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The Upper Merion Boat Club is located on the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County Pennsylvania, about 15 miles northwest of the famous Philadelphia Boathouse Row.

The section of the Schuylkill River we row is upstream of our boathouse, towards the Route 422 bridge near Valley Forge Park. It is more protected than the lower Schuylkill, leading to lots of beautiful flat water. The typical club row is about 6.5 miles total. Members may row at scheduled club rows as well as when personally convenient and river conditions permit. A popular time to get out on the water is early morning; some rowers start as early as 5 a.m., catching the sunrise and getting a workout before the workday begins.

The club was chartered in September 1986 and has about 85 active members comprising former high school and college rowers, students home for the summer, and those who took up the sport as adults. Members row for many reasons including fitness, the pleasure of the outdoors, social interaction, technique improvement and competition.

Experienced rowers are welcome to check out the club during a club row. A learn-to-scull clinic is offered each spring and will be announced in the News and Events section. Private and semi-private lessons are also available.

Upper Merion Boat Club
P.O. Box 238
Bridgeport, PA 19405

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SAVE THE DATE: a date has been set for the 2012 King's Head Regatta: September 30, 2012.

SUPPORT A ROWING FILM: (from Sarah Megan Thomas, Executive Producer) Backwards, a feature film about rowing, starring James Van Der Beek, Margaret Colin, Glenn Morshower and Sarah Megan Thomas is now complete and ready for distribution. Rowers, athletes, competitors, romantics, Dawson's Creek lovers out there -- help us create the buzz to get this movie into theatres nationwide! You can sneak preview the film's official trailer on our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/backwardsthefilm

View the trailer. "Like" the film's page on Facebook! Spread the word. The "LIKES" are important as the more Facebook Page "LIKES" the sooner BACKWARDS is in a theatre near you.

03/2/12: the Hudson MW 2X returned from Canada where it was repaired. The boat was damaged during the fall racing season when a truck or boat trailer backed into it while at the Head of the Christina Regatta in Wilmington, Delaware. The truck/trailer left the scene and our club was left to take on the repair. The Equipment Committee will inspect and re-rig it to get it back in service as quickly as possible.

02/27/12: a group of UMBC volunteers led by Ed Kelly reconfigured the singles rack section just inside the entrance door (adjacent to the login desk) over the last two weekends. The area, which previously held only two private 1X boats, can now accommodate five singles and also has space for an unrigged double at the top. Thanks to Bryan, Pete, Carleton, Laurie, Larry, Mark and to Ed for coordinating the project.

NEW YEAR'S ROW: three quads of intrepid rowers braved the mild 50 degree temperatures to row in the annual UMBC New Year's Row, on a calm river in beautiful conditions. It's not often that the first row of the year occurs under such an ideal situation. The rowers completed the standard six and a half mile loop of the river. The local water-ski club was also finishing up its New Year's ski event -- we just missed having to deal with their wakes.

ANNUAL MEETING AND HOLIDAY PARTY: the annual meeting and holiday party were held on Friday night, December 2nd, and hosted by UMBC member Karen DelRaso. The business portion of the meeting included the election of officers with the following results:

Commodore – Joe Hartnett

Vice Commodore – Laurie Lawton-Smith

Treasurer – Susan Smith

Secretary – Bill Howard

Members at Large – Larry Carolan, Ed Kelly and Mark King

After the election, the business portion of the meeting ended and the party portion of the meeting resumed. There was plenty of food provided by the members and there was lots of laughter and good conversations. All together, there were about 30 members in attendance. Our thanks go out to Karen for being our hostess. This is Karen’s third time hosting the event (we didn’t scare her off the first two times) and we certainly appreciate her support of the club.

ASTEROID ROW: seventeen enthusiastic rowers showed up on Tuesday evening, November 8th, for another celestial-event themed row. This time it was Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing fairly close to Earth (198,000 miles). Unfortunately the asteroid was not visible to the eye but the evening was clear and star filled, and the moon was just about full. It was a really beautiful night on the water for the 4 quads and 1 single out there rowing in the dark. Afterwards, all went out for pizza and “beverages” at Franzone’s in Bridgeport. Thanks to Laurie for coordinating the event and to all the rowers who participated.

BEWARE OF HUNTERS: hunters have been encountered recently near the up-river end of the island. For visibility in the darkness it is extremely important to have both bow and stern lights on and flashing, even if there is some daylight. Hunting is not allowed on the island or the railroad property. If you observe anyone hunting on these properties, hunting boats docked at either property without hunters on board, or hunting boats moving on the river without lights, please phone Officer Krall at the number located in the boathouse.

2011 KING'S HEAD REGATTA: the 2011 regatta results are posted here and on the Regatta Page. Thanks to all who volunteered their time to see that things went smoothly.

HURRICANE IRENE: special thanks to those members who prepared the boathouse for Hurricane Irene as well as those who cleaned up in the aftermath. The USGS data show that the river crested at 80,000 cubic ft per second with a nearly 20 ft gauge height. This was the 4th highest crest on record.