en Grey College Boat Club

Grey College Boat Club
Motto	Gradibus ascendimus (Ascending by degrees)
Location	Dunelm House, Durham
Home water	River Wear
Founded	1959; 66 years ago
Membership	70 active members
Affiliations	British Rowing, Grey College

Grey College Boat Club (GCBC) is the rowing club of Grey College at Durham University in North East England.^[1]

The club has over 70 active members and shares its boathouse with Josephine Butler College Boat Club.^[2] The club competes at a national, regional and college level.

UCBC is a registered Boat Club through British Rowing, with Boat Code "GRC"^[3] and is a member organisation of Durham College Rowing^[4].

Boathouse and Fleet

Grey College Boat House is located at Dunelm House on the River Wear between Kingsgate Bridge and Elvet Bridge, a ten-minute walk away from Grey College. ^[5]

Grey College Boat Club owns two VIIIs, an Empacher called 'Eric Halladay' and a Vespoli called 'Tom James'.

The club also own a number of IVs, and other smaller boats including a double scull named 'Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate' after the street in York.^[6]

The Men's 1st IV is a Stampfli called 'Schilders, snel beter'. The Women's 1st IV is a Janousek called 'These Girls Can'. Another IV owned by the boat club is 'The Golden Phoenix', the unofficial symbol of the college which was adopted after a fire devastated the main accommodation block in March, 1959.

Racing Calendar & Results

Grey College Boat Club compete throughout the year in many head races and regattas in the North East of England. Over the last few years, events competed in include:

National Events

Regional events

Durham Regatta
Hexham Regatta
Rutherford Head
Tyne United New Year's Head
Durham City Regatta
Durham Small Boats Head
Tyne Head

College events

Head of the River Race

Grey College Boat Club routinely sends an M1 and M2 to the Head of the River Race, with notable success in recent years. The club's highest finish position is recorded below:

Year	Finish position	Time	Crew
2023	168th	19.36	Coxswain: A.Baker, Stroke: L.Jones, J.Bowers, T.Mercieca, J.Gondzic, G.Drake, H.Garrard, F.Fleming, Bow: O.Wilcockson

Women's Head of the River

The boat club also regularly sends a W1 to Women's Head, achieving a number of strong results over multiple decades. The club's highest finish position is recorded below:

Year	Finish position	Time
2003	137th	23.41

Durham Regatta

Grey College Boat Club has seen notable success in recent years at Durham Regatta. In 1995 the Men's Novice IV won the Lady Hershall Plate for the first time in over twenty years (Tock, C., Owens, L., Moxey, D., Blake, B. and Kelly, R. [cox]). In 2009, the Women's first IV won the novice event, and in 2010, the Men's first VIII won both days of the regatta. There have since been a number of successes, most recently in 2024 when the club won three events. Awards won since 2009 are listed below:

Event	Year	Result	Crew
The Danny Webster Memorial Cup	2009	Winners (W Nov 4+)
The Barry Ward-Thompson Trophy	2010	Winners (Col 4+)
The Alderman Thurlow Trophy	2010	Winners (Nov 8+)	T.Munro, A.Hatch, J.Davies, A.Palmer, J.Turner, A.Newton, N.Collard, G.Critchley, D.Benhamou (Cox)
Joseph Brown Challenge Cup	2010	Winners (IM3 8+)	T.Munro, A.Hatch, J.Davies, A.Palmer, J.Turner, A.Newton, N.Collard, G.Critchley, D.Benhamou (Cox)
The Prince Bishop Trophy	2011	Winners (W IM3 8+)
The Lady Herschell Plate	2013	Winners (Nov 4+)
Bell and Ridley Challenge Cup	2022	Winner (Op Int 1x)	E.Bowman
The Five Alive Trophy	2023	Winners (Op NC 4x+)	H.Garrard, T.Mercieca, L.Jones, J.Bowers, A.Baker (Cox)
The Five Alive Trophy	2024	Winners (Op NC 4x+)	I.Qasem, L.Jones, R.Conte, H.Hudson, M.Baldwin (Cox)
Open Elite B 8+	2024	Winners	L.Jones, H.Hudson, G.Drake, I.Qasem, F.Fleming, R.Conte, G.Kite, J.Launder, M.Baldwin (Cox)
The Durham University Challenge Trophy	2024	Winners (Op NC 4+) (composite with St John's College Boat Club (Durham))	L.Fleming, G.Drake, M.Bamforth, F.Fleming, R.Allen (Cox)

Club structure

Any member of Grey College JCR, MCR or SCR is eligible to join Grey College Boat Club, alongside students from Ustinov College. Any other student of Durham University may join with the permission of the President. The club is run by an executive committee elected by club members throughout the year. The executive committee is composed of the President, Men's Captain, Women's Captain, Men's Novice Captain, Women's Novice Captain, Treasurer, Boatman, Welfare Officer and Alumni and Fundraising Officer.

Grey College Boat Club holds an annual Ball each year in Epiphany term which is the highlight of the boat club's social calendar. At this event, a formal thank you to out-going members of the executive committee is offered and results of the current and previous seasons are celebrated.

References

^ Durham College Rowing. "List of Clubs in Durham". Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
^ Durham College Rowing. "River Wear". Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
^ British Rowing Registration. "British Rowing". Retrieved 13 January 2025.
^ Durham College Rowing. "Durham College Rowing Member organisations". Retrieved 13 January 2025.
^ Amateur Rowing Association. "ARA Club Finder". Retrieved 28 June 2010.
^ York City Centre. "Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate". Retrieved 28 June 2010.

External links

Grey College Boat Club Website
Grey College Junior Common Room

[1] Durham College Rowing. "List of Clubs in Durham". Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2010.

[2] Durham College Rowing. "River Wear". Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2010.

[3] British Rowing Registration. "British Rowing". Retrieved 13 January 2025.

[4] Durham College Rowing. "Durham College Rowing Member organisations". Retrieved 13 January 2025.

[5] Amateur Rowing Association. "ARA Club Finder". Retrieved 28 June 2010.

[6] York City Centre. "Whip-ma-whop-ma-gate". Retrieved 28 June 2010.

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Grey College Boat Club