Coach Jane at The Head of the Charles

The Head of the Charles is one of the largest regattas in the world.  With a three mile upstream course, passing through seven bridges, it is considered one of the most challenging courses in the rowing world.  Over the two day event 1,953 boats raced under the power of almost 9,000 athletes.  Amongst those athletes was a crew of eight women in the Master 40+ category and one hard driving coxswain named James representing the Greater Lawrence Rowing program.  I joined this club about five weeks ago after a two year hiatus from rowing, specifically to fill a seat in their boat entry for the Charles.  We medaled in two regattas leading up to the Charles which fueled our enthusiasm and confidence.  However, it’s rare to place eight athletes with varying experience levels in a boat, toss in a handful of on the water practice sessions and expect great outcomes.  So, this past weekend we rowed the Charles with confidence tempered with a good dose of humility.  Our division had seventeen boats representing clubs from England, Canada and several clubs from the United States.  Head races are time trials so boats set off at  roughly ten to fifteen second intervals.  Passing or being passed by boats is the only indicator a crew may get as to their status amongst the immediate field of competitors.  We passed the boat immediately ahead of us within the first 750 meters and then fought unsuccessfully to fend off a boat passing us.  With no more passes we crossed the finish line with a time of 19:40.25  We emptied our tanks having left it all out on the race course.  We rowed really well.  There just happened to be ten other crews that rowed even better.  It was a beautiful day to race and it was capped off with food, beer and lots of discussion about the next time we take on the Charles.  Only one thing is for sure, we WILL be faster.