Churchill College Boat Club

Churchill College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Churchill College, Cambridge. The club colours are pink and brown, chosen as they were the horse-racing colours of Sir Winston Churchill. In recent years, the club has become famous for its lurid pink racing shells. The men's 1st VIII started the trend in 2002, with the women taking delivery of their own in 2006. The trend has continued to the extent that the club now has a pink double scull. The women also sport pink splash-tops and lycra in the summer months. Churchill College shares a boat house, known as "Combined", with Selwyn, King's and The Leys School. The boat house is the farthest downstream of all the College boathouses, which is a natural advantage for early morning outings. HistoryThe men's boat club was founded in 1961, following a remark during the Lent Bumps of that year that a college was not really a College until it was on the River. Frank Maine and Ed Markham led the effort to get the club on the river, under guidance from Canon Noel Duckworth, the first chaplain at the college. The boat of postgraduates used the, as yet unheard of, training time of 6 am – 9 am on weekday mornings as the river was deserted. This time is now common across all clubs at Cambridge. The 1st boat started the May Bumps in the seventh (bottom) division in 1961, bumping twice before being stopped by carnage on the third day, then being bumped themselves on the last. Following a successful Lent Bumps in 1962, the Churchill 1st VIII were repositioned up into the 3rd division for the May Bumps of the same year.

Churchill College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Churchill College, Cambridge. The club colours are pink and brown, chosen as they were the horse-racing colours of Sir Winston Churchill. In recent years, the club has become famous for its lurid pink racing shells. The men's 1st VIII started the trend in 2002, with the women taking delivery of their own in 2006. The trend has continued to the extent that the club now has a pink double scull. The women also sport pink splash-tops and lycra in the summer months. Churchill College shares a boat house, known as "Combined", with Selwyn, King's and The Leys School. The boat house is the farthest downstream of all the College boathouses, which is a natural advantage for early morning outings. HistoryThe men's boat club was founded in 1961, following a remark during the Lent Bumps of that year that a college was not really a College until it was on the River. Frank Maine and Ed Markham led the effort to get the club on the river, under guidance from Canon Noel Duckworth, the first chaplain at the college. The boat of postgraduates used the, as yet unheard of, training time of 6 am – 9 am on weekday mornings as the river was deserted. This time is now common across all clubs at Cambridge. The 1st boat started the May Bumps in the seventh (bottom) division in 1961, bumping twice before being stopped by carnage on the third day, then being bumped themselves on the last. Following a successful Lent Bumps in 1962, the Churchill 1st VIII were repositioned up into the 3rd division for the May Bumps of the same year.