If you would like to support the Boat Club, there are a number of ways in which you can contribute to help us run.
Rowing is an expensive sport and we need to keep our equipment up to date as well as support the day to day running of the club in order to remain competitive among other, richer college clubs!
Rowing is an expensive sport and we need to keep our equipment up to date as well as support the day to day running of the club in order to remain competitive among other, richer college clubs!
Donate
If you would like to assist the Boat Club financially in any way, please click on the link below. It is possible to make a one-time donation or create a direct debit to donate on a regular basis:
To give you an idea of the costs, here is a breakdown of some of the things the Boat Club spends money on.
Boats
You can’t be a Boat Club without boats, and SABC currently owns four eights (two men’s, two women’s), a four and a pair. However, our aim is to be able to train more boats and enter an M3 and W3 for racing, but it is difficult for two crews to share a boat. In addition to this, the Boat Club would like to be able to invest in more small boats, since this would increase our flexibility in training and help to improve technique. Furthermore, one of our eights is reaching the end of its lifespan as raceable boats and so may need to be replaced in the near future.
Blades
Apart from boats, rowers obviously need blades! It may seem trivial, but as those of you who watched the 2012 Boat Race will know, blade maintenance is essential, and having good quality blades can speed the boat up as well as ensure that equipment failures don’t ruin your race!
Coaching
Getting good, consistent coaching is one of the top priorities of the Boat Club, especially for the top crews and to teach the novices the basics properly, and this means paying a professional. Lack of proper coaching can be extremely detrimental to a boat’s progress and restrictions on the Isis mean that novice boats must have a coach on every outing.
Racking
The Isis, as some of you may remember, can get extremely crowded throughout the year and so to ensure that all our crews can train a sufficient amount, both the St Anne’s first boats train at Godstow, a 15 minute cycle north of the college. The river at Godstow is quieter and allows the crews to get a good session in but paying to keep the boats there costs approximately £690 per term.
Land Training
As well as training on the water, the boat club exercises a hard training plan off the water to keep its crews in tip-top shape. This includes paying for tank sessions at Iffley Road and purchase and maintenance of rowing machines for college and for the boathouse.
Administration and Insurance
The Boat Club has to pay several fees a year including insurance for all the boats and membership of British Rowing in order to be allowed to train and race. These costs are entirely mandatory to run as a boat club and can a mount to several thousand pounds a year.
Subsidies
As one of the less wealthy boat clubs in Oxford, the financial burden can fall upon our members. One of the key aims of SABC is to be accessible in all facets, including financially, but currently we simply do not have the funds to subsidise membership for our rowers. Further than that, all extra costs such as kit and events like Summer Eight’s Dinner cannot be subsidised by the Boat Club meaning that our members must pay full price, something which we would like to see change, since it means that some of our members have to miss out on these great experiences.
External Regatta Fees
Rowing in external regattas is great fun, and is one of the best ways for crews to get racing experience, meaning that we are a stronger and more competent crew come Summer Eights. Racing is also a great experience and we would love to be able to enter external regattas so that all our crews could race as much as possible. However, entering regattas come with unavoidable costs. Apart from entrance fees, transport of people and boats must also be paid for and once again we are not able to do this as often as we would like due to simple financial difficulty.
Unfortunately, lack of funds do start to take their toll on the club and during Torpids and Summer Eights in previous years, various crews have suffered from equipment failures which cost them the race, including broken rudders and steering, broken gates and broken coxboxes. The club is extremely keen to make sure that all crews can race to the very best of their ability, uninhibited by equipment.
Unfortunately, lack of funds do start to take their toll on the club and during Torpids and Summer Eights in previous years, various crews have suffered from equipment failures which cost them the race, including broken rudders and steering, broken gates and broken coxboxes. The club is extremely keen to make sure that all crews can race to the very best of their ability, uninhibited by equipment.