Caius Boat Club

Caius Boat Club
Location	Cambridge
Coordinates	52°12′46.7″N 0°7′39.5″E
Home Water	River Cam
Founded	1827
Membership	Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Affiliations	BR
Website	caiusboatclub.org

Caius rowing over as head on Saturday of Mays, 2011

Caius Boat Club (CBC) (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.

History

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 men's and women's sides. From the May Bumps 1998 until the May Bumps 2007 Caius took 19 headships, 15 of these by 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 when the plans for the college's new boathouse are approved.

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 1962, 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. The men's crew continue to be successful, retaining both the Lents and Mays Headship in 2012 and maintained their winning streak in side by side racing by beating Pembroke College, Oxford at the Henley Boat 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 each of the 4 days with the men's 1st VIII finishing 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.

Notable Alumni

• Josh West, Olympic silver medalist

Recent Form

The men's 1st VIII are currently Head of the River (i.e. 1st position) in both the Lents and the May Bumps for the 3rd year running. The 2nd VIII are 21st in the Lent Bumps and 25th in the Mays. The women's 1st VIII were 8th both in Lent Bumps 2012 and May Bumps 2012. In 2012 the women's 2nd VIII were awarded discretionary blades by Caius Boat Club Captain for bumping 4 times (having rowed 5 times, once as sandwich boat). The women's 2nd VIII is 34th also both in Lents and Mays. There are a further 2 men's crews.

Below are the results of the last 5 years of bumps races.

Lent Bumps

Men's 1st VIII

Year	Finish position	1st day	2nd day	3rd day	4th Day
2009	8th	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over	bumped by Trinity Hall
2010	5th	rowed-over	bumped Trinity Hall	bumped Clare	bumped Jesus
2011	Head	bumped Pembroke	bumped Lady Margaret	bumped 1st & 3rd Trinity	bumped Downing
2012	Head	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over
2013	Head	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over

Women's 1st VIII

Year	Finish position	1st day	2nd day	3rd day	4th Day
2009	5th	bumped by Downing	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over
2010	7th	rowed-over	bumped by Christ's	bumped by Pembroke	rowed-over
2011	10th	rowed-over	bumped by Queens'	bumped by Trinity Hall	bumped by Clare
2012	8th	rowed-over	bumped Trinity Hall	rowed-over	bumped Queens'
2013	8th	rowed-over	bumped Clare	rowed-over	bumped by Newnham

May Bumps

Men's 1st VIII

Year	Finish position	1st day	2nd day	3rd day	4th Day
2008	4th	bumped by 1st & 3rd Trinity	bumped by Lady Margaret	rowed-over	bumped by Jesus
2009	2nd	bumped Jesus	bumped Lady Margaret	rowed-over	rowed-over
2010	3rd	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over	bumped by Pembroke
2011	Head	bumped Pembroke	bumped 1st & 3rd Trinity	rowed-over	rowed-over
2012	Head	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over

Women's 1st VIII

Year	Finish position	1st day	2nd day	3rd day	4th Day
2008	4th	bumped Newnham	rowed-over	rowed-over	rowed-over
2009	3rd	rowed-over	bumped Emmanuel	rowed-over	rowed-over
2010	6th	bumped by Emmanuel	rowed-over	bumped by Christ's	bumped by Lady Margaret
2011	10th	bumped by Newnham	bumped by Jesus	bumped by Clare	bumped by Queens'
2012	8th	rowed-over	bumped Lady Margaret	bumped Queens'	rowed-over

Women's 2nd VIII

Year	Finish position	1st day	2nd day	3rd day	4th Day
2012	34th	rowed-over	bumped Corpus Christi	bumped Trinity Hall	bumped Wolfson & Hughes Hall

References

• CUCBC/ Cambridge University Combined Boat Club
• Caius Boat Club