Homerton College Boat Club
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Homerton College Boat Club (or HCBC as it is often abbreviated) is the rowing club for members of Homerton College, University of Cambridge. Their blade colours are white with a single royal blue band.
Homerton College Boat Club first competed in the women's Lent and May Bumps in 1978, four years after the women's bumps divisions commenced in the Mays, and two years after women's racing began in the Lents. The highest position attained to date is second in the Lents first division in 1986. In the May Bumps, the highest position was 5th in the first division in 1985. There were many Homerton women represented in CUWBC in the 1980s and 1990s, under the guidance of veteran GB coaches Roger Silk and Ron Needs. Homerton College, until recent years, had a very high female to male ratio and this in turn was reflected at the boat club. The women's side of the club have three eights, called 'Sarah-Ann', 'Percy' and 'Cyril', the latter being one of the first 'Burgashell' boats ever to be produced. After a number of lean years in the early 2000s, Homerton Women's 1st VIII are back on the rise up the bumps charts, and in 2007, achieved their first overbump in May Bumps since the women's divisions started rowing in VIIIs rather than IVs.
Homerton College Men's 1st VIII are rapidly gaining status on the River Cam, turning in consistently good performances in the twice-yearly bumping races. In 2007, the Men's 1st VIII won their blades in both Lent Bumps and May Bumps, on each occasion bumping four times to go up four places, whilst rowing five times (once as the sandwich boat), and moving up to division 2. Another recent high point was the winning of 'blades' in Lent Bumps 2004, going up 6 places, after over-bumping Girton II, and bumping 1st & 3rd Trinity III, Selwyn II and Clare II. They also hold the Oxbridge record for the most places advanced during one series of bumps (either Mays, Lents, or Torpids/Eights for Oxford), advancing 13 places in the 2001 Mays, where the crew moved up a division to division 3 and also won blades. Despite the efforts of the oarsmen, the greatest hero, or rather heroine, of the men's side of HCBC remains "The Lady Hilary": the single fibreglass boat available to the Men's 1st VIII for the majority of the club's history. Held together by little more than hope and epoxy resin, Hilary has been the site of many a shivering eighteen year old's transition into manhood.
HCBC colours are navy blue with white trim, although zephyrs are white with navy blue trim. It is traditional to wear a sock of each of the boat club's colours when racing with a blue sock on the foot opposite the rigger. HCBC train at the First and Third Trinity Boat Club's boathouse, and rent boat racks from them. The club has recently acquired its own ergos (rowing machines) which are located on college grounds and have made training a lot easier.
Contents |
[edit] Recent Form
Below are tables showing the performance of the men's and women's 1st VIIIs over the last decade in the Lent and May Bumps.
[edit] Lent Bumps
[edit] Men
| Year (* denotes blades) | Finish position | 1st day | 2nd day | 3rd day | 4th Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | (did not race) | (did not race) | (did not race) | (did not race) | |
| 1999 | 51st | rowed-over | rowed-over | bumped by Queens' III | bumped Queens' III |
| 2000 | 50th | bumped Hughes Hall | bumped Corpus Christi II | bumped by Corpus Christi II | bumped by Sidney Sussex II |
| 2001 | 51st ¤ | rowed-over | bumped by Hughes Hall | (cancelled) | (cancelled) |
| 2002 | 47th | (cancelled) | double over-bumped Peterhouse II | rowed-over | rowed-over |
| 2003 | 46th | rowed-over | rowed-over | rowed-over | bumped Downing III |
| 2004* | 40th | over-bumped Girton II | bumped 1st & 3rd Trinity III | bumped Selwyn II | bumped Clare II |
| 2005 | 37th | bumped St. Catharine's II | bumped Christ's II | rowed-over | bumped Lady Margaret III |
| 2006 | 38th | bumped Robinson II | bumped by Robinson II | bumped by Selwyn II | rowed-over |
| 2007* | 34th | rowed-over | bumped Robinson II | bumped Trinity Hall II | bumped Selwyn II & Queens' II |
¤ Racing was cancelled on the Friday and Saturday of this week due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease which forced the closure of the towpath.
