well behaved...

Just a few thoughts for you

Below Hambleden lock is usually cheaper than above & a short walk from the Flowerpot for refreshment

If you contact Peter / Mark Jones at Hambleden marina 01491 517 316 they may have a spare berth, parking & a short walk to the stag at Hambleden.

A Caribbean has often thrown his bow line round the centre pile with the danger sign on it, in the middle of the mill stream

If you throw your hook out in the mill stream beware of the electric cable that runs from the lock island to the main land (it is sign posted) you really don't want that on your hook. a lot of craft moor for lunch but not so much over night

 

[Gavi]

Thank you - and welcome to the forum. Something electric around my anchor does not appeal! I suspect I will moor up and walk. I could do with the exercise.

 

[matt_lake]

I was struggling to find a public mooring the year before last and was contemplating dropping a hook in the weir stream.

I suspect the EA may come and hassle you, but if you are allowed to anchor "without impeding navigation" the rest of the year I can't see why Regatta week should be any different

R

I think Henley Council have finally over cooked it with their ridiculous charges for mooring on the meadows during regatta. There were spaces there all regatta week last year. I can't ever remember seeing that before.

 

[Gavi]

Hmmm... If I pay for a council mooring, is it reserved or am I at risk of it being taken if I go out for a spin? Henley Council's website is not clear on this. I am fairly relaxed about the mooring fees.

 

[byron]

Hmmm... If I pay for a council mooring, is it reserved or am I at risk of it being taken if I go out for a spin? Henley Council's website is not clear on this. I am fairly relaxed about the mooring fees.

In theory you can come and go as you please. In reality you may well have to argue with a boat load of drunks or whom-so-ever has grabbed the spot while you are 'doing the course'. For many years I had the first 60' above Hobbs's moorings. Clearly marked 'Private' and with extra 'no mooring' signs on display. I would still have occasional problems.

 

[oldgit]

Tales of the riverbank.

Hmmm... If I pay for a council mooring, is it reserved or am I at risk of it being taken if I go out for a spin? Henley Council's website is not clear on this. I am fairly relaxed about the mooring fees.

While on this subject,does "The River Thames Ltd" by which I mean the actual river and/or its guardians ie, EA earn anything directly towards the funding of the river from this event .
All the local businesss will benefit but the folks who take care of the actual water ,without which there would be no festival,get how much ?.
Must be a big generator of revenue for the area and we know the locals pay their rates/taxes* and stuff,but do the landowners who rent moorings over that week pay anything extra for the privilege of earning money from boats using the water that by good fortune happens to be passing their bit of riverbank.
*possibly via the BVI.
Ps.Will I have to pass through Henley very quickly on my next trip round. ?

 

[Brayman]

I think you make a very good point Fred, as far as I am aware, I don't think the EA make anything out of the regatta, the same goes for the Windsor Triathlon, where the river is actually CLOSED for a few hours and the area patrolled by the EA, someone makes big bucks out of the event, but not the EA unfortunately.

 

[boatone]

I believe the EA do receive accommodation licence fees for the temporary structures - booms etc - on a pro rata basis for the period of the events, but little else.

 

[Brayman]

I believe the EA do receive accommodation licence fees for the temporary structures - booms etc - on a pro rata basis for the period of the events, but little else.

.............. but peanuts in comparison I guess.

 

[boatone]

.............. but peanuts in comparison I guess.

Absolutely! The more I learn the more astonished I am at how what is basically a national asset has become a cash cow for a few at the expense of the many - i.e us.

One only has to look at the mooring fee income from these events to realise how unbalanced the situation has become.

There is another side to this - how much people are prepared to pay and whether part of such additional income should be contributed to the upkeep and operation of the basic resource - i.e. the river.

If the EA were to introduce some sort of levy what would the reaction be? Outcry? Resignation and a commensurate increase on the rates to pay the levy - i.e. the boater pays the extra as part of the mooring fee?

