The Boat Race 1977

123rd Boat Race
Date	19 March 1977 (1977-03-19)
Winner	Oxford
Margin of victory	7 lengths
Winning time	19 minutes 28 seconds
Overall record (Cambridge–Oxford)	68–54
Umpire	Ronnie Howard (Oxford)
Other races
Reserve winner	Goldie
Women's winner	Cambridge
← 1976 1978 →

The 123rd Boat Race took place on 19 March 1977. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Oxford won by seven lengths, their biggest margin of victory for more than 90 years. It was the first time in the history of the event that one of the crews, Oxford, used a plastic boat as opposed to a wooden one. It was also the first race to have an official sponsor in Ladbrokes.

In the reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie beat Oxford's Isis by seven lengths. Cambridge won the 32nd Women's Boat Race.

The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). The race was first held in 1829, and since 1845 has taken place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London. The rivalry is a "hotly contested point of honour" between the two universities. Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 1976 race by six-and-a-half lengths, with Cambridge leading overall with 68 victories to Oxford's 53 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).

The first Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. Up until 2014, the contest was conducted as part of the Henley Boat Races, but as of the 2015 race, it is held on the River Thames, on the same day as the men's main and reserve races. The reserve race, contested between Oxford's Isis boat and Cambridge's Goldie boat has been held since 1965. It usually takes place on the Tideway, prior to the main Boat Race.

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