text: the boat race 1988 the 134th boat race took place on 2 april 1988 . held annually , the event is a side - by - side rowing race between crews from the universities of oxford and cambridge along the river thames . oxford won by five - and - a - half lengths in a time of 18 minutes 27 seconds , the equal - fourth fastest time in the event 's history . the race was umpired by former cambridge rowing blue mike sweeney . in the reserve race , cambridge 's goldie won , while oxford 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 " ) . first held in 1829 , the race takes 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 and followed throughout the united kingdom and broadcast worldwide . oxford went into the race as reigning champions , having won the 1987 race by four lengths , with cambridge leading overall with 69 victories to oxford 's 64 ( excluding the " dead heat " of 1877 ) . the event was sponsored by beefeater gin and was televised in the united kingdom by the bbc on its grandstand sports programme . the first women 's boat race took place in 1927 , but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s . 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 . crews oxford weighed in with the heaviest crew in boat race history – on average the rowers weighed 14 st 11 . 5 lb ( 93 . 9 kg ) , 11 lb more per man than cambridge . oxford 's gavin stewart , at 6 ft 8 . 5 in ( 2 . 04 m ) was the tallest rower in the history of the boat race . cambridge 's crew included four former blues while oxford 's featured six . oxford 's coaching team included canadian international coach mike spracklen . race the race took place on 2 april 1988 . oxford started as pre - race favourites , and having won the toss , elected to start from the surrey station . immediately from the start , the umpire was called into action , warning both coxes for steering too closely to one another . cambridge took a slight lead but oxford soon recovered to become level , and by the mile post were three seconds ahead . shortly after , the cambridge number 7 , nick grundy caught a crab , causing his boat to " shudder to a halt . " oxford slowly extended their lead ; nine seconds ahead at hammersmith bridge , eleven seconds by the chiswick steps and fifteen by barnes bridge . oxford passed the finishing post 16 seconds ahead of cambridge , winning by five - and - a - half lengths in a time of 18 minutes 27 seconds , the equal - fourth fastest time in the event 's history . in the reserve race , cambridge 's goldie won by five - and - a - half lengths in a time of 17 minutes and 55 seconds , their second consecutive victory . oxford won the 43rd women 's boat race with their third victory in four years . reaction the beefeater gin trophy was presented by denis thatcher . grundy said of his crab : " i feathered my oar after a stroke and the tip caught the water , which plunged it back in . " oxford boat club president chris penny said " it was not an easy race but it was enjoyable . we kept our heads , found our rhythm and moved back and through them . "