Further to the recent communication with you from the OUBC and the Old Blues and Isis (OBI) organisation, there is, as many of you will be aware, no coherent framework for old Oxford rowing and for support of the OUBC and the OUWBC by old members at the present time. A number of people and committees do provide certain sectors of the OBI network with certain services but there is feeling amongst ex-Oxford rowers that a more structured approach would be very beneficial in both the short and the long term. To address this issue we have set up Bosporos Boat Club which will provide both rowing and social facilities for ex-Oxford rowers to use and also provide support to the OUBC and the OUWBC.

Introduction
There are currently a large number of us out there who row at varying levels of seriousness for a variety of different clubs. Some of us are still very active in rowing but there is a number (myself included) who would welcome the idea of rowing on a reasonably regular basis with like minded people who are not too keen to get involved with the politics of rowing for a large club. There are indeed a number of old Oxford oarsmen who organise outings and events for fellow old Oxford oarsmen (Dick Fishlock at overseas events, for example the Head of the Charles, and Alexander Lindsay via the Veteran’s Boat Race). Also, I am sure that many of us out there would welcome the opportunity to get together for a reunion outing.

There are also a number of social events set up through the year - Trial VIIIs, the old Blues dinner, lunch on Boat Race day etc. - which function both as an opportunity to support the current heavyweight University rowers and as a way of keeping in touch with old friends from university rowing days.

Bosporos Boat Club has been founded to form that focal point for both old Oxford rowing and support of OUBC and OUWBC. Similar to Crabtree Boat Club (which is a club that has been set up for old Cambridge oarsmen), Bosporos is aiming at providing equipment for ex-Oxford rowers to use with a view to providing crews that will race at the HORR/Women’s Head and at Henley Royal Regatta/Women’s Henley to as high a standard as possible in addition to providing facilities to veteran oarsmen to use on a more occasional basis. However, I think that we have an opportunity to use Bosporos as a way of not only providing rowing facilities for the club members but also as a way of allowing all of us to feel that we are doing something to support current University rowers. The OUBC itself is very supportive of Bosporos and feels that the club is the right vehicle for focusing attention and support.

A number of us have already met to discuss the broad approach that Bosporos Boat Club should have and arrange some of the technical points of organisation. This is no longer an idea but a reality - the club has already been registered with the ARA and has a number of founder members.

Membership and Constitution
Bosporos is currently open to everyone who is a member of OUBC and OUWBC, that is to say everyone who has rowed for a blue boat, Isis, Osiris or in Trial eights. The constitution also allows for other oarsmen to row at the discretion of the committee. In the future, depending on the success of the club, it may be decided to open membership up to the lightweights and possibly other categories of Oxford rowers.

There are to be three categories of member: Full Rowing, Associate Rowing and Associate. The subscription fees for each category are £150, £100 and £50 respectively. However, if you live overseas and wish to become an Associate member, the fee is £25. A Full Rowing member is someone who will use the club on a regular basis to train, essentially as their ‘full-time’ club. An Associate Rowing member is someone would like the opportunity to row occasionally for the club. It is not intended that Associate Rowing members row at regattas under the colours of Bosporos except for any special exceptions. Associate members are those people who wish to be a member of the club as a focus for their support of Oxford rowing and rowing in general, who wish to attend the social functions, wear the club tie and so forth. It is the intention of the club to allow 1 year’s free membership to people in their first year down from university who wish to be Full Racing members.

It is the Associate members that I would stress will form the backbone of Bosporos. The more of us that show our support by becoming Associate members, the better the position of the club will be and please therefore see your subscription as your support for OUBC and OUWBC. Evidently, as the club is only just being set up, any further donations that any of us are able to make in addition to subscription fees would be greatly appreciated in helping to buy equipment and establish the success of the club. All donations and subscriptions are to be paid through the OUBC Trust Fund to enable us to benefit from its tax status. The founder members have already contributed subscriptions towards the set-up and initial administration costs.

The colours of the club are dark blue, gold and white.

Rowing set-up
The current plan is to rent part of Crabtree’s London boathouse in Putney. There has been much discussion as to the merits and wisdom of any sort of link with the Cambridge club but, following that discussion, it was felt that their boathouse provided us with exactly the right facilities that a fledgling club such as ourselves needed. There is no intention of forming any sort of joint club with Crabtree - Bosporos is a totally Oxford dedicated venture.
As far as equipment is concerned, we are currently sourcing some boats to borrow in the short term. The intention is, when the club has sufficient funds, to buy two eights, three or so fours and possibly some small boats as our fleet. This equipment will be available for use by Full and Associate Racing members and use of it will be co-ordinated by the Men’s and Women’s Rowing captains - currently myself and Jo Barnett.

Social
One of the great advantages of setting up a club like this is that it allows us all to meet up and reminisce about our rowing days. To this end, as a minimum, the idea is to have a drinks party each year on the Saturday of Henley Royal Regatta to which all members would be encouraged to attend. There will also be an Annual Dinner in the Autumn, in addition to the Old Blues dinner. The intention is also to continue to look for events on boat race days (Dick Fishlock currently organises an Old Blues lunch on the main Boat Race day) that will allow us to focus in our support for OUBC and OUWBC.
 

Committee
A caretaker committee has been appointed pending election at the first Annual General Meeting. The intention is to keep committees and unnecessary bureaucracy down to a minimum but to recognise that the club needs to be run efficiently and positively. With this in mind, it is suggested that the OBI representative on the OUBC Executive Committee should be appointed by all Bosporos members from now on and a similar representative should be appointed to any OUWBC advisory committee. This will ensure that the views of those old blues and other rowers who wish to support the current OUBC or OUWBC on an active basis will be represented. Keith Mason has kindly agreed to continue as the Bosporos representative pending election at the first AGM.

The current committee is as follows:
Donald Macdonald President  Isis 85, Blue 86/87
Rob Clegg Treasurer  Blue 94/95/96
Pete Bridge Secretary/Men’s Rowing Captain Blue 91/92
Jo Barnett (née Leach) Women’s Rowing Captain Blue 92/93
Ed Bellamy   Blue 96, Isis 97
Tony Ward   Blue 87
Tom Barry OBI Representative  Blue

Other
The club has also set up a website where information on racing, social events and club meetings etc. will be posted. The web address is www.bosporos.com and is online now with information about the club. It is intended to set up a database of email addresses of club members to streamline operations and save time and expense on postage.

Conclusion
As part of the efforts to restore the prestige of Oxford rowing, I urge all of you to join the club, whether your interest is as a full-time rower, as an occasional oarsman or as a social member who wishes to keep in contact with old friends. You are able to join right away by filling in the attached form and sending it, together with a cheque made out to the OUBC Trust Fund, to myself. We have an agreement with the Trust Fund that subscriptions and donations will be sent through the Trust Fund in order to maximise the income we receive. The concept of the subscription fees as ‘minimum qualifying donations’ is to satisfy the legal requirements of the Trust.

Responsibility for the success of Bosporos Boat Club ultimately lies with all of us. Those of us who are involved so far think that this is a fantastic opportunity to develop something which will provide rowing facilities, act as a social focus and provide long-term support for the current OUBC and OUWBC.
Kind regards.

Yours sincerely

Pete Bridge