Saturday 4th December 2021
8:00am - 3:00pm
What are the “Wycliffe Heads”?
The Wycliffe Small Boats Head was started in 1977 by Trevor Jones, then Head of Rowing at Wycliffe College. This was joined by the Wycliffe Big Head in 1996. They are held on the first Saturdays in December and February.
The December Head is for the smaller boats (Singles, Double, Quads and Fours) and is raced from Park End Bridge to the Boat House. The distance is about 2500m. About 500 crews try to enter with 375 crews being accepted to race. We are one of the few events to close the entry before the official date due to having too many entries.
Why are the “Wycliffe Heads” Run?
The Wycliffe Heads are run by the Wycliffe Watermen to raise money for the Boat Club to improve the quality of the equipment that the school buys from a standard club boat to a higher quality racing boat. The money is also use to support the beginners.
The Heads raise funds each year for the Wycliffe Boat Club. The money is used to improve the quality of the equipment bought by the Sculling Centre and to give grants to athletes to compete for Great Britain.
The Wycliffe Heads are the only Sporting Events in the school which raise money to help the pupils.
How much time is needed & how can I help?
Although the time needed to administer the event has reduced, this is not true of the number of people needed on the day. There are about sixty jobs that need to be filled on the day.
The jobs are “turn up on the day” and most need no prior knowledge of rowing or experience and all volunteers are welcomed and appreciated. There are a few specialist jobs, but these generally need rowing qualifications, such as British Rowing Umpire. Other jobs include catering, marshalling, timing, programs, and launch assistants.
If you are not able to help all day (the day normally starts about 8am and ends at 5pm) then help for a few hours is just as appreciated.
Most importantly all of the jobs allow racing to be watched!
