Manchester University Boat Club

The MUBC boat house is located 6 miles south of the University of Manchester's main campus on Oxford Road, near Dane Road tram stop. The boat house has three boat storage bays, one dedicated to smaller sculling boats.^[4] MUBC rows on an 8-mile stretch of the Bridgewater Canal.^[5] Additionally MUBC has an erg room located at the university's Armitage Sports Centre at the Fallowfield Campus.^[6]

Rowing at the predecessor institutions of the University of Manchester began in 1862 with a coxed four race between Owens College and the Physical Laboratory. In 1889 the Owens College Boat Club was established, which was reconstituted as a member of the new Victoria University of Manchester Athletic Union in 1907.^[7] This club was short-lived and closed in 1909.

In 1932 the University of Leeds challenged the University of Manchester Athletic Union (AU) to a boat race. The AU declined, as Manchester did not have a boat club, however a number of students who had rowed before at other universities or at school soon established a club to race against Leeds. The re-established MUBC was based at Agecroft Rowing Club.^[8] Manchester University Women's Boat Club was established in 1960, and merged into MUBC when the university athletic unions were merged in the early 1980s. In 1963 MUBC moved to its present boat house at Dane Road in Sale.^[9] The opening of the new boat house was celebrated with a scratch IVs event.^[10] Manchester University was represented at Henley Royal Regatta for the first time in 1966, entering the Thames Challenge Cup, where BBC commentator Harry Carpenter announced: “…and here comes this exciting new crew from… Manchester United”.^[11]

In 1994 UMIST was granted a royal charter as an independent university and began rowing separately.^[12] This lasted for a decade until 'Project Unity' merged UMIST and the Victoria University into the present-day University of Manchester. The colours of purple and yellow - and so the new rowing blades - were adopted that year.^[13] Prior to 2004 MUBC blades were in the maroon and white colours adopted by the Victoria University of Manchester Athletic Union in 1905, and UMIST blades were in black and white.^[14]

The Two Cities Boat Race, described by the Manchester Evening News as the "real university boat race"^[15] has been held between MUBC and the Salford University Boat Club since 1972. This was initially part of the Agecroft Regatta and consisted of one men's eight.^[16] MUBC had always competed at a higher level than Salford, however the race was initiated by Roger Vaughn (Captain of Agecroft Rowing Club) in recognition of Salford's improvement.^[17] The vast majority of Two Cities victories have gone to the University of Manchester, with Salford's first win in 2000.^[18] The race is now a multi-race regatta over either 650m or 500m, held at Salford Quays and finishing under the Lowry Bridge.^[19] Recent years have seen the involvement of alumni from both boat clubs, often taking the form of an alumni VIII.

The event became a high-profile event for both universities in the 2010s, when it was combined with other watersports such as Dragon Boat racing to make it the "biggest event in the sporting calendar", according to the University of Manchester.^[20]

The Two Cities Boat Race was put on a two year hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.