The Head of the Yarra is a rowing regatta held on the Yarra River in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. It is a

head race A head race is a time-trial competition in the sport of rowing. Head races are typically held in the fall, winter and spring seasons. These events draw many athletes as well as observers. In this form of racing, rowers race against the clock wh ...

, with each crew having a separate start time. Organized by Hawthorn Rowing Club, it is the largest eights-only rowing event in Australia, and is listed as one of the three most notable head races along with the

Head of the River Race The Head of the River Race (HORR) is an against-the-clock ('processional') rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England between eights, other such races being the Schools' Head of the River Race, Women's Head of the River Rac ...

and the Head of the Charles. The regatta is limited to coxed Eights and was first run in 1957. There are no weight classed events, and coxswains are not weighed. Currently, the race is run over an 8.0 km cours
(map)
from the Henley staging in the centre of Melbourne to the Hawthorn Rowing Club in Hawthorn. The fastest crews usually complete the course in around 25 minutes, with the majority of crews taking between 30 and 40 minutes. The 2017 running of the regatta, held on November 25, had 256 crews competing in 31 categories, with crews from all Australian states, New Zealand, Japan and the USA. The 2018 Head of the Yarra was the event's 60th edition, and was held on November 24, 2019. There were 254 crews entered. The results included the fastest men's crew, being a composite crew from th
Sydney
an
Adelaide Rowing Club
s, in a time of 24 minutes 51 seconds, and the fastest women's crew, representin
Mercantile Rowing Club
in a time of 27 minutes 42 seconds.{{cite web, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5192e800e4b09d4594e64d87/t/5c00911bcd83663c654db771/1543541019958/2018+HOTY+finalfinishlist_ammended+2018+11+30.pdf, title=2018 Final results(overall), website=Head of the Yarra The race went on a one-year hiatus in 2020. The Head of the Yarra is conducted b
Rowing Victoria
a member of

Rowing Australia Rowing Australia (RA) is the governing body for the sport of rowing in Australia. Established in 1925, it is the only organisation recognised by the Federation Internationale des Societies d’Aviron (FISA), the Australian Sports Commission ( ...

, and each edition of the regatta has an entries and information page associated with it, for example the 2018 regatta

References

Rowing competitions in Australia Head races