Jun 17, 2025HTBS

What The Blazers?

17 June 2025

By Tim Koch

What is the best accompaniment to a day out at Henley Royal Regatta? The most common answer may be a jug or two of Pimm’s plus a second mortgage to pay for them. However, this year there is something new to supplement a visit to the world’s most famous and fabulous regatta – a new book titled Rowing Club Colours: The Guide to Blazers and Oars.

This handy little guide by rower Jenifer Andersen has been cleverly designed for easy use by even the most enthusiastic Pimm’s drinker at the end of a long day in the Fawley Bar. The spiral bound book fits easily in a handbag or blazer pocket and the clear and simple graphics showing over 120 blazers are handily arranged by colour.

To find what club a blazer belongs to, look down the coloured tabs (solid and striped) on the side of each page. Thus, a blazer with a red base colour will be either Lady Margaret BC, Westminster School BC, Emmanuel BC, Harvard University, Kingston Grammar School BC, Kingston RC, Churchill College BC, Exeter College BC or Great Marlow School BC.  

Red? The blazing scarlet of Lady Margaret BC, Cambridge, gave rise to the original “blazer”.
A blue base with white trim? Columbia or Eton are two contenders.
A white blazer with dark blue trim may be London RC, one with red and blue trim could be Penn.
Alternatively, go to the Blazer Finder at the back of the book for a clear overview.

As television infomercials are fond of saying, That is not all! There are pages to identify blade colours and also the three letter club codes that every British rowing club must display on their boats. Further, there are handy summaries of the world’s major regattas, a guide to rowing jargon and an explanation of boat categories. Finally, the guide is peppered with fun and informative facts.

HTBS Types may think that they do not need such assistance but few of us are infallible and a copy of Rowing Club Colours given to less knowledgeable guests would be a thoughtful present and a nice souvenir.

The foreword is by Henley Chairman, Richard Phelps, who writes that he is “someone who has been accused of owning more blazers than some have had hot breakfasts.” Richard had previously posted this evidence on social media. Picture: @richardphelpsie

Copies of Rowing Club Colours can be ordered from  https://rowingclubcolours.com/ HTBS Types get 10% off by entering the discount code HEARTHEBOATSING10

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