This is Henley Royal Regatta , today and at Tea Time in 1887. Well apart from the obvious design differences in the boats you will notice a distinct lack of private rowing boats on the water these days. Many people used to row to the regatta to watch it. Nowadays everybody arrives in their cars. The consequence of this is that the towpath is so crowded that it is almost impossible at busy times to get about at the regatta.
Progress is quite tortuous.
On the other hand the part of the river adjacent to the course on the towpath side is quite free of traffic and rowing about in a Yole at the regatta is a dream. With a Yole you can get right up close to the action and see top crews like this German eight winning the Grand Challenge Cup. Like it or not, water will appear inside your Yole. Air contains moisture and the mere act of putting your boat onto cool water will cause some of that moisture to condense inside the hull. There is a convenient drain plug in the skeg at the stern.