The original boathouse was located in the South End neighborhood (subsequently torn down), near present-day AT&T Park and Mission Bay.

As of 2010, the South End Rowing Club has won the competition 29 of the past 31 years.

This race is open to the public, and typically includes singles and doubles, and plastic and wooden boats alike.

The race courses vary from year to year, but there is typically a 10.5-nautical-mile (19.4 km) "long course" which starts at Aquatic Park and circumnavigates the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge and the westernmost tower San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, as well as a "short course" from Aquatic Park around the Bay Bridge tower and back.

The South End also hosts a yearly competitive swim from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco bay to the Aquatic Park, which is open to the public.