Henley regatta

[alanch]

Hi all, newbie with a first posting.
We are planning a 2 week trip on our boat starting 2nd July from Shepperton or Penton Hook, with the idea of making it up to Oxford as quickly as possible, (complying with all speed limits etc), and a slow all stops cruise back down. Henley and its regattas are in the way, starting on the 4th. How much of a problem is it gettig through the Henley area? Would we be better advised to avoid Henley completely or go the other way ie downriver? We would go to St Kats but that is closed first 2 weeks of July. Any comments welcome.

Alan.

 

[boatone]

Basically, as I understand it, the river is divided into two channels during the Regatta - the Bucks Channel (to starb'd when proceeding upriver) and the Berks Channel.
The Bucks channel remains a normal navigation channel and the usual rules apply. The Berks channel is the province of the Regatta for most of the time.
You can read chapter and verse HERE.

It gets pretty manic during the busiest periods but as long as you keep your wits about you and observe the usual navigation rules as ammended by any notices etc you should be fine. The busiest stretch by far is between Temple Island and Henley Bridge.
I was a trifle nervous the first time I passed thru and that was a week later when the Trad Boat Rally was on but it was actually quite good fun being in such a busy busy atmosphere although nice to get above the bridge and back into relative sanity!

 

[Chris_d]

Henley Regatta shouldn't delay you much other than a slightly longer wait at Hambledon lock and having to go slow past the course, doubt you would loose more than a hour or so. In fact rather than avoiding it I would positively reccomend it, the atmosphere and all the boats in such close proximity make it a must see. Expect to have to slow right down to a standstill in places though and make sure you can handle your boat at next to zero speed.

 

[hastylady]

My only suggestion would be that if you don't want to spend most of the day waiting for Hambledon lock I would avoid the Henley bit during the afternoon of 7th and morning of 8th July. Otherwise its ok.
Jude

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

If you really want to avoid it as much as possible you could go through very early or very late, just be prepared to work the locks yourself. Mooring in the area is at a bit of a premium so stopping isn't really an option anyway.

 

[Brayman]

Yeah, go through Wednesday or Thursday and you should be ok, just avoid the weekend, being in the reach isn't so much a problem as the queues at the locks, up and down.

Make sure you are dressed appropriately when going through! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
By the way, speeding up to Oxford and slowly back isn't neccesarily the best way once above Reading, there are places close together where it might be worth stopping at one going up and the other coming down.

 

[boatone]

[ QUOTE ]
Mooring in the area is at a bit of a premium so stopping isn't really an option anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah .....unless you're loaded don't even think of trying to moor anywhere near the Regatta. Even the municipal moorings alongside the park above the bridge near the Rowing Museum are something like £40 overnight and no facilities !

 

[byron]

Go go go. You will thoroughly enjoy the experience of Henley but look for a mooring above Marsh Lock. Don't worry about going along the course, the channel is clearly marked and you will be in a convoy whether you like it or not. Unless of course your go through say before 10am or after about 6pm.

 

[DWT]

Just to add to what others have said, Henley is great during the regatta and there is no problem getting through. Lots of boats go just to cruise up and down the course.

The first time I did it was a Saturday which was a bit of a mistake because it took two hours to get back upstream through Marsh lock, but a couple of years later going midweek we sailed through without a problem.

Once through Marsh you will be amazed at how quiet it is by comparison, although I suspect most of the popular mooring spots will be taken. Plenty more though after Shiplake. Have fun and let us know how you get on.

 

[alanch]

Thanks for the great info. We will definitely give it a go but aim to be above Henley by the weekend. Sounds like quite an experience.

 

[Gavi]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the great info. We will definitely give it a go but aim to be above Henley by the weekend. Sounds like quite an experience.

[/ QUOTE ]

If it helps... I took my boat through Henley last year. It was the first day I'd (driven?) her, my first every boat, and was full of fun when the challenges of Henley approached. To refuel we had to get behind the big pleasure boats, had to dodge amateur rowing gits and old gits with bigger boats ( /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif, young gits with outboards, and fit gits with real rowing boats. It remains one of my favourite days. Do it, do it, do it.

After that, the only thing more impressive than Henley or the Upping that sticks in my mind is boatone coming up behind me....