Great Bay Rowing was founded in 1996 by Sean O’Connell in an effort to address a growing interest in rowing in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire, and as a means of giving back to the community what he had enjoyed as a high school rower on the Oyster River. The club primarily operates out of a boathouses located on the Cocheco River in Dover NH, while occasionally running programs out of Jackson
’s Landing in Durham NH. Great Bay Rowing shares these locations with the University of New Hampshire. The Jackson’s Landing boathouses exists under a unique arrangement with UNH and the town which requires that a portion of the boathouse be set aside for use by community members, resulting in the boathouse we use today. Prior to this GBR rented the equipment used. This was a milestone in the club’s evolution. GBR, a young and growing club, had already met with great competitive successes. Both the junior and master teams have won medals at regional regattas. Club teams have had the privilege of competing in the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta, Masters National and Masters World competitions. Several GBR juniors rowers have gone on to take prominent positions on their college rowing teams. Fun events, both rowing and non-rowing related, have become traditional aspects of the GBR experience. The club continues to look towards competitive success, but also hopes to continue to draw a large recreational constituency of both sweep and sculling rowers.
