Hild Bede Boat Club - New

Congratulations to all those receiving results today!

If you're interested in joining us in October, please come and see us at Hild Bede freshers fair. We offer membership for both experienced rowers and for those who have never rowed before. If you have any questions, please feel free to send us a message!

❗Sunday Crew Announcement❗

Durham Regatta (A.K.A. The Henley of the North), is finally upon us!! Sunday sees another 5 crews racing throughout the day, with the men's college 4+ tackling the long course in the pinnacle of College rowing.

The Non-Champ 4+ begins the day for HBBC at 9:30, followed swiftly by the College 4+ in a classic grudge match against Hatfield in the semi-final. Support will be needed throughout the long course during this race.

The afternoon sees our novices battle it out against other college novice crews in the Maiden races, with the Men's non-championship 8+ rounding out the day.

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❗Saturday Crew Announcement❗

Durham Regatta (A.K.A. The Henley of the North), is finally upon us!! Saturday sees 5 crews racing throughout the day.

With action starting bright and early for the Men's intermediate 8+ at 8:02, we hope to have a large number of survivors from Hild Bede Summer Ball cheering them through!

The Women's Elite 8+ go head to head against the formidable DUBC, where they're looking to hopefully pull off the biggest upset Durham has ever seen.

While the Hild Bede landing stage may be out of action, the steps have been cleared and we're hoping for a huge turnout to support our crews throughout the day. The iconic sofas will obviously be out bright and early.

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📢 CREW ANNOUNCEMENT 📢

This weekend, HBBC are sending 9 crews for a thrilling days racing at Hexham regatta.

Good luck to all crews racing this weekend
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🚨 CREW ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

This weekend sees the start of the spring regattas, as HBBC takes on Durham City regatta!! With two days of exciting racing ahead of us this weekend, be sure to take a break from revision to come down to the racecourse and support our crews this weekend!!

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🚨 HORR CREW ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

This weekend sees 18 of the finest members from the HBBC men's squad take the journey down to London to race in the biggest head race of the season, and tackle the tideway.

After a tough winter of cold 7AM outings and hard sessions on the ergs, these men are looking forward to measuring up against not only the fastest college eights Durham can produce, but the best crews from across the country.

With a wealth of talent in the boat, backed up by the hard work and dedication shown on and off the water, this crew are ready to bring their A-game and represent Hild Bede come Saturday.

Good luck to all crews racing this weekend
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🚨 HORR CREW ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

This weekend sees 18 members of the finest members from the HBBC men's squad take the journey down to London to race in the biggest head race of the season, and tackle the tideway.

Starting of with our second eight, which contains 3 novices and a whole host of ex-novs, who have put in the hard work on the erg over winter and have come leaps and bounds technically over the last few weeks.

We look forward to seeing if their big erg scores translate to speed on The Thames.

Good luck to all crews racing this weekend
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Happy International Women's Day from HBBC and 💙🤍💙

The countless hours of work and dedication to rowing these women have displayed this year has been immense. They are fortunate enough to be heading down to the tideway to race head to head against the fastest women's eights in the country at the biggest race in the country. We wish them the best of luck 💪💪
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🚨CREW ANNOUNCEMENT🚨

This Saturday sees the first of the big tideway head races in London, and the culmination of this crew's hard work throughout the cold winter months.

HBBC will go head to head with the fastest women's crews in the country (and from Durham) as they defend their title of fastest Durham college women's eight.

Unfortunately, due to the PLA ebb flag status, we have taken the difficult decision to scratch our 2nd eight.

Best of luck to this crew, alongside all crews racing this weekend
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❗CREW ANNOUNCEMENT ❗

This weekend the novices (hopefully) hit the water in anger, this time racing the full Durham Head course.

We've three crews racing tomorrow, so please come down and support our crews!!

Good luck to all racing tomorrow
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📣 CREW ANNOUNCEMENT

This weekend, we've two boats racing DSBH

Please come down and cheer our crews on throughout the day

Good luck to all racing crews
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📣 CREW ANNOUNCEMENT 📣

Tomorrow, 2 eights from HBBC will race Tyne NY head, facing off against stiff opposition from various other Durham college boat clubs.

The men will race Collingwood's 2nd 8+, Grey, Hatfield and Trevs in band 2 eights, while the women face off against St Johns, Trevs, John Snow and South in band 3 eights.

