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

Dover Rowing Club is a coastal club based at Dover Sea Sports Centre on the seafront in Dover Harbour. Founded in 1846 as Dover Amateur Rowing Club, it describes itself as Britain's oldest coastal rowing club.

The original organisation was a leisure club whose members used pleasure skiffs for afternoon rows and picnics around Dover Bay. After a crew was invited to race at the 1867 Paris Exhibition, it was reformed as Dover Rowing Club with the intention of fielding racing crews.

Richard Dickeson joined in 1870 and served as president from 1872 until 1900. He paid for the club's first purpose-built racing galley and an East Cliff clubhouse, and Dover helped create the South Coast Rowing Challenge Cup in 1887 and the Coast Amateur Rowing Association in 1894.

Dover's senior four became South Coast champion in 1892, 1893, 1894 and 1895. In 1894 the crew entered 28 races at 15 regattas and won all 28, while later crews won five consecutive South Coast titles from 1907 to 1911. Women became full members in 1920.

Today the club caters for recreational and competitive rowers and is affiliated to British Rowing and CARA. Its fleet includes coastal singles, doubles, pairs, coxed fours and coxed quads, and membership provides access to the boats, changing facilities and gym.

The Dover Sea Sports Centre provides heated changing rooms and showers, disabled access, boat racking, weights and a gym. The club trains and races within the shelter of Dover Harbour, hosts its home regatta, and reported six wins plus the Senior Aggregate prize at its 2025 regatta.