Prince Albert Challenge Cup Explained

Prince Albert Challenge Cup
Location:Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Dates:2004 – present
Venue:Henley Royal Regatta, River Thames

The Prince Albert Challenge Cup is an event at Henley Royal Regatta. It is contested by Men's Student Crews in Coxed fours. It has been held since 2004.[1]

Creation in 2004

The Britannia Challenge Cup was originally presented in 1969 as an event for four-oars with coxswain (Coxed Fours) open to club and student crews, and was contested for its first 35 years by an entry of 32 crews, racing over 5 days - with many times its entry number entering qualification and pre-qualifying races.

The Britannia Challenge Cup was split between club and student crews in 2004, having created additional competition time by removing the Prince Philip Challenge Cup, which had been contested by a small entry (usually between 2–4) of international elite oarsmen but was removed from the racing programme in line with the continued removal of coxed fours racing from international regattas meaning that it had lost value.

The Britannia Challenge Cup remained as the club coxed fours' competition, while the Prince Albert Challenge Cup for men's student coxed fours created in a similar mould, but with entry restricted to:

No composite crews are allowed to enter. The entry for each competition was set at 16 for both cups. There are now coxed fours events for both clubs and universities at the regatta, and both events have been heavily contested since the change meaning qualifying races have been held for the events. The Prince Albert has attracted international competitors from the US, the Netherlands and Ireland.

The Prince Albert Trophy

Given the success of the fledgling Students Coxed Fours event the stewards agreed to accept and to fund a permanent trophy to be awarded to the winners of the event, two years after its start. The trophy was designed and created by Hector Miller and was presented by Imperial College London - the 2004 winners. It is named after Prince Albert who became the first Royal Patron of the Regatta in 1851 and was also closely associated with the origins of Imperial College. The Cup was accepted by the Regatta in the presence of H.M. The Queen at Buckingham Palace in June 2006. As with other competitions at the Royal Regatta the names of the winning crew are inscribed on the trophy.

Winners

width=50Yearwidth=280Winnerwidth=280Runner-upwidth=500Winning crew
2004Isis Boat Club
2005National University of Ireland, Galway
2006University of London Boat Club
2007Goldie Boat Club
2008University of the West of England Boat Club
2009Yale University
2010University of Bristol
2011Oxford Brookes University Boat Club
2012Newcastle University Boat Club
2013Isis Boat Club
2014
2015
2016Edinburgh University Boat Club
2017Imperial College Boat Club
2018Goldie Boat Club
2019Durham University Boat Club
2020No competition due to COVID-19 pandemic[2]
2021University of London Boat Club[3] Newcastle University Boat Club
2022Oxford Brookes University Boat Club[4] University of California BC, Berkeley, USA
2023Oxford Brookes University Boat Club[5] University of Washington BC, USA
2024Oxford Brookes 'A'[6] Oxford Brookes 'B'

Notes and References

  1. Web site: results. Henley Royal Regatta.
  2. Web site: 2020 REGATTA CANCELLATION - STATEMENT ON CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19). Henley Royal Regatta.
  3. Web site: Results 2021. Henley Royal Regatta. 21 October 2021.
  4. Web site: Results 2022. Henley Royal Regatta. 10 July 2022.
  5. Web site: Leander, Oxford Brookes and Thames dominate at Henley Royal Regatta . British Rowing . 4 July 2023.
  6. Web site: Oxford Brookes rowers triumph at Henley Royal Regatta with six trophies on finals day . Oxford Brookes . 1 August 2024.