Best of luck to all racing tomorrow!
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❗️EGM Exec announcements ❗️

At the end of Michaelmas term, an EGM was held to fill the vacant exec positions of Water Safety and Welfare, Captain of Coxes and Alumni Officer. All three candidates were successfully voted in, so please welcome the new members of the HBBC Exec!!

Get excited! The HBBC ball is on the horizon.

🗓 Tickets release next Wednesday 1:00PM!!

With the HBBC ball returning to the Marriot Hotel (ideally situated across the road from The Swan) on the 18th of February. We can't wait to welcome you to our evening celebrating all things HBBC.

The evening will include:

🍽 3 course dinner
🍷 1/2 a bottle of wine
📣 Speeches
🏆 Awards
🎸 Live band

All this for £40.00

HBBC has been busy this term not just with racing and battling the frequently flooding river, but also tussling with complications involving a landing stage and planning permission. Read all about what we've been up to here:

HBBC Newsletter Michaelmas 23-24

Michaelmas Race Reports

After a busy term of looking at the DARC water level charts and some rowing, it's time for some very belated race reports.

The year started with a postponed DASBH, where only 2 crews were able to race on the new date. The men's 4+ came 4th in their band and 18th overall on the day. The women's 4+ came 3rd in band 1 behind 2 Collingwood 4+s.

Novice Cup was the next race, the first time this race had gone ahead in several years. All 3 crews made it through the Saturday time trial, with the men ranking 8th and the two women crews ranking 7th and 13th. Unfortunately on Sunday, all the crews were knocked out in the first round.

Finally came Rutherford Head, run in bitterly cold conditions as per usual, however, this time the course was significantly reduced in length to approximately 3,500m as temperatures were sub-zero throughout the day. The men's 8+ battled against the tide in the morning and achieved 5th in their band and 5th fastest men's college 8+ on the day, a competitive result against many college 1st 8+s. The afternoon saw the women's 8+ tackle the course alongside 2 men's 4+s. The women's 8+ ended up 5th in their band and as the 2nd fastest college women's 8+, just 3 seconds behind Collingwood, a sensational result for the crew. The men's 1st 4+ finished 5th in band 2, and were the fastest college 4+ competing that day, comfortably beating out St Johns by 51 seconds. The men's second 4+ would finish as the 3rd fastest men's college 4+, and second in their band, beating out Van Mildert by 3 seconds.

Overall, a strong start to head racing season by the whole club, laying great foundations for the tideway races at the end of next term.

🗓 Save The Date 🗓

With the end of term, we thought we should give you all something to look forward to next term, the annual Hild Bede Boat Club Ball 🕺💃

All current members, new novices and alumni of years gone by are welcome!!

More information to follow 👀👀

🚨 CREW ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

Tomorrow, HBBC will be sending 4 crews to race the 4.5km course on the Tyne River.

With our men's 8+ battling the tide in the morning, and the 2 men's 4+'s racing alongside the women's 8+ in the afternoon, it'll certainly be a cold but busy day for our crews.

Best of luck to everyone racing tomorrow, and stay warm!!
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📣 DASBH CREW ANNOUNCEMENT 📣

With storm Babet cancelling Senate Cup, DASBH is the first time this year where our crews will be racing other crews! Unfortunately, with the subsequent storm Ciarán postponing the racing by a week, a reduced number of boats are racing this weekend.

Please come and support our two crews Saturday afternoon!!
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Year-in-review 22-23 - Easter

With HORR marking the end of the head racing season, our attention turns to speed and power over short 700m pieces, where there is no other strategy than going all out and hanging on over the 700m race.

Just before exams started, a special edition of Durham City regatta was held this year, as it occurred on the same weekend as the coronation of King Charles III. With that, 10 crews raced over Sunday and Monday with half of them reaching finals. Cosmo in the single won band 2 Op1x, and the two men's 4+ won bands 1 and 2 of Op4+. The two mixed 4+ crews won their rounds to face each other in the final, where the first mixed 4+ won. The two women fours had losses to Yarm and Tyne ARC, while steering difficulties off the start for the men's pair of Jason and Joel meant a close encounter with the wall which took them out of the race.

