Christchurch Rowing Club - Christchurch | UK Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Christchurch Rowing Club is based on the River Stour at Wick Lane in Christchurch, Dorset. The club was founded in February 1948 at a meeting in the Kings Arms Hotel, with 100 founding members each pledging £10.

Westover Rowing Club lent boats while the new club raised money for its own equipment. Christchurch bought a single scull for £45, added another single, a pair and two practice fours by June 1948, and quickly began racing. Its present clubhouse was built in the mid-1960s and extended in 2008.

The club has competitive adult men's and women's squads, a large junior section and off-peak recreational rowing. Juniors start from age 13 and normally learn sculling before progressing to larger boats and sweep rowing; adult beginners are introduced to coastal sweep rowing, with later opportunities to scull.

Facilities include two boathouses, overflow storage, junior boats and fleets of river and coastal craft. Land training is supported by eight ergometers and a small weights room, with changing rooms and showers on site.

Adult competitive crews focus on the Hants and Dorset Coastal Championships, a 13-regatta series, while also entering river events. Junior pathways are designed to lead from small-boat sculling towards racing, and the club says determined rowers can progress towards national selection.

Christchurch marked its 75th anniversary in 2023 with indoor rowing and public touring-boat sessions that raised money for the club and local charity SCARF. The club also operates Learn to Row courses, adult taster days and year-round coxing instruction.