7-805: The Temple Challenge Cup is one of the eights races at Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames on the River Thames in England. It is open to male crews from universities, colleges or schools. Combined entries from two colleges of the same university, or from different schools, are allowed. There are restrictions on individual rowers to ensure that the faster crews row in the Ladies' Challenge Plate . A rower cannot take part in this race if he has previously won an event at Henley, except The Thames , The Wyfold , The Britannia , The Prince Albert , The Princess Elizabeth , or The Fawley Challenge Cups. The race
14-421: A composite material (usually carbon-fibre reinforced plastic ) for strength and weight advantages. Eights have a fin towards the rear, to help prevent roll and yaw and to help the rudder. The riggers are staggered alternately along the boat so that the forces apply asymmetrically to each side of the boat. If the boat is sculled by rowers each with two oars the combination is referred to as an octuple scull . In
21-485: A scull boat, the riggers apply forces symmetrically. A sweep oared boat has to be stiffer to handle the unmatched forces, and so requires more bracing, which means it has to be heavier and slower than an equivalent sculling boat. However, octuple sculls are not used in main competitions. "Eight" is one of the classes recognized by the International Rowing Federation and one of the events in
28-451: Is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain , or "cox". Each of the eight rowers has one oar . The rowers sit in a line in the centre of the boat and face the stern. They are usually placed alternately, with four on the port side (rower's right hand side – also traditionally known as "stroke side") and four on the starboard side (rower's lefthand side – known as "bow side"). The cox steers
35-620: Is limited to 32 entrants. The event was first staged in 1990, and, after a successful first year, the Regatta Stewards decided to make it a permanent fixture. The cup, awarded to the winning crew on finals day, was made in 1835 by Charles Fox, and has been engraved with a sketch of the Temple on Temple Island at the start of the regatta course. There was no foreign winner until 1996, when the United States' Yale University won
42-456: The boat using a rudder and is normally seated at the stern of the boat. Because of the size, weight, and speed of the boat in comparison to the 4+ and 2+ , it is generally considered unsafe to race the 8+ coxless or to have a bowloader cox. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to reduce drag to a minimum. Originally made from wood , shells are now almost always made from
49-450: The final. Since 2000, foreign crews have dominated the event winning 14 times in 18 years with 10 of the winners hailing from the United States. Only Oxford Brookes University Boat Club have broken the foreign stranglehold on the trophy, winning the event a record seven times in 2006, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023. Eight (rowing) An eight , abbreviated as an 8+ , is a racing shell used in competitive rowing (crew). It
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