Just after exams, we would send 9 crews off to Hexham, which saw a tough yet thrilling day of racing, with all of our entered boats making it to at least the semi-finals of their respective divisions. The highlights of the day would come from the men’s first 8+ facing off against Collingwood after confidently beating Grey College by 1 length. They managed to hold onto the Collingwood crew for half of the race before they pulled away to a length lead. The women’s 8+ would lose to a Hatfield 8+, while the men’s top 4+ would face off against Collingwood’s top 4+, which after a tense race, they lost by just a canvas, proving that they had the speed to challenge Collingwood. The men’s double would provide another exciting race, where they narrowly lost by only 6 inches to a crew from Sunderland RC. Both the men’s and women’s squads would come together in order to field 2 mixed 8 crews. The top mixed eight, unfortunately, drew Collingwood and lost, but the second mixed eight would have two nail-biting races, with a win over St. Johns by 2 feet followed by a loss to Butler by a canvas.

Durham regatta would soon follow, with both days of racing drawing huge crowds thanks to the phenomenal weather and rowing on display. On Saturday, the women’s Elite 8+ would encounter Collingwood in their first race, and would unfortunately lose. The men’s pair found themselves up against a pair from Butler, which they decisively beat (by avoiding the wall this time) before losing to a Sheffield City RC pair after being level with them for half of the race. The men’s intermediate 8+ would lose their first race against a crew from Yarm, and the men’s beginner 4+ would beat South College before losing to Durham school.
The men’s elite 8+ would repeat their performance at Hexham, by confidently beating Grey College before losing out to the Collingwood 8+ by 1 length. The women’s elite 4+ would decisively win their first race against Lancaster University’s second W4+ before facing their top W4+ in the final, which they lost by 3 lengths.
Sunday would provide another phenomenal day of racing, with our top college 4+s tackling the 1800m long course along with Elvet Bridge. The women’s championship 2x would lose their first race to Leeds University, while the Women’s and Men’s college 4+ would both win their first rounds against St. Johns and Stephenson College respectfully. The Women would then give it their all against a crew from Collingwood, ultimately losing in their semi-final race. The men would yet again face a very familiar Collingwood crew in their final, where they gave it their all, keeping with the fast crew from Collingwood all the way through Elvet Bridge. In the end though, while the men’s top 4+ gave it their all to challenge the crew from Collingwood, they were bested yet again.
Other non-championship crews racing in the day would face tough opposition, with many crews going out after their first races. The non-champ W8+ lost to St. Mary’s College, with the non-champ A M8+ losing to Collingwood. The non-champ M4+ would lose to Sheffield and the non-champ W4+ would lose against Van Mildert. Cosmo in the single would also lose against a sculler from Sheffield.

With the conclusion of Durham Regatta, this would see the end of another incredible year of rowing by HBBC, with ex-novs coming into their own and winning races, some novices diving into the deep end and being integrated into the senior squads without issue, and individuals giving their all to the boat club so that it not only thrives, but everyone has a good time.

Year-in-review 22-23 - Tideway races

At the end of Epiphany term, both squads headed down to London for their respective head races on the river Thames.

The women were up first with WeHORR, where they would be sending their top 8+ alongside the HatBede composite 8+. While the cold and overcast day didn't make for the best conditions for racing (it was still better than the previous year), this wasn't anything that our women's squad wasn't prepared for. All of their hard work and early mornings would pay off as they raced down the Thames. Stroked by captain Flora Nicholls, they completed the 6.8km course 22:02.1, placing them 143rd overall alongside making them the fastest Durham college on the Thames that day. With the HatBede composite crew being mostly comprised of former novices from their respective colleges racing on the Thames for the first time, it was an achievement in itself that they survived the logistical nightmare which boat transportation turned out to be. HatBede came 298th, completing the course in 26:34.1.

Two eights from the men's squad would make the journey down to London two weeks after WeHORR to compete at HORR, having poached Dom Exworthy from the men's nov squad in order to fill a vacancy in the second 8+. The sky would clear just before the first 8+ started racing, providing some pleasantly warm conditions for the men to race in. With the first 8+ starting in a high position, clean water would be difficult to come b with faster boats passing on the racing line, however, this didn't phase either the crew led by captain Tom Mawson nor their cox, Georgia Allison, who remained calm and navigated the men's first 8+ through the course, finishing in a time of 19:43.3. This placed them 177th overall and as 5th fastest Durham college. The men's second 8+ would complete the course in 21:31.9, with Tigerlily encouraging her crew all the way during her (and several others) first Tideway race.

With the Tideway races complete, captains would hand over their duties and responsibilities to next year's captains. Rosie Holt and Georgia Organ would jointly inherit the senior women's captaincy from Flora Nicholls, who is taking charge of the club as a whole as President. With Tom Mawson graduating at the end of the year, last year's novice captain, Miguel Carr, will take the reigns of the senior men's squad alongside Henry Barker. Emily Mould continues her captaincy of the novice women for another year, but this time is joined by one of her own novices, Sarah Hannon. Joe Sweeny takes over from Miguel Carr as the novice men's captain for the next year.

