10 September 2025

By Tim Koch

Anyone associated with rowing or boating in West London and also the wider watermen’s community will be saddened to hear of the death aged 83 on Sunday of Chas Newens aka “Chas the boat”.

Chas Newens Marine provides coaching boats, engines, chandlery, spares, courses, repairs and advice to rowing clubs all along the Thames Tideway and was until recently a long time supplier of launches to the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race and numerous lesser rowing and river-born events. Chas’ many contributions to the Thames community resulted in him being made Master of the Watermen’s Company in 2001.  

Sometimes clichés are unavoidable and the sad loss of Charles George Newens must be described as “the end of an era”, Chas being the last of the old school Putney boatmen and watermen.

Julie, Chas’ wife of 46 years, asks that in the short term people do not phone or message her but says that cards and letters would be welcome from those who wish to send them.

Chas: I started working down here at Putney when I was 14, and I’m 77 now so I’ve seen a lot of Boat Races! In the early years, I took the press launch out, but later I drove the umpire when it was decided that he should be in a neutral boat. Before that, a Cambridge Umpire would use the launch carrying the Oxford Old Blues, and vice versa. As you can imagine, a lot of barracking went on, but when he was on his own, he just had his own thoughts…. My Dad was the Imperial College boatman for forty-two years… though his father was a yeast merchant – which is why I like beer. This year, I think that Cambridge is a very good crew… you notice certain things, especially when they have their starts…. I think the Cambridge ladies are good as well… For years and years, people said ‘No, no, we can’t have women’. I said, ‘Why? They row the Head of the River the other way, so why can’t they row the Boat Race this way….?’ I think it’s fantastic, I really do.

Information on the funeral will follow in due course.