Every year for the past 36 years, UBBC Alumni and friends have assembled in Lion Meadow during the Saturday afternoon tea break at Henley Royal Regatta. Few miss the opportunity to reunite with old friends, and catch up over a glass of Pimm’s– and this year was no exception!
Despite the cancellation of the regatta due to COVID-19, the UBBC Alumni Committee found a new way to continue our annual tradition...
Over 55 members joined our virtual meet-up via Zoom, timed to coincide with what would have been the Saturday tea break at the regatta– a remarkable turnout given members had to supply their own Pimm’s this year.
As everyone’s computer screens lit up with a sea of University of Bristol Boat Club blazers, participants were greeted with an opening message from Chris Hartley (UBBC Alumni Chairman), beamed all the way from Sydney, Australia.
Chris very generously gifted a prize of a Leander Bicentenary Grand Champagne Vintage Cognac as the prize for our prize draw. Entrants into the draw were encouraged to donate in support of our fundraising efforts for UBBC. The lucky winner was student Novice squad coach Francis Stanford (UBBC 2017-present). Congratulations Francis!
Given there was no racing this year, we were further treated to a montage of racing highlights from UBBC and Nonesuch BC crews from the last five years.
The main event was a quiz based (extremely loosely!) on the markers of the Henley Royal Regatta course. Participants “raced” to answer questions on legendary Nonesuch crews, UBBC history and knowledge, UBBC boat names, club trivia and plenty more. Competitors’ performances were judged on both the accuracy of their answers and the speed of completion. The winning competitor was Lily Donovan (UBBC 2016-2019), who won the grand prize of a Nonesuch diagonal striped vest. Well done Lily!
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the afternoon. We hope we’ll be able to see everyone in person at Henley Royal Regatta next year, and hopefully even sooner!