A cox is responsible for the safety of his/her crew on the water, keeping a good lookout, steering the boat and issuing commands to the crew.

Maidenhead Rowing Club values the responsible and skilled job done by its coxes whether on our home stretch, on longer recreational outings or racing – predominantly at other River Thames Clubs, or on the Tideway, at Dorney Lake or Holme Pierrepont.

If you are interested in coxing at Maidenhead, whether you are experienced, a complete beginner or somewhere in between, please get in touch with our Captain:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Useful links for coxes:  

Maidenhead Rowing Club’s Safety Plan

Maidenhead Rowing Club’s PFD

British Rowing’s Coxing Courses

Oxford University Rowing Clubs’ Coxing Guides

Trinity College, Cambridge, Coxing Guide

Coxing a Tideway Head - standard steering guide for Head of the River Race

Maidenhead Rowing Club has a thriving Daytime Recreational Squad, who meet on Tuesday and Friday mornings for a couple of hours on the river.

We are a group of all ages and experience, we sometimes have as many as 20 rowers coming down to row our beautiful 3km stretch of the River Thames, under the iconic Brunel Sounding Arch bridge, as it widens out on its way down to Bray Lock.

We have a mixture of wide and fine boats made up of singles, doubles, quads and even a triple, on hand as we mix and match members to ensure that those looking to improve their skills get an experienced ‘bow’ to steer and monitor technique along the way!

Above all, it is a fun group who have the pleasure of rowing on one of the most beautiful stretches of river in the country. 

We do have the opportunity to participate in the Thames Valley Explore League event, held monthly at different rowing clubs (hosted by Maidenhead in the winter months). This event is great fun to have a taste at racing. 

If you are interested in joining or want more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Adaptive rowing is for people with disabilities who participate in the sport of rowing. Anyone can get involved in rowing, regardless of physical disability, sensory or learning impairment. Adaptive Rowing is a fast-growing and increasingly competitive area of the rowing scene with a growing number of local clubs (including Maidenhead) welcoming adaptive rowers from beginner up to international levels of experience.

The Adaptive squad was formed in 2017 to encourage and enable adaptive competitive and recreational rowing at Maidenhead Rowing Club for athletes in the club catchment area, and to host adaptive rowers from visiting clubs at Maidenhead Rowing Club events.

We are extremely grateful to the Shanly Foundation and the Peter Harrison Foundation for their generous donations that have enabled us to purchase two of our adaptive boats.

We train on a Wednesday evening and Saturday afternoon, compete in events in the Thames Region to the Midlands, and host a programme of adaptive events at our annual summer regatta. We would love to hear from you if you would like to join us.

Watch the video here.

To find out more contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The BR Thames Regional Rowing Council has more information on adaptive rowing here                                    

In 2014 we introduced a second stage to our Learn to Row courses which lasted 13 weeks. The aim was to further develop the technical skills of those wanting to take their rowing further.

After this second stage, people can elect to take their rowing further still in one of the three main squads – the Recreation Squad, the Vets (Masters) Squads or if they want to join with the Senior Men and Women’s squads we run a bespoke Development Squad.

This aims to take people through to competitive rowing, looking at becoming full members of the Senior Squads in the following year.

The Dev Squad will train 4-5 times a week, usually, two water sessions in the winter months on Saturday and Sunday and three in the spring and summer months when it is light enough to row in the evenings. Ergo sessions, circuits and weights all feature in the land training.

We also take people into the Dev Squad who have done L2R programmes at other clubs. Entry to the Dev Squad is through our Learn to Row programmes or if you have done this elsewhere, contact the club in the first instance: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Claires Court School Boat Club was founded in 1985 by Peter Jowitt, a teacher from the school. Boating from the old Maidenhead Rowing Club it had reasonable success in its first two years before John Rayer joined the school in 1987. John, an active Maidenhead Rowing Club member, joined the school’s rowing department and put a successful structure in place which allowed crews to make national finals and win medals. The first major success came in 1990 with a J16 2-selected to row for England in the Anglo-French Match.

Since then the Boat Club has gained successes at Henley Royal Regatta winning the Fawley Challenge Cup twice in 1997 and 1998 in a composite crew with Windsor Boys School.

Claires Court moved across the Thames with us in 1998 and in recent years has been guided by Tom Jost, another Maidenhead member who joined us as a Junior. Tom’s coaching team has developed the Boat Club into a successful squad consistently winning medals at national level and taking part in GB Trials.

The Rec squad is a friendly group of men and women of all ages. It is ideal for rowers wishing to develop their skills and for building confidence following the Learn to Row course or for those who just enjoy the sport of rowing. We mainly scull (when a rower has two oars), using boats of all sizes, although there are also opportunities for sweep (when a rower has one oar held with both hands).

We are a sociable squad who generally meet three times a week - twice in the evenings and once at the weekend, making use of the bar or coffee and breakfast after exercising on the beautiful River Thames.

Through the year we arrange a number of long rows. The outings are sometimes up to Bourne End or Marlow, or downstream to Windsor, going through lovely countryside and pretty locks. The long rows include a pub lunch or picnic.

In the winter the river can be too high or fast flowing to row. Fortunately, we are situated just 2 miles from the excellent Dorney Lake, which was used for the 2012 Olympics. The lake isn’t affected by high rainfall, so we still have an opportunity to row, even when it’s not possible to do so on the river.

When rowing isn’t possible, we sometimes arrange a bike ride or walk, and there is always the option of using the clubs ergos (rowing machines) and weight training equipment. For a social outing and chance to refine our technique, we also arrange visits to indoor rowing tank facilities at the Docklands Regatta Centre or Oxford University.

Although the squad isn’t competitive we do have the opportunity to participate in the Thames Valley Explore League event, held monthly at different rowing clubs (hosted by Maidenhead in the winter months) also at Maidenhead Regatta.  This event is great fun to have a taste of racing. The club has a strong social side, examples of fun events organised by members are meals out, bbq, parties, balls, trips away and quiz nights.  

If you are interested in joining or want more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.