Exeter College Boat Club (ECBC) is the boat club of Exeter College, Oxford, England. The club trains on the Thames on the Isis stretch in Oxford and at Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
The Boat Club competes primarily in Torpids and Summer Eights (bumps races) in Oxford. However, it also races at various external events, such as Wallingford Regatta.
The college has a boathouse on Christ Church Meadow which it shares with Brasenose College Boat Club.
History The Exeter College Boat Club would appear to have been founded in 1823 or 1824 under the impetus of Henry Bulteel, who had been an undergraduate at Brasenose College, and stroked Brasenose to the headship in 1821 and 1822. Bulteel became a Fellow of Exeter College in 1823, and the Boat Club seems to have been formed at that time.
ECBC first took part in Summer Eights in 1824, with Bulteel stroking. That year they rowed in the famous "White Boat", which had been built in the Plymouth dockyard, and brought to Oxford by Brasenose College boatman, Stephen Davis. Being a coastal boat, it was found to sit too high out of the water to be rowed effectively on the Isis. The boat was therefore cut down to reduce the height of the gunwales, and it was in this boat that the College won its first headship in 1824.
From 1827-30 there was no Exeter eight on the river.Stride, p.228 The colours of the club, adopted around 1837 were red and black, the colours of the college arms. It was presumably these colours which were used for racing kerchiefs, recorded in the Exeter College Boat Club Treasurer's Book as being purchased in 1844. These were to be "kept peculiar to the racing crew" as opposed to other members of the College Boat Club.
In 1856 Exeter used the first keel-less boat on the river and in this they went head from 1857 until 1859. From twelfth place in 1879 they rose to fourth in 1881 and to Head in 1882. They kept the headship from 1882 to 1884 inclusive.Stride, p.233-235
In 1882 Exeter won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.Stride, p.235
Uniform
Exeter is associated with the colour red, which features prominently on its crest. The colour is used in racing kits, blazers, ties and blades.
The first known use of a tie in club colours was by members of Exeter College eight. In 1880, they took the ribbons off their boaters and tied them around their necks as a way to identify with their college.
Members who have raced in the first crews in Torpids are granted the right to wear this tie. Members who have raced in the first boats in Summer Eights are permitted to wear the club blazer. The blazer is peony red, with black trim. Captains are entitled to an extra stripe on the sleeve.
Honours
Torpids Headship Men: 1846-47, 1854-57, 1859-60, 1863-65, 1867-68
Summer Eights Headship Men:1824, 1838, 1857-58, 1882-84
Henley Royal Regatta EventYearGrand Challenge Cup1882Ladies Challenge Plate1857Silver Goblets1851
Boat Race representatives The following rowers were part of the rowing club at the time of their participation in The Boat Race.
Men's boat race
YearName 1836 Ferdinand Thomas Stephens 1829 Woodforde Ffooks (cox) 1841 Richard Bethell 1841 Charles B. Woolaston 1845 F. J. Richards (cox) 1849 James Wodehouse 1849 J. Aitken 1854 W. Pinckney 1854 G. L. Mellish 1854 T. H. Marshall (cox) 1856 W. F. Stocken 1856 R. Ingham Salmon 1857 R. Wells Risley 1858 R. W. Risley 1859 R. W. Risley
YearName 1860 R. W. Risley 1861 E. B. Merriman 1861 W. M. Hoare 1862 W. M. Hoare 1863 W. M. Hoare 1866 F. Willan 1867 F. Willan 1868 R. S. Ross of Bladensburg 1868 F. Willan 1869 F. Willan 1876 W. H. Hobart 1879 W. H. Hobart 1880 R. S. Kindersley 1881 R. A. Pickney 1881 R. S. Kindersley
YearName 1882 R. S. Kindersley 1884 L. Stock 1884 W. C. Blandy 1884 W. D. B. Curry 1886 W. E. Maynard (cox) 1887 L. J. Clarke (cox) 1914 J. B. Kindersley 1928 G. M. Brander 1983 S. E. Higgins (cox) 2010 Ben Myers 2011 Ben Myers 2022 Tobias Schröder 2024 Jelmer Bennema
Women's boat race YearName 2015 Lauren Kedar 2016 Lauren Kedar 2021 Costi Levy (cox) 2023 Ella Stadler 2024 Ella Stadler
References
External links Exeter College Boat Club Homepage Exeter College Boat Club on the OURCs site