Author: Thames A Rater Association

Tracing the history of river sailing on the River Thames with a focus on Thames Sailing Club, it’s a fantastic addition to anyone’s bookshelf who is interested in river sailing, history, and the River. Written by Thames Sailing Club’s historian, Mark Laity, the book has over 200 pages and 400 photos and illustrations. It’s the most comprehensive history of the last 150 years of sailing on The Thames you’ll find, and coincides with our own 150th Anniversary.

Available in softback at £20, you can get your copy at Thames Sailing Club, or by emailing book@thamessailingclub.co.uk.

Raters are sailed between March and October on the Thames at Thames Sailing Club in Surbiton (Tuesday evenings and Sundays)

and Upper Thames Sailing Club in Bourne End (Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons). Spectators are always welcome!

There are also usually several boats competing at the Three River Race on The Norfolk Broads run by Horning Sailing Club]

Check out the new pages added in The Boats section for Kingfisher, Spindrift and Wings.

We’ve added some old photos of some of the early boats here: The Boats. Follow the links from the top of the page.

Also, an obituary for Denis Peters from a few years ago, a great read.

Feel free to have a look around the site, some of the pages are blank, but we’ve got a great start on The Boats page and a lovely write up by David Frost of the history and of Tara.

Thanks for joining us here as we build this site up. Our plan is to document the history of our favourite boat, the Thames A Rater. The boat has been in existence for over 100 years, and continues to wow sailors and spectators with highly competitive racing, grace, and speed.