[edit] Women
| Year (* denotes blades) | Finish position | 1st day | 2nd day | 3rd day | 4th Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 28th | bumped by Magdalene | bumped by King's | bumped by Emmanuel II | bumped by Newnham II |
| 1999 | 30th | bumped by Robinson | rowed-over | bumped by Wolfson | rowed-over |
| 2000 | 29th | bumped by Darwin | rowed-over | bumped Newnham II | bumped Corpus Christi |
| 2001 | 30th ¤ | bumped by Corpus Christi | rowed-over | (cancelled) | (cancelled) |
| 2002 | 31st | (cancelled) | bumped by Peterhouse | rowed-over | rowed-over |
| 2003 | 33rd | bumped New Hall II | bumped by New Hall II | bumped by Newnham II | bumped by Addenbrooke's |
| 2004 | 33rd | rowed-over | rowed-over | bumped by St. Edmund's | rowed-over |
| 2005 | 37th | bumped by St. Catharine's II | bumped by Caius II | bumped by Queens' II | bumped by Pembroke II |
| 2006 | 36th | bumped by Corpus Christi | rowed-over | bumped New Hall II | bumped St. Catharine's II |
| 2007 | 33rd | bumped Queens' II & Corpus Christi | rowed-over | rowed-over | bumped Newnham II |
[edit] May Bumps
[edit] Men
| Year (* denotes blades) | Finish position | 1st day | 2nd day | 3rd day | 4th Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997* | 71st | bumped Girton III | bumped Trinity Hall IV | bumped Churchill IV | bumped Jesus V |
| 1998* | 65th | bumped Clare IV | bumped Christ's III | bumped Emmanuel III | bumped Christ's III |
| 1999 | 61st | bumped Downing IV | bumped Lady Margaret V | rowed-over | bumped King's II |
| 2000* | 53rd | double over-bumped Churchill III | bumped 1st & 3rd Trinity IV | bumped Pembroke III | bumped 1st & 3rd Trinity IV |
| 2001* | 40th | bumped Lady Margaret IV & Corpus Christi II | over-bumped Sidney Sussex II | triple over-bumped 1st & 3rd Trinity III | bumped Selwyn II |
| 2002 | 37th | bumped Robinson | bumped Darwin | rowed-over | bumped Pembroke II |
| 2003 | 37th | rowed-over | bumped Christ's II | rowed-over | bumped by Darwin |
| 2004 | 40th | bumped by Robinson II | rowed-over | bumped by St. Edmund's | bumped by Selwyn II |
| 2005 | 39th | bumped by Girton II | rowed-over | bumped St. Edmund's | bumped Clare II |
| 2006 | 38th | bumped Trinity Hall II | bumped Girton II | rowed-over | bumped by Magdalene II |
| 2007* | 34th | bumped Magdalene II | rowed-over | bumped Selwyn II | bumped Christ's II and Queens' II |
[edit] Women
| Year (* denotes blades) | Finish position | 1st day | 2nd day | 3rd day | 4th Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 12th | bumped by Lady Margaret | bumped by Queens' | bumped by Downing | bumped by Caius |
| 1998 | 12th | rowed-over | rowed-over | rowed-over | rowed-over |
| 1999 | 15th | rowed-over | bumped by Christ's | bumped by Selwyn | bumped by St. Catharine's |
| 2000 | 21st | bumped by Robinson | bumped by New Hall | bumped by 1st & 3rd Trinity | overbumped by CCAT |
| 2001 | 25th | bumped by Peterhouse | bumped by Darwin | bumped by Sidney Sussex | bumped by King's |
| 2002 | 28th | rowed-over | bumped by Jesus II | bumped by Fitzwilliam | bumped by Caius II |
| 2003 | 32nd | bumped by Fitzwilliam | bumped by Wolfson | bumped by Lady Margaret II | bumped by Pembroke II |
| 2004 | 34th | bumped by Newnham II | rowed-over | bumped by Trinity Hall II | rowed-over |
| 2005 | 33rd | rowed-over | bumped Trinity Hall II | rowed-over | rowed-over |
| 2006 | 32nd | rowed-over | rowed-over | bumped Sidney Sussex | rowed-over |
| 2007 | 29th | over-bumped Newnham II | bumped Caius II | rowed-over | bumped by Robinson |
[edit] The Energy Chant
HCBC has achieved a certain degree of notoriety as of late, at least amongst the rowers of neighbouring club houses, due to the men's club's "energy chant", now carried out by all boats in the club (both men's and women's) before races. This was introduced to the club by CUBC member Dan (McFlurry) McSherry in 2000 or 2001. The chant is performed in a tight "huddle" of rowers, cox and coaches, usually in the lower area of the boathouse just before the crew pushes off. Ordinarily, the captain of the crew will lead the chant, which is performed as follows:
"E - E - E N E, R - R - R G Y, E,N,E - R,G,Y ENERGY!"
This short chant is repeated with a gradual crescendo and accelerando until the huddle breaks and the crew are screaming at each other.
[edit] Club officials
List of known main club offcials (please add to these lists if you have more information):
[edit] Men's Captain
- 2007-08: Enno Oldewurtel
- 2006-07: Daniel Ham
- 2005-06: Jing Dong Chen
- 2004-05: Che Meakins
- 2003-04: Richard Harrington
- 2002-03: Tim Webb
- 2001-02: Devin-Paul O'Brien
- 2000-01: Bondi McFarland
- 1999-00: Alex Shaw
[edit] Women's Captain
- 2007-08: Louise Hainsworth
- 2006-07: Amy Blessington
- 2005-06: Emma Wright
- 2004-05: Rhiannon Wynne & Rachel MacDonald
- 2003-04: Hannah Derbyshire
[edit] Secretary
- 2007-08:
- 2006-07: Theodore Bell
- 2005-06: Stephen Mounsey
- 2004-05: Sam Farmer
- 2003-04: Sam Farmer
[edit] President
- 2007-present : Adam Marsh
- 2004-07: Ruth Pidgeon (inaugural)
[edit] Senior Treasurer
- ?-present : Phil Stephenson
[edit] University Colours
List of known members of University Boat Clubs (please add to these lists if you have more information):
[edit] CUBC
- 2000-01: Dan McSherry (Goldie)
[edit] CUWBC
- 2000-01: Ruth Pidgeon (Blondie)
[edit] CULRC
- 2005-06: Che Meakins (Granta), Richard Harrington (Spare)
- 2002-03: Dave Pearce (Spare)
[edit] CUCBC Hon. Sec
- 2005-06: Sam Farmer
- 2002-03: Devin-Paul O'Brien
