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The Fours Head

Crews racing

Entries

Entries in the 2025 Fours Head are invited in Open and Women’s crews in Quad Sculls, Coxless Fours and Coxed Fours in the following three categories (18 events in total):

Championship, Club, Academic

Please note:

  • These categories will NOT be further subdivided into bands.
  • Following the launch of the Junior Fours Head for 2025, the Fours Head is not offering Junior events this year. Further details are available here >>
  • Junior-age crews may now enter the appropriate Championship, Club or Academic event subject to conditions set out below.
  • All individual junior competitors must be J17 or older. 

Entry fees

The entry fee for the 2025 Fours Head is £82 per crew.

Definitions

CHAMPIONSHIP: Open to any crew (including composites)

Crews (including those of junior age) must enter Championship if they contain any crew members (excluding the cox) who have within the last THREE years (i.e. in 2023, 2024 or 2025) in either rowing or sculling:

  • Competed at the Olympic regatta.
  • Competed at the Paralympic regatta in a PR3 event.
  • Competed at the World Rowing Championships, including PR3 events.
  • Competed at a World Rowing Cup regatta, including PR3 events.
  • Competed at the European Rowing Championships, including PR3 events.
  • Competed at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
  • Competed at the World Rowing Under 19 Championships.
  • Competed in the Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Races (Blue or Reserve races, but not Lightweight).
  • Reached a semi-final at Henley Royal Regatta in any event (including junior events).
  • Won or reached a final of a Championship event at Henley Women’s Regatta. including Championship Lightweight events.
  • Won a medal (Under 19 or Senior) at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, including PR3 events.

Crews who are required to enter Championship must state in the Notes field on BROE2 which rower/s meet which of above criteria (1 criterion per rower is enough).

Crews may also choose to enter Championship if:

  • Some or all of the crew were top 5 finishers in our race the last time it ran (2022) in an overall category e.g. Women’s Quads.
  • The expected speed of the crew will make them competitive in Championship (against top Senior crews).

Crews who choose to enter Championship (without being required to do so), must state in the Notes field on BROE2 WHY they believe it is safe and appropriate for the crew to go off with the fastest entries.

CLUB: Open to crews (including composites) that are not required to race in Championship and are not eligible for Academic.

ACADEMIC: Open to crews that are not required to race in Championship, and in which all of the rowers/scullers are current, full-time students at the same British or overseas academic institution. Composites are NOT permitted, with the exception that the cox may belong to a different club (academic or otherwise). Any crew of students not meeting the above criteria may enter Club.

Junior age crews who wish to enter any event at the Fours head must include an explanation in the Notes field on BROE why they are not entering the Junior Fours Head. We reserve the right to share entries information with the Junior Fours Head.

Crews from outside the UK are welcome to enter the Fours Head in any of the above categories where they meet the criteria.

How to enter

All entries must be made on British Rowing’s Online Entries System (BROE2).

Entries will open at 12 noon on Monday, 13 October 2025 and remain open for ten days until 12 noon on Thursday, 23 October 2025 at which point entries will be suspended. During this period, no entries received will be marked ‘Accepted’ on BROE and there will be no advantage to making an early entry.

The official close of entries is 12 noon on Friday, 31 October 2025.

NOTE: Scottish and overseas clubs who have not preciously raced in a British Rowing-affiliated competition (and athletes who have not done so in the past year) should follow the process set out on British Rowing’s Scottish and Overseas Entries page for getting access to BROE2 and registering with British Rowing. Note that this can take some days so you are strongly encouraged to start the process as soon as possible and well before entries open.

When entering a crew, clubs and coaches should:

  1. Check whether the crew is required to enter a Championship event (see qualifying criteria above) and if it does is, they must enter it as Championship and state which members of the crew meet which Championship criteria.
  2. Consider whether the crew would like to race as Championship, even though they do not meet the qualifying criteria to require them to do so. In this case they must provide relevant information to support this request, including its racing experience, relevant achievements of its members, and highlight whether the Crew Ranking Index (CRI) as shown on BROE correctly reflects the experience of the crew (e.g. overseas, internationals, etc.).
  3. When entering more than one Open or more than one Women’s crew in non-Championship events set out in the Notes field their prioritisation of each crew across all boat classes e.g. ‘Women’s 1st crew’. This is across events within that category (e.g. Women’s 1st crew could be a 4x, Women’s 2nd crew could be a 4-). If we cannot accept all of a club’s entries, this will be used in addition to CRI to select the crews for acceptance.
    NB We will not use the Crew letter field as a basis for acceptance as this may be confused by the order in which crews are entered.
  4. All crews must indicate their preferred boating location. For those boating from their home club, this is required so we have a full picture of the total number of crews boating in each location.
    Visiting crews do not need to contact the host club directly before entering as the Fours Head will co-ordinate the allocation of crews to host clubs but will endeavour to respect your preference. If your trailer is bringing boats for the Junior Fours Head and/or the Veteran Fours Head, please email entries@fourshead.org with details.
    Visiting clubs wishing to boat from Putney should note that host clubs there are unable to accommodate any junior crew members – only seniors can boat from Putney.
  5. Ensure that each entry is complete (with no placeholders) and is fully PAID.