Year-in-review 22-23 - Epiphany

Epiphany is a busy term for everyone, with a packed schedule of racing at the beginning of the term before building up to the big tideway races at the end of the term. With the temperamental winter weather of Durham, frosty morning sessions become the normal, but it's all worth it for the beautiful sunrises. (The snow came in March by the way)

Tyne New Year's Head is the first race of the new year, with the morning division often racing in brutally cold conditions. This year was no different, and our men's squad sent 2 eights to race on the River Tyne. The first 8+ completed the course in 15:22.7, coming 4th in their band and 9th overall, with the second 8+ finishing in 17:11.4, placing 29th overall and 2nd in their band, proving that none of the men had lost any fitness over the winter.

Durham Small Boats Head would follow with a mix of sweepers and scullers navigating the River Wear. Our men's top 4+ were able to win band 3 Op4+ while Will and Harry claimed the win in Op2x. Cosmo managed to come 2nd in band 2 Op1x and the women's top 4+ came 5th in band 1 W4+. Flora took to the water in anger for the first time in the single scull and managed to finish 6th in W1x, with the women's double also placing 6th.

Tyne Head quickly follows 1 week on from DSBH. This being the last head race on the River Tyne, it's an important one in terms of crew selection for the tideway races on the Thames at the end of term, as well as seeing how we compare against the other Durham colleges. The men's first 8+ made the trip to Newcastle along with the women's first 8+ and the women's composite crew with Hatfield College. Our men's 8+ finished their morning race in 19:28.7, placing them 10th overall along with finishing as the fastest college crew competing on that day. The women's top 8+ also managed to finish as fastest college crew in the afternoon, along with winning their band with a time of 20:21.4. The HatBede composite finished with a time of 23:40.2, placing them 7th in their band.

With Tyne Head rounding off the first half of Epiphany term, focus turns towards the tideway races on the River Thames and getting in all the training possible before the big day for each squad.

Year in review 22-23 - Michaelmas

Michaelmas term sees an initial focus on small boats in order to improve the technique of former novices, alongside getting the whole squad fitter throughout the term so that we are ready to jump into the eight for the first big head race on the River Tyne at the end of term. With water time coming at a premium and daylight dwindling towards the end of term, training on the ergs becomes a greater part of training throughout the term.

DCR's Senate Cup saw a very successful outing for our men's top 4+, where they reached the final, beating crews from Castle, Stephenson, and Hatfield on their way to the final against Collingwood. Unfortunately, they were beaten in the final by the Collingwood crew. The second men's 4+, which was comprised of former novices, was beaten by a Collingwood crew in the first round.
Our Women's 4+ came away with a convincing win over John's in their first race before facing Collingwood in their next race, where they would narrowly lose.

Durham Autumn Small Boats Head quickly follows Senate Cup, and while only 1800m long, it requires coxes and steerpeople to thread the needle through Elvet Bridge at race pace. Naturally, all of our experienced coxes, alongside our new cox Tigerlily, expertly navigated Elvet bridge.
Standout performances from the 9 crews racing came from the Women's top 4+ winning band 2 of W4+, Tom and Will winning Op2x, Miguel winning band 2 of Op1x, the men's top 4+ coming 3rd in band 1 Op4+ and Harry coming in 3rd in the Op1x LDS division in the morning.

With the rain falling hard in the days after DASBH, DCR's Novice Cup was run as a 2km erg relay. 4 novice crews from Hild Bede competed in this event, 2 from both the men's and women's novice squads. Competing against other colleges, our novices finished a combined 12th overall.

Rutherford Head would be the first race of the reason on the River Tyne, and the first true test for our crews to see where they mark up against other college crews in the big eights over the 4.5km course. The two men's 8+ would race in the morning, with the first eight completing the course in 15:45.6, making them the third fastest college on the day. The men's second 8+ would require an on-the-day substitute, luckily, our women's captain Flora Nicholls was on hand to jump in. They would finish the course in 18:36.5. Flora would later race in the women's 8+ in the afternoon, where they would also end up as the third fastest college on the day, finishing in a time of 20:25.6.

Overall, Michaelmas was an encouraging sign of things to come, with many ex-novs developing their skills and coming into their own within the senior squads, along with the senior members of both the men's and women's squads performing well and bringing home some excellent results.