Punt (boat)

Punting in Cambridge

A punt is a flat boat with a broad front. It is designed for use in small rivers or other shallow water. Punting means boating in a punt. The punter pushes a pole against the river bed (the bottom of the river) and this gives the punt a way to move.

Punts were originally built as cargo boats or platforms. They were for shooting at birds and fishing. In modern times they are mostly used for pleasure trips on the rivers in the university towns of Oxford and Cambridge in England. There are also races at summer regattas on the Thames.

Punt poles

Poles for pleasure punts are normally made of spruce, or aluminium. A normal pole is about 12–16 feet (4–5 m) long and weighs about 10 lb (5 kg). In Oxford and Cambridge 16 ft long poles are sometimes used.

The bottom of the pole has a metal "shoe", a rounded lump of metal to protect the end. The shoe is sometimes made in the shape of a swallow tail.

Punt (boat) Media

Punting in Cambridge, England
Line art drawing of a Thames pleasure punt
The Cherwell Boathouse, a punt builder's workshop in Oxford established in 1904
A Thames punt adapted as a pedalo
Three punt pole shoes of cast aluminium, with a screw into the wooden pole, swallow tail in varying states of wear
Punting on the Cherwell, under Magdalen Bridge, Oxford
Punts and passengers in Cambridge, England
The punt rollers at "Mesopotamia" on the Cherwell
A pair of 2-foot racing punts
A pair of best-and-best punts, with 2-foot punts at the ryepecks in the background