Public Trips, Self Drive and Skippered Launch Terms & Conditions

To be read in conjunction with our General Terms of Business.

Public River Trips

  1. All public fare paying river trips depart from Hobbs of Henley Ltd, Station Road, Henley on  Thames, Oxon, RG9 1AZ. The only exception is the return fares which depart from the Royal Regatta  start point during Henley Royal Regatta week, usually first week in July.
  2. Passengers are permitted to board no earlier than 15 minutes prior to departure.
  3. No food or drink is permitted to be taken on board and consumed on the public river trips.
  4. Public river trips should be booked in advance of the trip online from www.hobbsofhenley.com. Tickets may be purchased on the day in person from Hobbs of Henley (subject to availability). All river trip tickets are zero rated for VAT.
  5. The company may at the discretion of the skipper vary the course of the cruise, should  circumstances make this necessary. The company does not guarantee that any vessel will commence  or complete any journey or part thereof in any given time if conditions are beyond the control of the  company.
  6. River trips are subject to the river and weather conditions being satisfactory at the time of sailing.
  7. All persons using any part of the premises, boats or facilities for whatever purpose and whether by invitation or otherwise, do so at their own risk, unless injury or damage to person or property  sustained within the premises, boats or facilities was caused by, or resulted from our negligence or  deliberate act or that of those for whom we are responsible.
  8. We do not accept liability for any loss resulting from our failure to provide an advertised service, or where delay occurs to those services, for any other reason. We may, however, at our discretion, consider a refund as a direct result of a failure on our part to provide the advertised service.
  9. Our vessels have not been designed or adapted for passengers in wheelchairs. We recommend that you satisfy yourself as to its suitability for wheelchair access before booking.
    1. If you are a wheelchair user we recommend that you ensure that you have enough helpers to aid  you to embark and disembark the vessel safely. Our crew are not permitted to lift wheelchairs on  and off the vessel.
    2. For health and safety reasons wheelchairs are not permitted to obstruct any access to safety and life  saving equipment, gangways, stairs or passageways on board the vessels.
  10. In accordance with the Environment Agency (Thames region) all music on board must be stopped  when approaching and passing through a lock. Hirers are requested to control their parties from  making undue noise when passing through a lock, and particularly late at night when disembarking from Hobbs of Henley vessels.
  11. The hirer shall make good/and or pay for all losses, damage or breakages to any fixture, fittings  machinery or equipment. The hirer will be liable for any costs incurred by Hobbs of Henley in respect of specialist cleaning required following a charter.
  12. When you leave the river trip, please make sure that you have taken all your belongings with  you. If you do leave any property on the vessel, whilst the company will make every effort to return  it to you, it cannot be held responsible for it. We will only keep lost property for a maximum of one  month.
  13. Hobbs of Henley Ltd have been granted a premises license from South Oxfordshire district council under the Licensing Act 2003. The vessels are permitted to serve alcohol from 10am to 12  midnight. Hobbs of Henley Ltd operate a zero tolerance policy towards underage drinking, the taking  and possession of illegal substances and drunken aggressive behaviour towards passengers or crew.  If a cruise has to be abandoned due to breaches of our premises license conditions, no refund shall  be given. Details of our premises license are available on request.

Refunds

There are two types of Public River trip tickets from Hobbs of Henley.

Type 1: Scheduled sightseeing trips where no food, drink or entertainment are available onboard.  These are the daily one hour river trips, Regatta river taxi between Hobbs and Regatta start, and 2.5 hour sightseeing trip during summer holidays.

Type 2: Special Themed River trips such as Mother’s Day Lunch, Traditional Jazz Cruise, Wildlife  Cruise, Spice Merchant Henley Festival Cruise, and Comedy on the Water, Xmas Party Nights, and  Santa Cruises.

No refund will be given for either trip type should you wish to cancel. You are welcome to pass the  tickets to a third party to attend in your absence.

For River Trip Type 1

Refunds will be given if these cannot take place due to adverse weather conditions.

No refund will be given if these scheduled trips are running late due to conditions beyond the  company’s control.

For River Trip Type 2

If adverse river weather conditions prevent a sailing taking place, the vessel will remain tied up at the boatyard for the duration of the cruise. The pre-ordered entertainment can be enjoyed onboard  whilst tied up. Therefore no refund will be given.

