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Events
The Boat Club is one of the most well travelled societies at the University. We have raced and trained all over Britain and even Europe. In order to maintain our pedigree, we must continue to pit ourselves against the best in the country. This usually involves travelling south to the likes of Nottingham or London. A full calendar of local and some major events is usually available on the SARA website; it is normally published after their AGM in November.
It is important that GUBC members take note of competition dates as it is a great shame to put so much effort into training and then be unable to race. Below is a description of some of the bigger events that we will almost definitely attend.
Inverness Fours Head
9th November 2011
The first race of the year is usually a day trip north to the Caledonian Canal in Inverness. The event is for fours only with two races around 3 hours apart. The course is around 4.5km of fairly straight canal and is a good early opportunity to see how training is going. The climate is usually ‘totally baltic’ so rowers are advised to bring plenty of kit.
The Western Eights Head of the Clyde
Our very own race, organised entirely by students, so you can imagine the chaos. The racing is solely for eights over the entire 5km of the Clyde. The race is followed by the annual GUBC Burns Supper.
Tideway (The Head of the River Race)
Womens – 26th March 2011
Mens – 2nd April 2011
‘Tideway’ is the stretch of the River Thames that is tidal. This race is a time trial from Chiswick to Putney in central London. The course is the same as that raced by Oxford and Cambridge in ‘The Boat Race’ except it is in the reverse direction. There are separate events for men and women on different days and all racing is in eights. Over 400 crews take part in each race. The standard varies from the GB Olympic Eight, to University 4th or 5th VIIIs.
GUBC usually take two or three eights from each squad down to this event. We normally stay two or three nights either on a boathouse or church floor after travelling by minibus. This generally keeps costs down. The event is usually followed by a memorable night out in Putney.
Strathclyde Park Regatta (SPR) and Scottish Universities Regatta
Date; TBC, probably 24th & 25th April 2012
This is usually our first ‘regatta’ of the season. A regatta involves ‘side by side’ racing on a multi-laned course. This takes place at Strathclyde Park on the outskirts of Motherwell. This event is in fact two regattas in one as the Scottish Universities Championships run alongside the main open regatta.
British Universities and Colleges Sport Regatta (BUCS)
30th April - 2nd May 2011
This is an excellent event and for Novices it would be the biggest race of the season. It is effectively the student rowing championships of Great Britain. BUCS usually takes place in Nottingham over the bank holiday weekend. Some students find that this regatta can clash with exam revision, so it is important to plan work well in advance. For the senior crews, the regatta offers qualification opportunities to compete for GB Universities at the European Universities in August. Usually the top two, three or four crews qualify.
The London Metropolitan Regatta (MET)
June 2012
Bring your sun cream and shades to this event, held at Dorney Lake, host of the 2012 Olympic regatta. Six lanes of racing across two days with some of the best clubs in the country competing makes this event a must! Win here and you will put yourself among the greats.
Scottish Rowing Championships
June
Scot Champs is also held at Strathclyde Park and is an exhibition of the best Scotland has to offer. There are usually Senior, Intermediate and Novice categories to be won. The regatta is also used as a means for selection of the Scottish Home International team. GUBC prides itself on being the most successful Scottish Club, and this event is excellent for medal hunting.
Henley Royal Regatta
29th June - 3rd July 2011
Henley is a town on the River Thames about 30 miles west of London. The regatta held there is probably the most famous in the world. Just qualifying for this one is an achievement. The format is one on one, side by side, knockout racing. The finals are always on Sunday, Semis on Saturday etc. working back to day one on Wednesday. Racing sees everything from top international crews to local club and school crews spread over the different events. There are two student events, The ‘Prince Albert Cup’, for coxed fours and The ‘Temple Challenge Cup’ for eights. Henley is also well known as a social occasion and usually a bus of willing GUBC supporters heads down for the craic.
Home International Regatta
July
If you are good enough, or mates with the selectors, you will be privileged to represent Scotland at the Home International match. This sees teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales competing against each other. Each country has four teams; senior men and women, and junior men and women. The individual results are totaled up to produce an overall winner of each ‘match’. The venue for the regatta rotates between the four countries.
EUSA Regatta
August
If you perform well at the BUCS regatta in May, your crew may be selected to represent GB Universities at this event. In previous years GUBC have sent athletes to Zagreb, Amsterdam and Moscow.
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