A brief history of MCBC
Mansfield College Boat Club was founded in 1965 and has gone from strength to strength since. April 1997 saw the opening of the new boathouse at Timm’s, about a 25 minute walk from Mansfield College itself, which we occupy with Hertford, St Catherine’s, St Hilda’s, St Benet’s and Templeton. We share a club room and bay with St. Hilda’s College Boat Club, with whom we traditionally have good relations.
The Longbridges Boathouse is an excellent vantage point for all regattas on the Isis, with bumps, crashes and even overtaking manoeuvres seen from it which those up stream could only dream of watching. With the OURCs Race Desk also situated here we find ourselves in the middle of all the action.
On July 4th 2005 we suffered an arson attack on our boathouse in which the majority of our equipment was destroyed. Despite the initial shock, this has not set us back as per the intent of the attackers. Thanks to the efforts of the committee, college and the generosity of our alumni we have replaced our old equipment with newer, better boats and two new sets of blades.
MCBC has a long history full of blood and toil, as can be vouched for by the legendary Bill Thompson who coached for many years at the club and can be seen down at the river every year giving each crew an extra cheer. Mansfield’s most famous rower was Donald MacDonald, the President of OUBC in the mutiny year of 1987, the events of which have been immortalised in the film ‘True Blue’.
Despite our small size, Mansfield always punches above its weight on the river, with extremely successful men's and women's first crews, and often managing to field strong second crews in Torpids and Summer Eights.