  1. Hobbs of Henley reserve the right to cancel or postpone any ticketed cruise due to adverse river  conditions/insufficient ticket sales/performer illness/forced business closure by regional or national  restriction/or any condition beyond company control. In the event of these situations customers will be given the option to rebook on a new date or receive a refund on the ticket price only. Hobbs of  Henley will not be responsible for any additional costs.
  2. Safety – Our vessels all operate within a code of conduct adhered to by The Passenger Boat  Association and governed in their operation by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Our safety  standards are over and above the levels required and insurances meet the existing statutes  recommended by Maritime Law.
  3. Accident and Loss – Please note that the Company does not accept any liability for loss or  damage or delay or inconvenience, howsoever the same are caused, save for death or personal  injury unless they are a result of the negligence of the employees of the company.
  4. Data Protection – We have an obligation to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. When you  provide us with information by which you can be identified, it will only be used for the purpose for  which it was originally collected and any other lawful purpose which we must comply with.

The Data Protection Act 1998 provides the customer with the following rights in relation to the  personal data we hold about you:

  • To be provided with a copy of your personal data
  • To prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress
  • To prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
  • To request action to rectify, block, erase or destroy inaccurate data

Personal data is not held for longer than is necessary, and when such data have been earmarked For destruction appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that data cannot be reconstructed and processed by third parties.

  1. It is the responsibility of the hirer to acquaint each member of his party with the above  conditions of hire as laid down by the company.

Self-Drive Boat Rental

  • Prices include fuel, VAT, lock tolls and insurance.
  • Hirers are responsible for any loss or damage to the craft if caused by their negligence.
  • For certain boats a security deposit is required before departure. This is refunded if the boat is back by 5pm, and is returned clean and tidy with all rubbish removed. The deposit is non refundable if a rope is left in the water and gets caught around the propellor, or for gross negligence resulting in an accident.
  • Payment for the period of hire must be made before the commencement of hire.
  • Advance bookings for a day are only bookable online (please visit www.hobbsofhenley.com).
  • We do not accept advance bookings for self drive launches by the hour, our minimum hire for booking one of our self drive launches are the following:
    • Olympic Class – Full Day 10am-5pm
    • Pilot/Fisher Class – Full Day 10am-5pm
    • Edwardian Class – Full Day 10am-5pm
    • Alfastreet Class – Full Day 10am-5pm
    • Antaris Class – Full Day 10am-5pm
  • To hire self drive boats for less than a day (as detailed above) advance bookings are not  possible – Please drop by our rental point on the day of your visit and if the boat you are  interested in is available you can hire by the hour.
  • Self-drive hires are subject to river conditions.
  • If more than one boat is booked under the same party then a £250 deposit per boat will be held against any damage made to the boat.
  • You are permitted to bring food and drink on self drive hires, but permitted alcohol levels  apply for the driver.
  • If you proceed with online payment you are agreeing to our terms and conditions of hire. Cancellation policy: no refunds will be given unless river conditions prevent the hire taking  place. No refunds will be given in situations of force majeure.

Skippered Launch Boat Rental

  1. The maximum number of passengers permitted on board:
    1. Edwardian Class Launches is 12 x passengers + skipper
    2. Alfastreet Class 1870 and Evo is 8 + skipper
    3. Antaris Connery 25 ‘Aquavir’ is 12 x passengers + skipper
    4. Antaris 630 ‘Romer’ is 8 x passengers + skipper
  1. We request that you treat the boat with the utmost care when on board. If you are bringing your  own food and drinks aboard please do not leave any rubbish behind. We have plenty of bins at  the yard when you disembark.
  2. At the end of charter period it is your own responsibility to ensure that you collect all your items  of personal belongings from the boat; we accept no responsibility for any items left aboard.
  3. During the hire period the vessel shall remain under the complete control of the captain and  crew and the hirer shall be responsible for the conduct of the passengers on board, and on  disembarking from Hobbs of Henley vessels at night.
  4. The company may at the discretion of the captain vary the course of the cruise should  circumstances make this necessary. The company does not guarantee that any vessel will  commence or complete any journey or part thereof in any given time if conditions are beyond  the control of the company.
  5. Boat charters are subject to the river and weather conditions being satisfactory at the time of  sailing. If strong stream/wind conditions/force majeure/forced business closure due to regional  or national restrictions or any condition beyond the company’s control that prevents a sailing  taking place no refund will be given but there may be an opportunity to re-book at a later date.
  6. Our safety standards are over and above the levels required and insurances meet the existing  statutes recommended by Maritime law.
  7. We regret it is not possible to accommodate wheelchairs on the skippered launches.
  8. Children: Children are counted as adults on board. Infants aged 3 years or under on board are  requested to travel seated on the lap of an adult responsible for that infant. Buoyancy aids are  available and must be requested if needed when boarding the boat. It is mandatory for children  under the age of 16 to wear a lifejacket when on board the boat.