SG
(Special Grade)
SG stands for Special Grade, which is the highest grade of Boat Race. Races are divided into five categories. SG (Special Grade) is the top category, followed by G1, G2, G3, and general races. The highest amounts of prize money are paid in the SG category races.
SG Boat Race Classic
SG Boat Race Classic
A race to start the season with high expectations!
Only the racers most
likely to deliver results are allowed to compete in Boat Race Classic.
Boat Race held its first SG race in 1966, and today the five top-tier races in the SG category with the longest history are together called the GRANDE5. Among these, Boat Race Classic is the first SG race of the season, and everyone always keeps their eyes on it because it serves as a barometer for the prospects of the grade races in the coming one-year period. There’s another key aspect to this race—only “clutch” racers are allowed to enter, and this race determines who is the best among them.
Qualifications for entry are as follows:
- ・Winner of the previous year’s Boat Race Classic
- ・Finalists of the previous year’s Grand Prix (6 racers)
- ・Winners of the previous year’s SG, G1, and G2 races
- ・Racers who won the most races in G3 and lower grades in the previous year
The right to compete in this race is granted only to those who have delivered results, and every year the competition is growing fiercer. The winner of the race, a bona fide victor, is awarded 42 million yen in prize money.
SG Boat Race All Star
SG Boat Race All Star
What’s special about Boat Race All Star?
It's the fans who get to vote
and choose which racers will compete!
This is another one of the GRANDE5, the five top-tier races in the SG category with the longest history. In every year of Boat Race, there are about 1,600 Boat Racers who compete at 54,800 races held at 24 racetracks across Japan. This includes both men and women, and they are classified into A1, A2, B1, and B2 ranks according to their race results. They are typically bound by rules that determine what races they are allowed to compete in, but in this race for A1 racers, the most important rule is to be loved by the fans!
Fans vote for their favorite racer for a variety of reasons—it might be because the racer is strong, cool, good-looking, conspicuous, or because they have a fun personality. It might also be because their favorite racer needs a career boost.
A total of 52 racers, including both men and women, can enter this race. Although there are special slots reserved for the winner of the last race and racers who meet other criteria, in principle, what’s most important is that a racer is A1 and that they are one of the top contenders chosen by popular vote. The race is not only a big event for the racers, but also for the fans because they too get a taste of victory and defeat.
SG Grand Championship
SG Grand Championship
The most prestigious SG race in the SG race category.
As the name
suggests,
this race determines who is the true champion.
Among the 54,800 races held across 24 race courses over the course of 180 to 200 days of the year, there is a total of eight SG (Special Grade) races—nine, if the full Grand Prix series is included. The SG Grand Championship is at the top of all of these. Due to its unique qualifications for entry, it is considered the most prestigious race in the SG race category.
The first Grand Championship race took place in 1991, and it is held every year in
June.
Those who are allowed to compete in the race are limited to the defending champion of the previous
year’s Grand Championship race, the finalists of the previous year’s Grand Prix, the winner of the Boat
Race All Star of the current year, the finalists of the SG races who crossed the finish line in the
previous one-year period (from April of the previous year through March of the current year), and the
racers who earned the most points in the SG qualifying races. Naturally, racers who have never
participated in an SG race before are not allowed entry. This competition is open only to experienced
racers who have shown what they’re made of under the pressure of big racing events.
SG Ocean Cup
SG Ocean Cup
A "memorial" race to mark an occasion.
In this case, it's the height of
summer and the half-way point of the SG schedule.
The first Ocean Cup race took place at Boat Race Suminoe in July 1996 to mark a national holiday called “Marine Day,” and it’s been held every July since then. This timing also marks the halfway point of the SG competition schedule, which features a total of eight races annually. In addition to the SG races, there are roughly 38 G1 races and about 9 G2 races, as well as G3 and general races. The G1 and G2 races are the core of the commemorative “memorial” races, and this race is open to finalists of those races.
Entry qualifications:
- 1. Special slots are reserved for the defending champion, finalists of the previous year’s Grand Prix, etc.
- 2. In principle, the race is open to the finalists of the G1 and G2 races that were held from May of the previous year through April of the current year. A racer is given points according to his or her order of finish in a race, and the right to participate in this race is given to racers with the highest point totals.
The Ocean Cup series, an event created for celebrating summer, pits racers against each other for the prize money of 37 million yen, making the race as hot of a competition as the occasion it was made for.
SG Boat Race Memorial
SG Boat Race Memorial
Nobody wants to miss this hot event in which strong racers compete to live up to the expectations of local fans!
