Queen's University Belfast Boat Club - Boat Race

Boat Race

2004 saw the first running of the Irish Universities Boat Race. The Race is held on the Lagan between Queen's University Belfast and Trinity College, Dublin. The race is made to mirror the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race which is held annually on the River Thames. In 2004 the race was held over 3,800 metres, in 2005 it was shortened to 2,700 metres, and in 2006 it was shortened again to 2,000 metres. Dr Robert Gamble of Queen's University Belfast in 2006 remarked, "this year’s race will be over the shorter distance of 1 mile and 550 yards, and is the same distance as the most prestigious rowing event in the calendar, Henley Royal Regatta." The inaugural race was won by Trinity, beating Queens by four lengths. The 2005 race was a thrilling contest, with the Queens crew holding off Trinity in the final stages to win by a length. Trinity took the 2006, 2007 and 2008 races. The 2009 race was won easily by QUBBC, with Queens crossing the finish line as Trinity passed under Governors Bridge. In 2010 Queens senior VIII again were victorious, betting Trinity by an even greater margin than in 2009. The series then stood at 4-3 in favour of Trinity. In 2011 Trinity declined the challenge to race, due to the fact that in did not want to show their hand in advance of the upcoming Irish championships, where Queens were one of their main rivals. With Trinity failing to send a team UUC Cork accepted the challenge to race on the 4 June 2011. Queens were again successful bring their total win’s to 4 out of 9 races. Subsequently queens went on to beat Trinity at the 2011 Irish championships, winning the men’s Inter VIII.