After this initial 10 day period, complete, paid entries will be accepted as follows:

  1. Championship qualifying crews (i.e. those required to race as Championship according to qualifying criteria including those of junior age, see below).
  2. All other entries1 in CRI order, highest CRI first2. Open and Women will be ranked separately and accepted in approximate proportion to the overall entry3. NB The CRI used for this purpose will be the CRI in BROE2 at the point when entries are suspended.
  3. Where this approach results in an event with fewer than 10 entries, that event may not run and any clubs who have entered will be given the opportunity to move their crews to an alternative event or to receive a refund4.
  4. A maximum of 450 entries (plus up to ~5% to allow for scratchings) will be accepted. If fewer than 450 entries have been received/accepted at this point then BROE will re-open for entries.
  5. Separate waiting lists will be maintained for Open and Women’s crews and, as accepted entries withdraw, crews will be accepted from the appropriate waiting list, subject to an overall limit on junior age crews of 50.
  6. No further entries will be accepted after the close of entries.
  7. Unaccepted entries will be refunded promptly after the close of entries or as crews are withdrawn, whichever is the earlier.

Notes on the entry process

  1. If necessary the Fours Head reserves the right to prioritise entries from Tideway host clubs and those other local clubs that support us, in order to ensure that those clubs have the opportunity to take part in a competition which could not take place without their support.
  2. A maximum of 50 crews of junior age (including those in Championship) will be accepted unless the race is under-subscribed.
  3. Crews with very low CRI may not be accepted without further justification. We will use the higher of the crew’s RowingCRI or ScullingCRI, irrespective of the discipline entered to obtain the best measure of the crew’s experience. Where CRI is referred to elsewhere on this page, it means this “highest CRI”. You can find out more about CRI (which is the sum of the rowers’ Personal Ranking Indices (PRIs) here.
  4. Our aspiration is to have equal numbers of Open and Women’s crews, but we will accept a variance of +/- 5% according to the actual entries received.
  5. Based on recent entry data this means that the Academic 4x (Open and Women) and Academic 4- (Open and Women) events are very unlikely to run. If this is the case, the Club and Academic events in each affected boat class will be combined. 

Crew changes and substitutions

We recognise that this approach may introduce a risk of clubs attempting to “game” the system by initially entering a high-pointed or Championship qualifying crew that they have no intention of actually racing, and then substituting the ”real” crew after the entry has been accepted. 

Any crew changes made prior to the official close of entries (at noon on 31 October 2025) that change the crew’s Championship-qualifying status or CRI will result in that crew being “reset” in the acceptance process and reconsidered based on their new status.

Substitutions made after the close of entries that change the event of a crew (e.g. from Championship-qualifying to non-qualifying or from academic to club) may result in the crew being moved to the appropriate position in the start order and the crew will no longer be eligible for any prize except the relevant Championship event.

Substitutions made after the close of entries that materially change the CRI of a crew without changing the crew’s event, may result in the crew being moved to the appropriate position in the start order and it may be required to race for Time Only.

Further notes

  1. The start order for crews in each event will be based on the crew CRI as at close of entries. Additionally we may review their club’s result in the same event the last time the race was run. Clubs should indicate on their entry where the crew CRI/prior results may not be representative and this will be considered.
    All crews in a particular event (e.g. Women’s Championship Quads) will be placed together in the start order. The six Championship events will start first.
  2. Entry fees should be made either via BROE, or by direct payment into our bank account (see event notes in Online Entry system for account details).
  3. Refunds: Entry fees will be fully refunded for crews that are withdrawn before the close of entries or that we do not accept. Entry fees will not be refunded for crews scratched after the close of entries or if the event is cancelled.
  4. Visiting crews must nominate their preferred host club on their entry, as per point 3 in the How to Enter section above. Once all entries have been accepted, we will work with host clubs to allocate crews to clubs. We will contact crews for whom there is insufficient capacity at their preferred host regarding an alternative. Please note that this change in process was introduced in 2023 and may differ from other Tideway heads.
  5. Owing to limited space for trailers, visiting clubs who would like to boat from Putney should separately contact entries@fourshead.org when they make their entry to explain their trailer plan. Trailer/boating permission will be granted (until the maximum is reached), to clubs who meet at least one of the following criteria AFTER we have accepted entries following suspension of entries on 23 October 2025:
    1. Your trailer has at least five boats FOR OUR RACE on it.
    2. You are not bringing a trailer because you are borrowing boats from a Putney club.
    3. Your boats will have been left with a Putney club before race day and will be collected at a later date, so you will have no trailer on Putney Embankment on race day.
    4. Your boats are coming on someone else’s trailer (give us the other club’s name).
    Additionally we may give Putney boating/trailer access permission for a trailer with fewer than five of your boats for our race, with a definite, credible commitment to give trailer space to other club/s you know.
  6. Rowers who have recently relocated to England or Wales from from outside Great Britain and have joined a rowing club in England or Wales that is affiliated to British Rowing (e.g. a university club) need to disclose their previous experience to British Rowing to be allocated an appropriate Personal Ranking index. The procedure for doing this can be found on the British Rowing website.
  7. We have no events for masters crews (although the Veteran Fours Head, which takes place the same weekend, does), coxed quads, mixed crews or junior crews. The Fours Head reserves the right not to accept crews that are Masters C or older.
  8. The Fours Head is not part of British Rowing’s Day Ticket Pilot scheme. All competitors must have British Rowing Race or Scottish & Overseas membership, as applicable. This includes coxes.

