The Company’s cutter, Water Forget-Me-Knot, was entered in the Great River Race, 2025, which took place on 20 September. A last-minute substitution meant that I, as Master’s Consort, stood in as passenger for the Master herself, who was indisposed. An annual event since 1988, the Great River Race is the water equivalent of the London Marathon, covering over 21 miles of the Thames, from Millwall to Twickenham. Nearly 300 boats compete for a range of trophies and cups. This year there were 36 classes of boat, ranging from Celtic Longboats to Whalers, ours naturally being entered in the Thames Waterman Cutter class.
Our crew of three men and three women were mostly our regular, seasoned and highly skilled oarspeople plus cox: the rules of the competition stipulate that each craft has also to have a passenger. We boarded the cutter at a deserted Greenwich Pier, on a rising tide but opposing wind. Some light rowing up to Millwall revealed a river full of boats assembling for the start. Steve, our very experienced cox, navigated us cannily through the throng of competing river craft to try to gain competitive advantage wherever possible. The River Race is an exciting event, with unavoidable clashes of oars and occasional shouts from competing coxes protesting their rivals’ tactics.
After rowing under 28 bridges and inspiring scenery, from Tower Bridge at the start to Syon House nearly at the end, Water Forget-Me-Knot passed the finishing point after a race of 2 hours and 43 minutes, putting us a well-deserved third in our class of 18 Thames cutters: an excellent result after a phenomenal effort by the crew. They truly earned their drinks in the pub at Twickenham. As for myself, I can testify that to succeed as a passenger, you need to be able to sit still for nearly 3 hours and have a good bladder capacity! Thanks to crew, cox, and Stuart our retained waterman for making a great day out on the Thames.
Stephen Roberts
Master’s Consort
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