Boat Race: Official Rules

Be the first team to finish every drink, in order, down the line.

Two teams of equal size line up side by side. Every player has the same drink, in the same size cup, set on the table in front of them. Teams set their order. The Official stands where everyone can see them.

Rule 1. The race

Rule 1.1. On the whistle, the first player on each team picks up their drink and finishes it.

Rule 1.2. A player shows they have finished by turning the empty cup upside down on top of their own head. It stays there until the race ends.

Rule 1.3. The next teammate may not touch their drink until the cup is on the previous player's head. Starting early is a false start.

Rule 1.4. The first team whose last player has their cup on their head wins.

Rule 2. Finished means finished

Rule 2.1. The cup on the head is the test. A cup that drips on the drinker was not finished. The player refills it and drinks again, and their team waits.

Rule 2.2. Drink spilled on purpose to finish faster is not drunk. The Official may make the player start again.

Rule 3. Uneven teams

Rule 3.1. If the teams are uneven, one player on the smaller team drinks twice: once in their place and once at the end.

• Best of three. Approved.
• Mixed drinks by position, such as a shot for the first player and a full beer for the anchor. Approved, if both teams drink the same thing in the same order.
• No cup on the head; slam the cup on the table instead. Approved. The cup on the head is traditional and gives the Official something to check.
• Players may substitute out for a teammate. Approved.

What happens on a false start? The player's cup is refilled and they start again once the cup is on their teammate's head. See the ruling on false starts in Part 6; it applies to Boat Race as it does to Flip Cup.

A player finishes and puts the cup on their head, but it falls off. Must they finish another? No. The cup was on their head. The Official saw it. Gravity is not a rule.

• False start. Penalty: refill and start again. Signal: the Official rolls both forearms over each other in front of the chest.
• Drips. Penalty: refill and drink again. Signal: the Official places one flat hand on top of their own head.

Boat Race is among the oldest team drinking games, and a fixture of amateur rugby clubs in Australia. Nobody agrees on the name. One theory holds that it is an abbreviation of "beer on a table." Another links it to "skulling" a beer in one go, and to sculling, the rowing race. The Commission finds both theories plausible, and has noted that rowing is also a team sport performed in a line.

Fill the cups with any non-alcoholic drink. The cup still goes on the head.