Durham City Regatta, May 10th and 11th 2025
The posters for Saturday and Sunday of Durham City Regatta are now available. Entries will be opening on Friday, April 11th.
Sunshine for Derwentwater Head
On March 8th around 80 members and supporters from Durham ARC made the trip to Keswick in the Lake District to join 300 participants from the North of England and Scotland taking part in the second Derwentwater Head of the modern era. Tracing its origins back to the 1870s when competitors travelled from London by[…]
Learn to Row in 2025
Dates of Learn to Row courses for 2025 are now available on the Thinking of Rowing page. The courses are aimed at beginners, and no experience of rowing is necessary. On the course qualified coaches and a team of helpers will teach you the basics of rowing, sculling, coxing and indoor rowing. Adult Learn to[…]
DARC Women win at York
Four crews from DARC entered the Yorkshire Head on March 1st. The head which is a major source of funds for rowing in the Yorkshire region is organised by the Yorkshire Rowing Council and takes place on the River Ouse in York. After suffering weather cancellations in previous years it was decided to run the[…]
DARC Ladies Night a great success
Organizers Shirley and Debbie report on cocktails, mocktails, fun and games enjoyed at the recent Ladies Night. DARC held a Ladies Night on Friday 28 February 2025 at the club, with Cocktails, Mocktails, Chips, Brownies and Sweets. Turnout was excellent with 41 attendees and only 3 no-shows (they don’t know what they missed!) They say[…]
Bronze for Roger at World Indoor Championships 2025
The 2025 World Rowing Indoor Championships, presented by Concept2, reached its climax with two weekends of finals on February 15th & 16th, and February 22nd & 23rd, and was contested as a wholly virtual competion with competitors taking part online from venues around the world. There was a bronze medal success for Roger Stainforth, who[…]
Head of the Trent 2025
Four crews from DARC travelled south to Nottingham on Saturday, February 22nd in search of competition at the Head of the Trent. The J15 girls coxed quad had the best result of the day finishing second to Nottingham & Union Rowing Club in 13.19.3 over 3700 metres in division 2, while the WJ18 4x- was[…]
Racing in the rain at Tyne Head
Competitors at Tyne Head of the River endured showery conditions for the 4.5km time trial on February 8th, the same day as the GB Open Trials at Boston which no doubt prevented some highly ranked athletes from entering, Coming 2 weeks before the 2025 BUCS 4s and 8s Head, also to be held on the[…]
Dawn to dusk racing at Durham Small Boats Head 2025
The first competition of the year has always been popular and the 2025 edition of Durham Small Boats Head certainly lived up to expectations, entries being suspended within hours of opening on January 10th. Weather concerns dissipated rapidly in the wake of Storm Eowyn and by race day on Saturday, February 1st, river conditions had[…]
Durham Small Boats Head results
Full results combined across the whole day for Durham Small Boats Head on Saturday, February 1st 2025 are here. Provisional division results: division 1, division 2, division 3, division 4.
Tyne United New Years Head avoids Storm Eowyn
Unperturbed by the aftermath of Storm Eowyn the previous day 160 crews took to the River Tyne on Saturday, January 25th as the winter racing season opened with Tyne United New Years Head. The time trial hosted jointly by Durham University Boat Club took place in bright but cold conditions with a stiff headwind giving[…]
Umpires needed for regatta season
The sport of rowing relies on Umpires to make sure racing is safe, fair and an enjoyable experience for everyone. The Northern region currently has 29 umpires, which is rather fewer than ideal, and the Regional Umpiring Committee would be pleased to hear from a few volunteers who would like to give it a try![…]
Bill Parker boat naming article in The Northern Echo
Peter Barron of Barron Media was at the Bill Parker boat naming ceremony on January 4th and has published an excellent article in The Northern Echo here. The ceremony was well attended and was a fitting tribute to Bill, his commitment and success in the sport. The article includes several photos of Bill.
New coxless quad/four named Bill Parker
Members and friends gathered on Saturday, January 4th at the invitation of Club Captain Anna as the club’s new Stampfli coxless quad/four was named in honour of former coach and oarsman Bill Parker who died in 2021. Many who had rowed with Bill or been coached by him over many years came together to celebrate[…]
2024 in review
Like its predecessor 2024 was a year in which competitions were interrupted significantly by the weather, although the North got off lightly compared with some other regions. It has been an eventful year. The following is a monthly synopsis. January The year started in exciting fashion with the launch of George Clooney’s film version of[…]
Opening hours over the festive period
The coffee shop & bar will be closed on Tuesday, December 24th and will re-open on Friday, January 3rd 2025. Thank you to our members and customers. The staff would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2025!