All the roughly 1,600 boat racers, among whom about 240 are women, actively demonstrate their individual personalities and racing styles while competing at 24 racetracks across Japan. They are classified into A1, A2, B1, and B2 according to their race results, and this determines what races they are allowed to take part in. No matter their rank, they want to please the fans who root them on, and this SG race is one of the biggest opportunities for A1 ranked racers to do that. They can only take part in this prestigious race if their local Boat Race stadium has recommended them!
Boat Race Memorial is a traditional race that has continued since 1955, and it is a “mid-summer festival” event held every August. It is among the five most top-tier and most historic SG races that are collectively known as the GRANDE5.
Each of the 23 Boat Race racetracks other than the one hosting the race selects two A1 racers. A total of 52 contenders participate, including the winner of the previous year’s race. Each participant that represents their racetrack is fully committed to living up to the expectations of local fans. All the racers of course compete for the prize money of 42 million yen, but more than that, they compete for the honor of winning this prestigious race and expressing their gratitude for being chosen to take part.
SG Boat Race Derby
SG Boat Race Derby
The oldest traditional SG race, and one of the most challenging to get a spot in.
The first Boat Race was held on April 6, 1952, at the Boat Race Omura stadium in Omura City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The oldest SG race in the history of this sport started the year after that, with the first Boat Race Derby held at Boat Race Wakamatsu in November 1953. That was a time before races were categorized into SG, G1, G2, G3, and general races. Boat Race Derby is now a competition of the highest SG category, as well as one of the five major races called the GRANDE5 that are historic, top-tier events.
Entry qualifications:
The main idea is that racers are not allowed to compete in this race unless they constantly achieve good results.
Details:
- 1. The racer’s winning rate* must stay among the top places throughout the year (from August of the
previous year through July of the current year).
*A racer is given points according to his or her order of finish in a race. The winning rate is calculated by dividing the racer’s total points by the number of races in which he or she participated. - 2. The winner of the previous year’s race, or a racer with other qualifications
Since just getting to participate in Boat Race Derby is a tough challenge in and of itself, winning the race is of immeasurable value for any Boat Racer. The prize money of 42 million yen awarded to the winner, as well as the royal blue jacket, are symbols of this honor.
SG Challenge Cup
SG Challenge Cup
The last chance to make the cut! A hotly contested race known for producing dramatic developments!
This SG race is attended by the racers chosen from among those who finished high on the prize money list from January 1 through October 31 of that year. It is the final qualifying race for the SG Grand Prix in December. The prize money of the race is 37 million yen, which can bring about a huge change in the prize money standings.
A lot of dramatic things are known to happen in this late-season race, not the least of which is simply taking home the compelling amount of prize money. For example, Eizo Tsuji won the Tamagawa series in 2021, and as a result, he soared from 29th place to 8th place in the prize money standings, and this allowed him to compete in the Grand Prix. This race used to feature 52 competitors in the past, but currently, only 34 Boat Racers participate. This is because the event is co-located with the Ladies Challenge Cup event.
SG The Grand Prix
SG The Grand Prix
The top boat racers compete for the prize money of 110 million yen in a year-end race. That’s SG The Grand Prix.
Winning this race requires luck, skill, and a racer who puts their all into reaching the top of the Boat Race world. In addition to being one of the five major SG races collectively known as the GRANDE5, SG The Grand Prix is known as the “showdown at the summit.” The race is held in December, and only the 18 top money winners of the year are allowed entry. This race dates back to 1986, and there has been a fiercely contested competition every year since then, turning the race into a legendary event.
Of the 18 racers, 6 are seeded and exempt from the qualifying first trial race. Participants in 7th to 18th places need to get through this trial race. In the first match of the trial race, the racers who finished higher on the money list are assigned to more advantageous courses. In the subsequent matches, however, the courses are assigned by lottery.
Like in other Boat Race events, competitors run 3 laps around an oval course on water. The boat races at approximately 80 kilometers per hour, and it takes 1 minute and 50 seconds or so for the boat to travel from the starting line to the finish line. In the Grand Prix, competitors vie as if they bet everything on this span of time that is less than 2 minutes long. Everything—the past, future, fans, family, skill, luck, process, and results.
Boat Racers can be evaluated by many different criteria, such as the number of titles, the number of races in which they finished first, and their winning rate. However, the prize money they have earned is the most suitable measure of how great a Boat Racer is as a professional. Competitors put everything into this race. That is what makes the Grand Prix what it is.