The Head of the Charles is the largest rowing regatta in the world, followed closely by the Henley in England. Around 8,000 athletes, representing 600 universities, schools, and rowing clubs, plus 250,000 visitors attend it every year. It was a great weekend for MIT, which placed 6th out of 58 in the Collegiate heavyweight eights, their best ever effort. It is an awesome sport to watch.
A "head" race is usually held during the fall season and is around 3 miles long. Boats are staggered at the start, with about 10-15 seconds allowed between boats. Since they start in single file, the course time is tracked by the bow number. Most of the teams have identifying marks on their oars which helps viewers to find their team. MIT has a white oar with a large red "T". Normally the head race will be named for the river on which it is held. In the spring, sprint season begins. Races are 2,000 meters with everyone racing beside each other in lanes. You might be familiar with this if you have ever watched rowing in the Olympics. We actually saw each of the national teams row at the HOTC. (11.3.06)
The following link will take you to the website for this year's regatta: Head of the Charles
Crew Posts Best-Ever Finish in Collegiate Eight at Head of the Charles
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - MIT's varsity heavyweight crew took advantage of beautiful weather and a home course advantage on Sunday to post their best-ever finish in the Head of the Charles "Collegiate Eights" race. The big boat started 22nd out of 58 crews, and had to row through heavy traffic to finish in sixth place. First and second places went to Canadian schools, making MIT the fourth American finisher. Since the Collegiate Eights race was introduced in 2002, MIT had never finished higher than 14th.
MIT's second boat, rowing as Beaver Boat Club, collided with Peking University's crew under the Weeks footbridge. The impact sank the Chinese boat and turned the MIT boat perpendicular to the racecourse. While no one was hurt, the MIT boat lost significant time and finished 55th.
The following link will allow you to read this same article on the MIT Crew website. You can also browse around and see more about the other teams.
I have included a few photos of the weekend. In this photo, the varsity heavyweight eight has just gotten into their racing shell and are preparing to launch. Steve Young, their coxswain (otherwise known as 120 pounds of sheer terror who controls eight huge rowers) is talking to them and getting into their heads. He doesn't get into the shell until the bow reaches the end of the dock. Steve is also a sophomore and coxed the freshman heavyweight eight last year. He was a national junior sailing champion in high school.
The next photo is at about the one mile mark in the race. They are approaching the Weeks footbridge. Rane is in seat 4, which is counted from the bow (or front) of the boat. That makes him fourth from the right in this photo. You can also see the synchronization of the oars out of the water in the "recovery" stage of the stroke. You can just make out the red "T" on the oar.
This is one of seven bridges they must go through during three miles of racing. They were forced to go wide under this particular bridge because they were in the process of passing. (Rane is in the middle.)
You can see them now as they have to pass on the outside making this turn after the bridge.
This photo is of the two heavyweight teams in the boathouse, as the second boat relates their story to the first boat. The second boat was hit from behind by the Chinese. It turned them sideways and injured one rower's hand. They were thrown off course and incurred penalties for going outside the race buoys. The Chinese boat sank about one mile after the collision! I think the Chinese were trying out their potential Olympic athletes. Their coxswain couldn't get a visa, so a Chinese grad student at MIT coxed their boat. She ran their bow into our second team's stern. (Rane has his back toward the camera---third from the right, the tallest guy.)
The photo below was sent to me by Rane. It shows the bow of the Chinese boat (on the extreme left) hitting our second team in the back. If you can find the buoys, you can tell the boat has already been spun toward the starboard (right) side.
And now for a view of the racing from one of the bridges. It is beautiful to watch!
