Caius Boat Club
Caius Boat Club (C.B.C.) (Caius is pronounced 'keys') is the boat club for members of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
The Club rows on the river Cam, and like the other college boat clubs its prime constitutional aim is to gain and hold the headship of the Lent Bumps and May Bumps, now held in eight-oared boats, separately for men and women. From its inception in 1827 as "Caius Wherry Club" the club has been active on the river, and became properly established by the construction of its own boat house. The Club saw some prominence in its early years, holding the headship in 1840, 1841 and 1844 (when only a singular bumps order existed, and there were no women at the university), but this was followed by a long drought. In 1987 The Men regained the Mays Headship but lost it the following year.
The Club had a golden era from 1998 to 2007, finding itself in the top echelons of college rowing on both the mens' and womens' sides. From the May Bumps 1998 until the May Bumps 2007 Caius took 19 headships, 15 of these from the men. During this period Caius took 5 consecutive Lent Headships (19 days at the top) and so claim to have earned the right to erect a clock tower on their boathouse, a popular myth on the River Cam, that may be made reality by the plans for the college's new boathouse.
After another brief period in the doldrums, the Men's crew of 2010/2011 achieved the unlikely feat of remaining unbeaten on the river Cam in eights for an entire year. This run saw them bump up 4 times to the headship of the Lent Bumps(The first time this had been achieved in either bumps since 1960, and in the Lents since before WW2), and up 2 times to the headship of the May Bumps. They also represented the Cambridge Colleges against Christ Church, Oxford in a collegiate varsity race at the Henley Boat Races, becoming the only Cambridge men's crew to be successful against their dark blue opponents that year. Elsewhere in the club the 1st women's VIII lie in 7th place in the Lent Bumps and 3rd in the May Bumps, with the 2nd men's and women's VIIIs lying in the 2nd division in both sets of races.
It is also of note that during the May bumps of 1998, the top 3 men's crews, and the top 3 women's crews all secured the awarding of "Blades" by bumping up on all available opportunities - the men's first VIII finished Head of the River.
There exists a club for members who have left the college called Gonville Boat Club. Although GBC is primarily a recreational club, it occasionally enters regattas, and sometimes races the current CBC 1st men's VIII. in 2008 a GBC crew took to the water with a total of 28 Cambridge headships between them.
[edit] Notable rowers
- Josh West, Olympic silver medalist
[edit] Other references
- CUCBC (various years) - Lent and May Bumps programmes.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||
