[10] The draw is a public event that takes place in the Henley Town Hall, normally at 3 pm on the Saturday before the regatta.

For each event the names of all selected crews are placed on pieces of paper which are then drawn at random from the Grand Challenge Cup.

The coxswains or steersmen are expected to keep their crew on the allocated side of the course at all times during the race, else they risk disqualification.

Other spectators could watch from the adjacent roadway (in front of the Little White Hart Hotel) while those with carriages surveyed the scene from a vantage point on Henley Bridge.

This benefited the crew on the Berkshire side of the course not only because they raced a shorter distance but also because they avoided the worst of the river's current.

Their recommendation was to move the finish line downstream to Poplar Point (thus avoiding the bend) and the start to the bottom of Temple Island.

The course now ran close to this bank and crew on the Buckinghamshire station gained the advantage of shelter whenever a 'Bushes Wind' was blowing.

In 1899, floating booms secured between the pilings which mark the course were also introduced along part of its length in an attempt to keep spectators from obstructing races.

In around 1920, the Stewards carried out a survey canvassing the idea of a moving the start of the course to the Berkshire side of Temple Island.

At the time this channel was a winding, shallow backwater and it would clearly not be possible to lay a course of the full Henley distance without significant alteration to the bank, the island and the riverbed.

The Straight Course has generally addressed the problems of unfairness: for example, between 1975 and 1984, 50.52% of races were won on Bucks and 49.31% on Berks (with the remainder dead heats).

[10] During the whole regatta, during racing hours there are numerous safety boats provided by the Colwick Park Lifeguards to keep competitors safe.

These rules would become the cause of growing controversy as international entries to Henley increased; most foreign countries having a different definition of amateur.

One well-known incident was the exclusion of future Olympic champion John B. Kelly Sr., who had served an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, from the 1920 regatta.

According to the minutes of the regatta's Committee of Management, Kelly was excluded both because he was not eligible under the manual labour rules and because he was a member of Vesper Boat Club, which was banned in 1906 because members of its 1905 Henley crew had raised money to pay for their trip through public donations – making them professionals in the eyes of the Henley Stewards.

[15] Kelly's exclusion was widely reported in newspapers in both the UK and USA, with many seeing it as an attempt to prevent an American from winning the Diamonds.

In 1936, there was a further controversy when the Australian national eight, preparing for the Berlin Olympics, was excluded from the Grand Challenge Cup because the crew was composed of policemen, deemed to be 'manual workers'.

The resulting embarrassment persuaded the Amateur Rowing Association and the Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta of the need for change.

Grenfell MP proposed a motion for a special meeting of the Stewards that: This meeting…while fully prepared to promote the establishment of an international regatta upon a proper course and under suitable conditions, is of the opinion that Henley Regatta does not provide either a proper course or suitable conditions for international competitions.

He proposed amendments to the rules restricting entries to the United Kingdom, and for the Goblets and Diamonds to British subjects domiciled in the UK.

[12] In 1906, Royal Club Nautique de Gand of Belgium became the first foreign crew to win the Grand Challenge Cup.

Women coxswains of male crews were permitted from 1975 and Christine Paul, cox of Furnivall Sculling Club in the Thames Challenge Cup, became the first female competitor in the regatta in that year.

The crew was in fact Great Britain internationals Astrid Ayling and Pauline Hart, who had made the entry under their maiden names.

[18] The regatta realised the subterfuge and Coni made a statement to the press in which he said that it was "sad that a long-established club should think it reasonable behaviour to make a deliberately false declaration".

[10] In 1982, a Single Sculls Event was added and the start was moved to Fawley so that the course was closer to 1000 m. As the intermediate start installations were required for the shorter distance, the races had to take place during intervals in the normal racing programme (the lunch or tea breaks) which meant that only the dedicated stayed to watch.

The time taken to install the start equipment at Fawley combined with the relative lack of crowd interest meant that the Stewards took the decision not to repeat the experiment in 1983.

In 1993 the regatta introduced an open Women's Single Sculls event and from 1993 to 1996 this counted as a round of the FISA World Cup.

The canoeing and rowing events for the 1948 London Olympic Games were contested in early August, a month after the Royal Regatta.

The waiting list for membership of the Stewards Enclosure is now several years long, although preference is given to people who have previously competed at the regatta.

The clubhouse and grounds of Leander Club is situated on the Berkshire side of the river beyond the finish line of the regatta course, between the boat tents and Henley Bridge.