Sir Steve Redgrave's Regatta: Henley

It's that time of year again, when the market town of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire is returning to normality after being taken over by international rowing crews and eye-wateringly colourful blazers. The annual regatta has been running since 1839 and in the intervening 178 years – taking a break only during the two world wars – has become the global home of rowing. But why is this stretch of the River Thames, running through a quaint town nestled in the English countryside, the epicentre of world rowing?

According to Sir Steve Redgrave, Britain's five-time Olympic gold medallist – and almost more importantly, 22-time winner at Henley – it's the atmosphere. He says Olympic racing by comparison is eerily quiet out on the lake without a spectator in sight or within earshot. At the Olympics you don't get a crowd until the end of the race. Henley has the Thames' banks jostling with revellers all along the course, creating a wall of noise that Redgrave describes as the closest thing in the sport to stadium racing. For the rowers it's very special indeed and the place they want to win most. And, of course, there is the rich history and tradition.

These days Redgrave is the chairman of the Regatta Committee of Management, a role not to be taken lightly as during the institution's 178-year history there have only been 11 chairmen. While Redgrave feels the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, he also relishes the opportunity to be the custodian of such an enormously important event to the sport and to him personally. He sees his role as three-fold: don't mess up; respect the traditions; leave the regatta in a better condition than when he found it.

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So what is Redgrave doing to keep the regatta moving with the times without rocking the boat too much? He has introduced extra races to be more inclusive, as the competition has grown phenomenally fierce in recent years, with a greater number of crews contesting the limited number of places. Secondly, he is continuing his drive to televise more of the regatta – including television deals and broadcasting online – in order to reach more people around the globe and broaden the fan base. And finally, this year was the first in the event's history that there were corporate sponsors. According to Redgrave, it's not cheap to run this behemoth of a boat race and with technical improvements comes increasing costs.

The most local of these sponsors is the British watch brand Bremont, which joined as the official timekeeper. Their HQ is located in Henley, just a stone's throw from the Thames. When they heard that the regatta was considering sponsorship they were at the front of the queue to support their neighbour. The brand made its mark on the event by piloting a custom chronograph which the officials used to time the races. The chronographs were tested this year and will be rolled out in 2018.

Joining Bremont to complete the team of very British brand partners was Aston Martin and Hackett London. The Regatta Committee wanted to partner with champions of British business that really resonated with the event's heritage and traditions. So you won't see any old international brand taking over this quintessentially British sporting event any time soon.

While Redgrave used to be the fastest guy in Henley, he has slowed down as he has matured into his tenure as responsible guardian of British sporting tradition – these days slow and steady wins the race.