Pilates class donations boost club funds
Lunchtime Yoga and Pilates classes, now in their 8th year, continue in popularity, bringing in additional social members, and have boosted coffers through the donation of excess class funds to the club. Donations during 2024 have amounted to £858. The hour long classes which take place each Monday and Thursday are organised by Dave Green[…]
Members and friends invited to boat naming on January 4th
Members and friends are invited to a boat naming ceremony on January 4th at which the Club’s new Stampfli coxless quad will be named after former inspirational coach and oarsman Bill Parker who died in June 2021. All are welcome to attend the club at 1pm on Saturday, January 4th as members of Bill’s family[…]
British Rowing Indoor Championships double success
Octogenarian oarsman Roger Stainforth celebrated double success at the 2024 British Rowing Indoor Championships (BRIC) on December 7th with victory in the 80-84 age group Open 2000 metres and 500 metres events. The Championships staged for the second year at Birmingham NEC as part of Fitfest 2024, the UK’s leading functional fitness competition, attracted over[…]
Small Grant brings SkiErg World Record
Roger Stainforth’s final preparations for the British Rowing Indoor Championships (BRIC) this weekend included an attempt last Friday on the 80-84 age group World Record for 2000 metres on the Concept2 SkiErg. Durham ARC acquired a new SkiErg machine and two BikeErgs in October thanks to a successful funding application through the Culture & Sport[…]
Rutherford Head takes plaudits
Rutherford Head went ahead in surprisingly mild and bright conditions on November 30th with a full entry of 287 taking on the 4.5km time trial over the Championship course on the River Tyne. Starting the first division at low tide allowed both divisions to be rowed with the flood tide and resulted in some fast[…]
York Small Boats Head
York Small Boats Head took place on Sunday, November 17th. For once the head which fills the gap between the end of the Long Distance Sculling Series and Rutherford Head met with a spell of settled weather and was able to go ahead on the scheduled date. In recent years the River Ouse has been[…]
Records for Roger at 80
While the attention of the Rowing community in the North of England was focused on Durham Long Distance Sculls (LDS) and Autumn Small Boats Head (ASBH) last Saturday, November 2nd, Roger Stainforth was otherwise occupied representing Durham ARC at the North East Indoor Rowing Championships (NEIRC), organised by Durham University Boat Club (DUBC) and held[…]
Durham LDS and Autumn Small Boats Head enjoy fine conditions
Durham ARC hosted the final round of the 2024 Northern Rowing Long Distance Sculling Series (LDS) on the morning of Saturday, November 2nd, followed by Durham Autumn Small Boats Head (ASBH) in the afternoon. The drizzle that greeted competitors arriving for the LDS race soon dispersed to allow both competitions to enjoy very pleasant conditions.[…]
Durham LDS and Autumn SBH results
Results are available for the 2024 Durham Long Distance Sculls and Durham Autumn Small Boats Head that took place on November 2nd. For additional reports see the Long Distance Sculling Series and Durham Autumn Small Boats Head pages and Oar-online.
Sculling Series continues at Tyne, Wansbeck and South Hylton
The 2024 Long Distance Sculling Series has visited three more northern rivers in as many weeks, at Tyne LDS and Tyne United (TURC) Small Boats Head (SBH) on October 12th, Wansbeck LDS and SBH on October 19th and South Hylton LDS on October 26th. Four of the six rounds in the series are complemented by[…]
October scratch regatta thwarted
Following the success of the scratch regatta in August the daytime members planned to stage an internal scratch eights event with a social slant on Thursday, October 17th but the onset of autumnal weather and a fast flowing river meant the abandonment of the rowing part of the plan. Around 25 rowers and friends did[…]
Durham Sunday League 2024
On October 6th Durham ARC played host to the final round of the 2024 Northern Rowing Sunday League. In the best attended round of the season 16 crews representing 10 clubs from the northern region enjoyed a series of races over a 350 metre course in glorious autumnal conditions. The league is organized by the[…]
Autumn Sculling Series goes to Berwick and Tees
The 2024 Long Distance Sculling Series started on September 28th at Berwick where Durham ARC was represented by Masters single scullers Paolo Fortis and Gill Gilbert among a field of 46 in the time trial which took place in near ideal conditions over 4700 metres on the River Tweed. Berwick ARC was the most successful[…]
Fireworks by the River – November 3rd 2024
One of the biggest nights in our events calendar sees the return of the annual fireworks display on Sunday, November 3rd, Durham’s ONLY City Centre display on the banks of the river! Tickets are now on sale. Gates: 5pm Display: 7pm We advise early arrival Ticket information With the huge growth of the event over[…]