Interesting topic.
As an ex-rower (used to be captain of my university club) I've raced "tideway" a few times which is the same course as Oxford-Cambridge but opposite directions -and about 780 other crews at the same time! More than once, it was more like the sea than a river.
Just to contribute nothing but say thank you for alerting / sharing me to these boats. As I said -doing "tideway" course, abut a week or two before the boat race it was usually more RIB's and safety boats.
...One time we borrowed an eight from Oxford Uni. My friends brother was in the movie "True Blue". We spent a cpl of hrs that night in the simulated "raceway" where you sit in a concrete boat, there are two water channels either side with your oars dipped into, then finally took their spare boat down the river (no lights we should have) before we landed somewhere and climbed out for loading onto the trailer.
Really interested in the subject -I checked all the links, what great little launches, also read about the one deemed "no good" because of the wash LoL. No surprise existing ones have been converted / coped etc. What a fascninating read I never thought before, thanks.
Rich