Punt (boat) facts for kids
A punt is a flat boat with a broad front, 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 and this gives the punt a way to move.
Punts were originally built as cargo boats or platforms, for shooting at birds and fishing, but in modern times they are mostly used for pleasure trips on the rivers in the university towns of Oxford and Cambridge in England, and are raced 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 is fitted with a metal "shoe", a rounded lump of metal to protect the end — the shoe is sometimes made in the shape of a swallow tail.
Images for kids
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Punting in Cambridge, England
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The construction of a Thames pleasure punt without seating
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The Cherwell Boathouse, a punt builder's workshop in Oxford established in 1904
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A Thames punt adapted as a pedalo
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Three punt pole shoes in varying states of wear
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Punts and passengers in Cambridge, England
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The punt rollers at "Mesopotamia" on the Cherwell
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A pair of 2-foot racing punts
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A pair of best-and-best punts, with 2-foot punts at the ryepecks in the background
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Punt of Deutsche Post in Lübbenau in Spreewald, Germany
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Punting on the River Avon in Christchurch, New Zealand
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Makoro polers in Botswana waiting for hippos
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Stocherkahn racing in Tübingen, Germany
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Summer on the Cam
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Punting in summer on the Cam
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Cambridge punting technique
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A punt tout with a prospective customer
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Less formal punting at Grantchester
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The Olympic torch being punted down the river during the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay
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A punt being pulled up rollers between the upper and lower levels of the river
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