By Geoff Bates
Standing on the banks of the Charles in the month of October, with a crisp autumn breeze blowing, looking out onto a river banked with colorful trees and thousands of fans watching as each boat passes by: Spectators can’t help but get excited.
For the New Englander and regatta-racing aficionado, there is no better time of the year than now and there is no better competition than the Head of the Charles Regatta. This year’s Head of the Charles, the 39th in its illustrious history, will be held on Oct.18 and 19.
The story of the Head of the Charles competition began in Cambridge with Harvard University’s sculling instructor, Ernest Arlett, who is credited with the idea for the very first competition. As the story goes, Arlett thought to himself that the collegiate rowing cycle was somewhat monotonous; the students would begin in the early fall, and by November, they would be confined to their indoor training facility, the “tanks,” for the remainder of the winter and into the spring. What Arlett thought was missing was a rewarding event that athletes could look forward to, something that spurred a little excitement and an event that would help ease the competitors into a winter of indoor training.
To solve this problem, Arlett looked to his home country of England, to a rowing event called the “Head of the River.” In this event, competitors would race, but it was not the clock they were chasing. Rather, they were chasing the other competitors. The object of this competition was to row and bump their opponents’ boats from behind, otherwise referred to as “bump” or “head” racing. When a boat was rammed, it was considered to be “out.” Since the boats back then were extremely sturdy, they would sustain little damage, compared to the cost of damage that would occur with today’s lighter, more aerodynamic and costly boats. Eventually, one by one, each of the boats that had entered the race would be eliminated until only one was left standing. This last boat standing was referred to as the “head of the river.”
To Arlett, this made perfect sense; why not hold a similar competition in Boston? So Arlett, in accordance with Cambridge Boat Club members Howard McIntyre, D’Arcy MacMahon and Jack Vincent, who approved his idea. The inaugural race was held on Oct. 16, 1965. By today’s standards, this first race was minuscule, consisting of only local colleges and rowing clubs. Little by little, this event began to gain notoriety as word of it spread. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today, the Head of the Charles constitutes one of the world’s largest two-day rowing event and is viewed by over a quarter-million spectators each year. The race is three miles long, and boats race against each other, each one starting one after the other. There is no more “bumping,” but, rather, the event is timed, and the winner, with a nod to the event’s ancestral past, is crowned the “Head of the Charles.”
While this event is not considered part of the collegiate rowing season, Northeastern has participated in every competition since the first race in 1965, and has consistently been ranked in the top six collegiate finishers year-in and year-out. Over 40 colleges participate in the race each year.
Women’s crew coach Joe Wilhelm recommended NU students check out the “carnival atmosphere” on both the Weeks and Anderson Bridges near Harvard Square.
“It’s probably one of the biggest sporting events in the world in terms of numbers of competitors and spectators,” said Wilhelm. “It’s a pretty treacherous course, there is always the possibility of the crews running into each other and not making it to the finish line.
“It would be a good time for any students to go and see,” he added.
This year marks the 39th annual rowing of The Head of the Charles Regatta, one of the largest rowing events in the world. The event kicks off on Saturday and continues into Sunday. Racing enthusiasts from around the world will converge on the shores of the Charles River.
