The Guernsey Rowing Club is one of Guernsey’s most successful inter-insular sports clubs and is a vibrant social community. The Club runs a full local race calendar throughout the “summer” and GRC members regularly take part in offshore and coastal regattas held at nearby clubs.
Rowing, as an exercise, has been proven to improve cardiovascular fitness, strengthen your core, increase flexibility and reduces stress, whilst being low impact on your joints and tendons, making it suitable for a vast range of ages and abilities.
Whether you’re trying rowing for the first time or coming to the coastal rowing scene with a background of river rowing, you are very welcome at the Guernsey Rowing Club.
What is offshore rowing?
Without wishing to sound dramatic, offshore rowing involves confronting the open sea in a rowing boat! Think of it as the mountain bike or snowboard of rowing. It is exhilarating and, being a non-contact sport, can continue to keep you fit for far longer than contact sports. Offshore rowing equipment is robust and safe, making it an easy discipline to get started with.
Have A Go Row
The Club organises regular, free, Have A Go tester sessions which provide an opportunity for those completely new to the sport to jump in a boat and… Have A Go! Details of our Have A Go dates will be published in our Celendar page and on our social media channels.
About the season
The racing season runs April-September. The fixtures are designed to ease everyone back into racing, with shorter more in-shore races early in the season (5-8km). They build up in terms of both distance and challenge (up to 18km). As a novice crew you will be advised by your coach and the Race Secretary whether the race is suitable for the competency level of your crew. Our Learn To Row coaching program therefore usually starts March / April to prepare you for the season ahead. It is possible to join mid-season but that tends to be best suited to experienced rowers.
Learn to row
Our coaches have devised a Learn To Row course for novices joining the club. This is designed to get you out on the water as quickly and safely as possible. The sessions are led by qualified coaches and follow a program designed to cover all the basics. You will be assigned a coach for the first season who will ensure you are signed off as safe and competent to row. After this you will be able to take part in our races.
