text: the boat race 1966 the 112th boat race took place on 26 march 1966 . held annually , the event is a side - by - side rowing race between crews from the universities of oxford and cambridge along the river thames . the race was won by oxford by three - and - three - quarter - lengths . isis won the reserve race while cambridge won the women 's boat race . background 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 major point of honour between the two universities , followed throughout the united kingdom and broadcast worldwide . oxford went into the race as reigning champions , having won the previous year 's race by three - and - three - quarter lengths . cambridge , however , held the overall lead with 61 victories to oxford 's 49 ( 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 . two days before the main race and in inclement weather , the cambridge boat began to sink and was pushed into barges and tugs moored below beverley brook . the crew were rescued and according to their boat club president mike sweeney , the incident would have no impact on the light blues : " we shall just get into our other boat and race in that " . it was the first boat race vessel to sink since the 1951 race . the light blues would row in the same boat in which they won the 1962 and 1964 races , while oxford 's craft was manufactured by swiss firm racing boats . both boats were german - rigged , where the number four and five row on the bow side . the inclement weather continued until the day of the race , with further disruption predicted and the threat of postponement a real one . the race was umpired by the former cambridge university boat club president and rower alan burrough who took part in cambridge 's victory in the 1939 race . the cambridge crew were coached by d. c. christie ( who rowed for cambridge in the 1958 and 1959 races ) , j. g. p. crowden ( who won blues in the 1951 and the 1952 races ) , d. m. jennens ( who rowed three times between 1949 and 1951 ) and i. w. welsh ( who participated in the 1956 race ) . oxford 's coach was ronnie howard who had rowed for the dark blues in the 1957 and 1959 races . crews the cambridge crew weighed an average of 13 st 7 lb ( 85 . 5 kg ) , 1 . 6 pounds ( 0 . 7 kg ) per rower more than their opponents . oxonians chris and richard freeman became the first brothers to row in the boat race since 1935 race . the oxford crew contained a single former blue , the boat club president and number two duncan clegg , while cambridge saw rodney ward and stroke mike return . oxford 's p. g. tuke was following in the footsteps of his great grandfather f. e. tuke who had rowed in the 1845 race . there were three non - british participants in the race , the oxford cox jim rogers , and cambridge rowers j. h. ashby and p. h. conze were all american . race oxford won the toss and elected to start from the surrey station . despite the prediction of poor weather and the threat of postponement , the race commenced at the planned time of oxford made the better start and were half - a - length up on cambridge , but with the advantage of the middlesex bend , the light blues were one second behind at the mile post . oxford reacted to a cambridge push at harrods furniture depository to maintain the lead which they extended to two seconds by hammersmith bridge . the dark blues continued to contain cambridge 's attempts to reduce the deficit and by chiswick steps had clear water with a three - second advantage . pushing away once again , and with a two - length lead , oxford 's cox jim rogers steered them across the cambridge boat to the middlesex side , and were ten seconds ahead at barnes bridge . oxford won by three - and - three - quarter lengths in a time of 19 minutes 12 seconds . in the reserve race , and after a false start , oxford 's isis beat cambridge 's goldie by seventh lengths , their second consecutive victory , in a time of 19 minutes 22 seconds . in the 21st running of the women 's boat race , cambridge triumphed , their fourth consecutive victory .