1927 to 2027

Why We Are Marking 2027

In 1927, Father Frederick Sill sent a crew of Kent schoolboys across the Atlantic, and Kent became the first school from outside Britain to race at Henley.

In the century since, Kent has won six titles on the Thames, five of them at Henley Royal Regatta and the sixth the girls’ Peabody Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2002. July 2027 marks one hundred years since that first crossing, and rather than confine the occasion to a single weekend, we are marking it across the whole year that leads up to it. The anniversary is Kent’s rather than the regatta’s, and it belongs to everyone who has been part of the school.

The full story of the 1927 crossing

Between Now and Then

The Road to 2027

The centennial runs for a full year rather than a single weekend. Multiple gatherings are planned before we travel to Henley, and we will continue to add more detail as events are finalized.

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Head of the Charles Gathering

We will have a private room at Smoke Shop BBQ, 8 Holyoke Street in Harvard Square, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., with a cash bar. Alumni and friends are welcome before or after the racing.

We will share details on food closer to the date.

Thursday, February 25, 2027

A New York Gathering

An evening gathering in New York to mark the centennial, hosted at The Racquet and Tennis Club on Park Avenue.

Please save the date. We will share the details once the plans are further along.

We also hope to hold informal gatherings of the Kent rowing community around the country. If you would be willing to host one, please say so in the form below and we will be in touch.

July 2027

The Week at Henley

The dates below are confirmed, and the arrangements around them are still coming together. We will continue to add detail through 2026 as each piece is settled, and this page is where those updates will appear.

Friday, July 2, 2027

The Celebratory Dinner

We will gather at The Barn at the Bottle and Glass Inn on Bones Lane in Binfield Heath, roughly twelve minutes from Henley, for a dinner bringing together the whole Kent party from both programs.

Reservations will be required and space is limited, so it helps us a great deal to hear from you early. Taxis are notoriously unreliable during regatta week, and we are looking into shuttle transportation for the evening.

See the venue

Saturday, July 3, 2027

Picnic in the Car Park

From one o’clock, Kent gathers in the parking area behind the Enclosure for an informal picnic. Guests bring their own refreshments, the Kent flag marks where we have settled, and Pimm’s is traditional.

At four o’clock, during the Tea Interval, the Henley Stewards have awarded Kent a row-past on the lower part of the course. Two mixed alumni eights of Kent men and women will row it, spanning as many decades of Kent crews as we can gather, and the picnic carries on either side of it.

Further detail to follow.

A note on costs

These are self-funded events. We are working out the cost of each one and will post those figures as soon as we are able.

Getting there and staying there

Accommodation is not being arranged centrally, so guests should book their own, and Henley fills quickly during regatta week. If you let us know on the form below where you expect to stay, it will help us a great deal as we work out transportation.

Henley Royal Regatta publishes travel and parking guidance at hrr.co.uk/travel-parking.

July 2027

Racing at Henley

Two quite different questions sit under this heading, and they are at very different stages.

Alumni crews

Women’s and men’s alumni eights

We are exploring whether Kent might enter alumni crews in the regatta itself. The idea is at an early stage, and any crew would need to be both genuinely competitive and self-funded, so nothing is settled yet.

If it interests you, please note it on the form below or write to Marcus Decorato, who is organizing the effort alongside Hunter Southworth, Eric Houston, and Melissa Holcombe.

Kent school crews

The boys’ and girls’ eights

Whether Kent sends its own crews in 2027 remains an open question. The coaches and the committee agreed some time ago that the school would only send a crew to Henley if it were genuinely competitive, and that principle still holds.

One Question

Would Any of These Interest You?

As we ramp up to Henley we have a number of events we are thinking of putting on, including, obviously, Henley itself. Nothing here commits you to anything.

Why 2027 Matters

The 1927 Crossing

In 1927, Father Frederick Sill sent a crew of Kent schoolboys across the Atlantic to England, and Kent became the first school from outside Britain to race at Henley.

Sill had coxed the Columbia varsity crew that won the first Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta in 1895, so he understood what the trip would mean for the boys. Kent entered the Thames Challenge Cup, which was an open event rather than a schools event, and lost its only heat by a quarter of a length to Thames Rowing Club, who went on to win the trophy that year.

That entry is also the reason the program is called a Boat Club rather than a school team. Kent had to enter as a club to race the events it wanted, and the name has stayed with us ever since.

Kent returned six years later to win the Thames Challenge Cup in 1933, and won it again in 1938, 1947, and 1950. The boys’ eight took the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup in 1972, and the girls won the Peabody Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2002. That makes six titles at Henley in all, five of them at Henley Royal Regatta, and no American school has won there more often.

It is worth being clear about what we are marking. 2027 is the centennial of Kent’s first trip to Henley rather than an anniversary of the regatta itself.

Kent at Henley

1927 First school from outside Britain to race at Henley. Thames Challenge Cup.

1933 Thames Challenge Cup. The first win.

1938, 1947, 1950 Thames Challenge Cup, three more times.

1972 Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup.

2002 Peabody Cup, Henley Women's Regatta.

2010 Princess Elizabeth final.

2022 The 1972 and 2002 crews row the course side by side.

2027 One hundred years.

A Centennial Gift in Progress

The Queen Victoria Challenge Cup

Kent intends to give Henley Royal Regatta a new trophy for women student quad scullers, funded by the alumnae and alumni who rowed for Kent on the Thames.

As part of the centennial, Kent intends to sponsor a new trophy at Henley Royal Regatta for women student quad scullers, and we are in the process of raising the funds to do so.

There is a symmetry to it that we like. Kent went to Henley in 1927 as the first school from outside Britain to race there, and a hundred years later the school hopes to mark that by funding a women’s trophy at the same regatta. The first hundred years of Kent rowing saw a real gap between what the boys had and what the girls had, and we intend the next hundred to be about closing it.

Details of the gift, including its recognition of Hart Perry, Kent’s long-time coach and the first American elected a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta, are still being settled with the Regatta. We will share more here once everything is confirmed.

Help Fund the Cup

The Cup is being funded primarily by the alumnae and alumni who rowed for Kent on the Thames. Gifts of any size are welcome, and all donations are tax deductible.

Give to the Cup

This link goes directly to the Henley Rowing Regatta Cup and Celebration Fund, and anything raised beyond the cost of the Cup will support Kent rowing and the centennial year. Qualified charitable distributions, gifts of stock, and similar arrangements are handled by Bill Kissick.

The Committee

The Celebration Committee

Every member is a volunteer, and together they span six decades of Kent crews.

Fred Schoch ’69

Thaddeus Bennett ’71 Co-Chair

John Rooney ’73

Melissa Holcombe ’87

Andrew Mills ’89

Elizabeth Guernsey ’02

Vashti Chandler Davies ’06 Co-Chair

Alexis Mills ’17

Gabby Sullivan ’21

Marcus Decorato ’25

Christine Roper ’07 Ex officio

If you would be willing to host a gathering of Kent rowers where you live, please tell us on the interest form and we will be in touch.

100 Years of Kent School at Henley