Contingency for reducing number of entries

In the event that the number of entries needs to be reduced after the close of entries, whether due to forecast conditions (including weather and stream) or for any other reason, the following process will be followed.

  1. The number of entries to be reduced will be agreed by the committee.
  2. Any prioritisation to be given to Tideway/host clubs will be agreed by the committee.
  3. Crew CRI as at Close of Entries will be used as the basis for the reduction. Where relevant the Cox CRI will also be considered.
  4. We will eliminate crews from non-Championship events, starting with the lowest ranked crews and working up until the required number of crews have been identified for exclusion. This will be done proportionately according to the number of accepted crews at the close of entries across each of the two non-Championship categories – Senior Open, Senior Women – i.e. the reverse of the process used to accept crews.
  5. Where this results in a club having some of its entries in a category retained and some excluded, we will use the ranking indicated on the entry to switch crews so that the highest ranked crews in the category for that club are accepted.
  6. Clubs may propose an alternative crew for elimination from any of their entries if they feel that eliminating that alternate crew would better meet the Competition’s objectives of ensuring the most capable crews race.

Conditions of entry

  1. The race is held under British Rowing’s Rules of Racing, Code of Conduct and Row Safe; the Instructions to Crews; and any other instructions issued by the Committee.
  2. In the event of a serious transgression either before, during or after the race (e.g. undeclared substitutions, unsafe behaviour, or behaviour deemed to be unsportsmanlike) the Committee may disqualify not just the crew involved but all crews from the Club it represents and refuse entries in future years.
  3. The Committee does not accept any liability for crews or their equipment.
  4. No crew or competitor may compete in more than one event.
  5. The committee reserves the right to reject crews entered if there is concern that a crew may cause danger to itself or others. All crew members entered should be capable of completing a ten mile outing and being on the water for up to three hours.
  6. All competitors should be J17 or older i.e. have been born on or before 31 August 2009.
  7. No competitor from England/Wales, will be accepted if they have a Personal Ranking Index (PRI) of 0 in both rowing and sculling for rowers, or coxing for coxes. The Fours Head is not an appropriate occasion for your first affiliated competition.
    Exceptions will be considered, particularly for experienced rowers who are coxing – email entries@fourshead.org with details.
    Competitors from outside England/Wales or their coaches should email entries@fourshead.org after entering with details of their experience, and quoting the BROE ID of the crew they are in. Members of clubs in England or Wales who have relocated to the UK from overseas should follow the process set out above in item 6 under Further Notes in advance of making their entry.
    Update (19 October 2025): Having reviewed entries received so far, we recognise that the experience of a crew is more important than the experience of one individual within it, and so we are waiving this rule for the 2025 race. All crews and competitors must, however, be competent to take part in a long race on the Championship Course, as set out in item 5 above.
  8. If a substitution made after the close of entries causes a crew in Club or Academic to meet the criteria for Championship, it will no longer be eligible to win the Club or Academic event although it will be eligible to win the Championship event.
  9. Crews given permission to race for Time Only will be given a time but will not be awarded a finish position in the published results.

How to make substitutions

All substitutions MUST be made at least 1 hour before the race starts. Any crew subsequently found to contain undeclared substitutes will be disqualified.

  • Until the close of entries, you can make any number of substitutions in BROE2.
  • Between the close of entries and an hour before the race starts, you can substitute up to 50% of the rowing/sculling members of the crew plus the cox in BROE2.
  • If you cannot access BROE2 on race day, WhatsApp (or if you have to, call) the Entries Secretary from 7am on the number hat will be published here before race day.
  • If you need to substitute more than 50% of the rowers/scullers after the close of entries, you may request to race for Time Only. As it is not possible to make these subs on BROE2, contact the Entries Secretary on entries@fourshead.org.

Got a question?

Please contact the Entries Secretary entries@fourshead.org.

Banner photo: AllMarkOne.

NEXT RACE: Saturday, 21 November 2026 (12.45pm TBC)