PG1
(Premium G1)

A racer is immediately eliminated and not allowed to proceed to the next stage if he or she cannot clear any of the following conditions.

• 1. On Day 1, racers who participate in the 5th to 12th races must finish in first, second, or third place.
• 2. On Day 2, the racers who finished in first, second, and third places in the above-mentioned races are divided into four groups, and each group has a race. The racer must finish in first, second, or third place in their group.
• 3. On Day 3, the 12 racers who finished in the first, second, and third places in the four races on Day 2 are divided into two groups, and both groups have races. A racer must finish in first, second, or third place in either race to become a finalist. There are a total of six finalists.
• 4. On the final day, the six finalists compete in the final race. The slots in this final race are determined by a “ghost leg” lottery to randomize the positions.

Winning this championship requires both luck and skill. The BBC Tournament is a unique, extremely fierce battle. It is open to a total of 48 racers, who are chosen according to the following criteria, without regard for their places in the prize money list.

• 1. The winner of the last tournament
• 2. The winner of an SG, a PG1 race, or three G2 races of the previous year
• 3. The winner of the previous year’s three-day Boat Race battle tournament held to thank the fans
• 4. Racers among the top 15 chosen according to their qualifications for the previous year’s SG and PG1 races, and those who have the highest winning rates in races held over the past nine months

The BBC Tournament is a gathering of racers who have cleared these high hurdles, making for an outstanding show as they vie for the prize money of 13 million yen.

For this race of 52 participants, representatives are chosen by each of the 24 racetracks across Japan from among their local female racers. The fastest times are collected from over the course of a selection period (December of the previous Boat Race season through November of the current season), and only racers who came in first place in three-lap races are eligible. In cases of two or more racers clocking the same fastest time, the racer who has recorded the fastest race time the greatest number of occasions will be selected as the representative! In cases of no applicable person, a racer (excluding those of B2 rank) who belongs to the same area will be nominated.

Becoming the Speed Queen puts an athlete on the fast course for other jumps in her career. The winner of the Speed Queen Memorial is qualified for the SG Boat Race Classic and the PG1 Boat Race Battle Champion Tournament.

While there is no class specification for participating in this event, the basic condition is that a racer must be 45 years old or older as of April 1 of the year in which the race is held. There are a total of 52 racers, consisting of the defending champion, the winners of the Masters League races that are held ten times a year, and those whose winning rates have stayed in the top spots from February of the previous year through January of the current year.

The competitors who take part in this race are top veteran racers. In the 7th Masters Championship race in 2006, Akira Mantani (home chapter: Okayama), then 62 years old, clinched his first GI title to become the oldest racer to win a GI race, breaking the previous record set by Yoshinori Okamoto (home chapter: Fukuoka).

Shortly after Boat Race began, Chieko Noritsugu, registration No. 78, took part in the first All-Japan Championship race, together with other female racers. The first woman who won a memorial race was Kimiko Toita, who finished in first place in the first Shimonoseki Anniversary Memorial race in 1955. Dwarfed by bigger male colleagues, however, female racers saw their opportunities to perform at high levels diminish, and their popularity gradually subsided. The training of female racers stopped temporarily in 1965. At the time, there were only three active female racers—Michiyo Furukawa, Chie Omori, and Kayoko Tanaka. The glorious history of female Boat Racers seemed doomed to end.

Then came a woman who remedied the situation. It was Yumiko Suzuki.

In 1974, Suzuki entered the training center, becoming the first woman to do so in nine years. Her superb physical capabilities, good reflexes, and serious attitude were highly praised, pushing her into the spotlight. Suzuki trained hard, turning expectations into power. As a result, she won the first women’s championship race held at Boat Race Hamanako in 1987, paving the way for female racers to regain public attention. This event later became the current Ladies Championship race.

Thanks to the subsequent achievements by Suzuki and her colleagues, the training of female racers restarted in earnest in 1980, and the Ladies Championship has been the driver of this trend. The race is contested by a total of 52 racers, consisting of the defending champion, the winner of the G2 Ladies All Star race, the winners of the G3 All Ladies races held from June of the previous year through May of the current year, and those whose winning rates have stayed in the top places from June of the previous year through May of the current year.

All the competitors do their best to earn the prize money of 13 million yen, and the fans do their best as well. Because the Ladies Championship is contended by a relatively small number of racers, this makes their skill levels, personalities, and tactics more apparent, so it is said to be easier to predict how the race will unfold.

▼Winners of the past

• 10th September 2023 (Boat Race Shimonoseki) Nobutaka Kamijo
• 9th September 2022 (Boat Race Tamagawa) Shogo Omi
• 8th September 2021 (Boat Race Tokuyama) Naoya Hano
• 7th September 2020 (Boat Race Biwako) Makoto Isobe
• 6th September 2019 (Boat Race Mikuni) Hyoya Nagai
• 5th September 2018 (Boat Race Hamanako) Hiroya Seki
• 4th September 2017 (Boat Race Gamagori) Ryuta Nakada
• 3rd September 2016 (Boat Race Tokoname) Taishiro Matsuda
• 2nd September 2015 (Boat Race Amagasaki) Yuki Matsuda
• 1st September 2014 (Boat Race Toda) Junpei Kiryu

The PG1 Young Derby is attended by very promising racers, and every winner has gained momentum and climbed the career ladder as a professional racer.

Female Boat Racers existed even in 1952 when the first Boat Race took place, but the situation has changed dramatically in recent years. Female racers, as well as women’s races and tournaments, have substantially gained in popularity. What best reflects this trend is the Queens Climax, which holds the final race of the year on December 31. Only the 12 female racers who earned the most prize money during the January-November period of that year are allowed to compete in this race.

Like in the Grand Prix, racers cannot make it to the final unless they get through the qualifying trial races. Victory heavily depends on which course is assigned, and courses are selected by lottery during the event. Although racers do their best to prepare, they must leave the rest to fate, as is a common theme in many aspects of Boat Race. Fittingly, there is a saying that “victory does not come without tears.” The racers who win this race are not the only ones who shake with emotion when they receive the prize money of 17 million yen and the tiara of honor. The fans who root them on feel the same way.