The boats used for the Gallagher Great Race are custom built identical Heavyweight Men's 8+s (eights) from KIRS (Kiwi International Rowing 
Skiffs) in Cambridge, New Zealand, who have a reputation for building medal winning boats at World Championship and Olympic level.
The Great Race has been using KIRS boats for the whole ten years. Boats from 2007 are the ones being used currently. The women’s 8’s are designed for an average athlete weight of 75kg average and the men’s 8’s are for 95kg average athlete weight. Both are identical in design – a five-dimensional copy of the most successful shape of the past 16 years at world championship and Olympic level.
The construction is full carbon fibre, honeycomb core hull laminate. The boats are oven baked at 80 degrees Celsius to optimise stiffness and longevity.
