On the weekend of July 13th, DUBC competed at the final regatta of the season, the Irish National Championships at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. A 12 man squad of senior athletes and 10 novice athletes gained some valuable racing experience amongst the best crews Irish rowing has to offer. 

We’d like to offer congratulations to DULBC who secured their first sweep-rowing championship title since 2015, and to Mark Quigley, representing LEBC, who won the Club 1x championship in emphatic style.

The 2023/24 season has seen the club make leaps and bounds in progress off the water, not least through the increased collaboration with DULBC which has stood to benefit both clubs immensely throughout the season. 

Our novices have had a fantastic season, retaining the Dan Quinn shield in the 74th Colours Boat Races, winning the fastest novice boat at Erne Head of the River and making great progress as oarsmen and as people.

Our Senior squad showed great maturity to persevere with their gruelling training schedules amid a tough racing season and study commitments and were able to stay competitive throughout. We are proud of our home-grown talent, signified by 7 of 9 of our Gannon Cup crew starting as novices in DUBC, as soon as last year. We look forward to continued progress in a much healthier, more vibrant environment.

We’d like to give a note of thanks to the coaches across both squads, namely William and Micheal Doyle, Paul Laird, Gerry Macken, George O’Connor and Ryan Dullaghan, whose experience, dedication and commitment is why we are where we are and whose impact is indelible. Also a note of thanks to our LTC and anyone else who has stepped up to assist at any point in the running of the club this year. 

Looking ahead, we are excited to announce our attendance at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston in October. The team is continuing to train hard through the remainder of the summer and through to the start of the Michalemas term in order to prepare fully. If you are an alumnus or friend of the club interested in attending we would love to see you, details to follow. 

Signing off until next year!

The annual Colours Boat Races took place on Saturday, 30th March from O’Connell Bridge to St. James’ Gate through city centre Dublin.

Congratulations to the Novice 8+ who retained the Dan Quinn Shield for the fourth edition in a row! Leading from the very first stroke, DUBC took the win easily.

Well done to the Senior 8+ who unfortunately lost out on the Gannon Cup to a strong UCD crew. Up off the start, Trinity held UCD for the first kilometre, where after a tremendous push, UCD broke through and edged ahead. Extending their lead over the second half of the course to take the win by 3 1/2 lengths.

The Reserve races were held in Islandbridge on Friday 29th March. Quick off the start, DUBC’s Senior reserve 4+ led UCD for the entire race, taking a convincing victory over their opposition.

UCD failed to field a reserve Novice crew, so DUBC’s reserve 4x+ took on Neptune in a private fixture, with Neptune taking the win by 2 1/2 lengths.

We are taking the lessons learned from these races and looking ahead to Trinity Regatta in Islandbridge on 18th May.

On Saturday 2nd March, eighteen DUBC men and woman travelled to Enniskillen for the first eights race of the season, Erne Head of the River. DUBC entered two crews: Novice and Senior.

Congratulations to our Novices on their victory, retaining DUBC’s win streak in the Erne Head Novice Men’s 8+ for the seventh year in a row! Putting on a strong performance with a time of 22 minutes 5 seconds, leaving them thirty-five seconds ahead of the next Novice 8+. 

The Senior 8+, with a time of 20 minutes 5 seconds, rowed a good race. Despite not coming away with the pennant, they demonstrated strong character when faced with tough competition and harsh racing conditions.

Thank you to Enniskillen Royal Boat Club for putting on an efficient and exciting race!