Rowing: Rowing's toff at the top

Mahe Drysdale is one of the few Kiwis to win at Henley. Photo / Getty Images

They say you don't take off your blazer in the Stewards' Enclosure at the Henley Royal Regatta unless the temperature exceeds 27 degrees. But not the tie; never the tie.

It's a far cry from the down-home, spartan environment of, say Lake Karapiro, to the pomp and ceremony of Henley but the New Zealand rowing team are there for the first time this weekend - and have shucked the shorts, singlets and jandals to make sure they gain the whole experience.

Rowing technology has changed on the water since it began in 1839 but English summer traditions have altered little off it.

Convivial chattering with chums, picnic hampers brimming with champagne and strawberries, Pimms by the cucumber-laced jugful, dresses with hemlines well below the knee, a proliferation of blazers tailored in striped hues and straw boaters bobbing everywhere. This is the life, old boy.

This year is the 160th edition and crowds stream to the Buckinghamshire and Berkshire banks of the Thames River around 80km west of central London.

That's where, in Henley parlance, oarsmen "strike" rather than stroke their way in head-to-head elimination racing through what's officially "one mile and 550 yards".

It's also where the "guts and grace" mantra of Rowing New Zealand will be put to the test tonight in the finals - having sent a team to this history-steeped occasion for the first time.

Regatta chairman Mike Sweeney has helped organise the event for 35 years and spent time striking his way to many medals on the course before that.

He says they like to maintain the theme of "an Edwardian tea party" particularly in the curiosity known as the Stewards' Enclosure, covering the last 400 metres parallel to the finish.

"We like gentlemen wearing jackets and ties or cravats, and ladies looking elegant in long dresses and hats.

"It makes it special with people dressing up. They like coming here to be seen, to meet friends and, of course, watch some rowing."

Outside that area, Sweeney admits standards loosen.

"There's a smaller enclosure with no dress code and then you can wear anything you like the rest of the way along the bank."

Mahe Drysdale has been a modern day pioneer trying to get the New Zealand team to the event.

He won the Diamond Sculls in 2006 with a course record, before defending his world championship down the road at the Eton College-owned Dorney Lake. That's the venue for the London Olympics and where the Kiwis have been training this week.