 

[TrueBlue]

It's all due to the "peculiar" construction of the law surrounding the River.

EA only own the water, the river bed and banks are owned by various riparian folks.

Thus EA charge a fee for anything stuck into the water (as Byron has commented on in times past). Boats pay a registration fee to be on the water - so EA can't charge a further fee for boats trolling up and down during the Henley week(s).

I'm assuming that mooring fees during that time go towards the cost of running the event. Regatta fees are small and the cost of tentage, course building, whatever are not cheap.

Steve has to vacate his moorings and move further downstream for the duration.
COPAS gets quite a chunk for whatever land they own, but OTOH the towpath side from Mapledurham to Henley bridge are kept immaculate all the year around; indeed some bank maintenance has been done by non EA forces in the last couple of years. I'm assuming that some of the profits are being recycled.

From the outside "we" do a mental calculation and assume the profits are obscene, in truth they are probably "adequate".

Postscript:
(just to wind everyone up) - When (sorry, IF) the navigation is handed over to a charity, perhaps it will be enabled to pass amongst the hoorays rattling a tin?

 

[boatone]

From the outside "we" do a mental calculation and assume the profits are obscene, in truth they are probably "adequate".

Postscript:
(just to wind everyone up) - When (sorry, IF) the navigation is handed over to a charity, perhaps it will be enabled to pass amongst the hoorays rattling a tin?

If you are not careful, you will create the impression that the only possible source of funding is the licence fees or government grant aid. Given that grant aid is likely to be curtailed, and the inexorable rise in year on year costs, that leaves licence fees as the primary (sole?) route for increasing income.

I would suggest that all those who benefit from the river should contribute and that includes anyone earning revenue from river based activities. If Henley Town Council can charge (and get) £50 a day for moorings during these events then a 10% contribution to the EA seems quite 'fair' to me. Oops, sorry, did I say 'fair'? I really must realise that we are NOT all in this together

 

[TrueBlue]

If you are not careful, you will create the impression that the only possible source of funding is the licence fees or government grant aid. Given that grant aid is likely to be curtailed, and the inexorable rise in year on year costs, that leaves licence fees as the primary (sole?) route for increasing income.

I would suggest that all those who benefit from the river should contribute and that includes anyone earning revenue from river based activities. If Henley Town Council can charge (and get) £50 a day for moorings during these events then a 10% contribution to the EA seems quite 'fair' to me. Oops, sorry, did I say 'fair'? I really must realise that we are NOT all in this together

You miss my point; EA is constrained from charging extra fees for Henley weeks by its "constitution". So for the time being any contribution has to be on a voluntary basis - unless there is a wholesale change in attitudes on how public amenities are funded.

 

[Richard Shead]

We used

I have applied for a mooring at Kings Coppice Farm for this year's regatta, but I wondered if anyone had any other ideas. I want to stay over on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. 27ft length (plus a little bit for stretch marks) with a 4ft draft and 8ft beam. And I fancy a ponce up and down during the day. Any tho9ughts? I am well behaved...

to leave the tender chained up slap bang in the middle and used to draw just over 4 ft so quite often used to keep it there and moor outside of it.

Oh and by the sounds of it there is a good chance we nicked Byrons berth on at least one occasion so I apologise for our youthful antics back then...

 

[teddington_lock]

In theory you can come and go as you please. In reality you may well have to argue with a boat load of drunks or whom-so-ever has grabbed the spot while you are 'doing the course'. For many years I had the first 60' above Hobbs's moorings. Clearly marked 'Private' and with extra 'no mooring' signs on display. I would still have occasional problems.

In front of the bowling green ?

 

[byron]

In front of the bowling green ?

Not quite, those too are private but during Regatta were taken over by customers of the late lamented Roy Stringer (Outrigger pub).

The first 60' referred to were literally the area upstream of Tony Hobb's moorings marginally before the hedge that protects the Bowling Green.