About OBC

The Occoquan Boat Club was founded in 1979 by Rick Evans to represent independent rowers on the Occoquan and to promote rowing in Northern Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region. The club started with three members and in recent years has registered approximately 150-200 rowers annually. Over the years the fleet has grown to over 30 boats including singles, doubles/pairs and quads/straight fours. The Head of the Occoquan Regatta, first held in 1983, has now grown into a two-day event with 600 boats and thousands of athletes; proceeds from the regatta are, next to membership fees, the main source of club income. In 2009, OBC added the Occoquan Memorial Sprints (OMS) to the regattas it hosts annually in order to fund the Julia Shew Memorial Scholarship Fund for local high school rowers.

Throughout its history OBC has lived up to its stated purpose of supporting Northern Virginia rowing, frequently contributing funding for park infrastructure and equipment, lending its boats for sculling camps, and providing rowing scholarships for local high school rowers. OBC’s by-laws state that one of the main purposes of the club is “to support rowing in Northern Virginia.” In the past OBC has helped the Northern Virginia Park Authority finance facility upgrades to the boathouse and contribute to new buildings and docks. 

The club has allowed use of its boats to numerous youth and adult sculling programs, and has provided training funds to Olympic hopefuls. In July of 2009 OBC held the first annual Occoquan Masters Sprints, now called the Occoquan Memorial Sprints, and all proceeds from the race are used to provide scholarships to high school students who row on the Occoquan and who are in need of financial aid.