Chanel J12 Boat Race Trophies Unveiled for the 2027 Women’s Centenary

Chanel has made its first sporting trophies, and they are headed for the Thames. On September 30, 2026, Chanel and The Boat Race unveiled two silver trophies for the winning crews of The Chanel J12 Boat Race. Oxford and Cambridge will race for them in London on Sunday, April 11, 2027.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Chanel

The date carries extra weight. The 2027 race marks the Centenary of the first Women’s Boat Race, held in 1927, and the third year of The Chanel J12 Boat Race. To honor the women, the order is reversed: the men race at 3:40 p.m. London time, and the women close the day at 4:40 p.m.

That puts the women at the center of one of London’s great open-air days. The organizers say more than 200,000 spectators lined the banks in 2026, and broadcast and digital coverage reached 17 million more. The Championship Course covers 4.25 miles of tidal Thames in West London, from Putney to Mortlake.

For those who prefer their rowing with a glass in hand, the race sells hospitality packages for race day. Fortnum & Mason, founded in London in 1707, is the official fine food supplier. English winemaker Chapel Down has been the official sparkling wine partner since 2017. It is as British a picnic as sport offers.

The trophies debuted at the Presidents’ Challenge. “The Boat Race only takes place after the Presidents’ Challenge, a tradition dating back more than 200 years, where the Presidents of the previous year’s losing crews formally challenge their victorious opponents to defend their titles,” said Siobhan Cassidy, Chair of The Boat Race Company Limited.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Chanel

Arnaud Chastaingt, Director of the Chanel Watch Creation Studio, designed the pair, and Thomas Lyte, the British trophy maker and Royal Warrant holder, crafted them. Each polished silver cup stands in a rectangular frame, white for the women and black for the men. At its heart sits a medallion of gold-plated silver bordered in black.

The two trophies are equal in size and took almost two years and more than 320 hours of workshop craftsmanship. Their frames were shaped for the winners’ comfort. “The ambition was to preserve the trophy’s symbolism as a beacon of victory, while reinterpreting and refining it for today,” said Chastaingt.

The black and white also nods to the J12, the watch that lends the race its name and that drew on the J-Class racing yachts when it launched in 2000. “We hope they will become enduring symbols of achievement for the crews who raise them,” said Frédéric Grangié, President of Chanel Watches and Fine Jewellery.

History explains the fuss. In 1927, the Oxford and Cambridge women were not allowed to race each other directly. Instead, each crew rowed separately and was judged on style and speed. A century on, Oxford returns as the defending women’s champion after its first win since 2016, while Cambridge has won four straight men’s titles.

Chanel could have simply put its name on a prize. Instead, it made the women’s and men’s trophies identical in size, in the year the women row the final race of the day. For an event whose first women’s crews were judged on style, that is exactly the right note to strike.

The Chanel J12 Boat Race 2027 takes place on Sunday, April 11, 2027, on the Championship Course between Putney and Mortlake in West London.

For more of Haute Living’s Chanel and London coverage, see how Chanel became the title sponsor of The Boat Race and the best new cocktail bars in London.