2016 Head of the Charles Information

Good Afternoon, Mercer Parents,

We are looking forward to our second regatta of the season!  The Head of the Charles (www.hocr.org) is a Varsity-only regatta scheduled for Sunday, October 23, in Boston, MA.  The coaches will post a travel roster and line-ups separately.  Mercer has entered one Youth Men’s 8+, scheduled to race at 12:43pm, and two Youth Women’s 8+ boats, scheduled to race at 10:05am, both on Sunday.

For Parents of Rowers who are Attending:

We are departing from the boathouse at 6:30 am Friday, October 21.  The plan is to drive directly to the course so the athletes can rig the boats and get in a practice row.  We will be returning to the boathouse on Sunday, October 23, some time in the evening.  Racing for us is on Sunday.  Coxswains have a course set for Saturday, and we expect another practice for the athletes on Saturday.  As before, we will keep you posted via blog and/or Facebook.

We will be staying at the Boston Marriott Newton, 2345 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, MA  02466.  The hotel provides a full breakfast (versus the hotel continental breakfast at the Housatonic) and we have arranged breakfast, lunch and dinner for Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sunday.  There is a team dinner at Bertucci’s in Newton on Saturday.  You should still have your rower bring extra snacks in case they get hungry between meals..

The packing list is similar to the last regatta (Houstatonic), except a reminder to please pack some cold-weather clothes!  To give you an idea, last year it started to snow in the afternoon as the last of our boats was finishing the race.  You may want to send some extra cash as well – many of the athletes will want to purchase regatta t-shirts and other memorabilia.

The registration link for Head of the Charles is here.  The trip fee covers both registration fees for the regatta as well as travel costs including, hotels, food, and coaches accommodation.  Please note that the coaches register the athletes for the event; the registration cost you are asked to pay is just the mechanism by which we cover the costs associated with travel.

The trip fee is higher than in previous years for several reasons but the biggest factors driving the increase are that we are taking fewer boats from the other clubs to the Charles. That has subsidized some of the Charles cost for the last 2 years. Also, the club has historically lost money on the HOCR as we have underestimated expenses. This year we have tried to better tie actual expenses to the trip fee. We understand that the Charles participation fees are a significant expense.  We are looking at ways to reduce costs going forward.

For Parents who are Watching from Home:

Regatta results were posted last year on RegattaCentral.  The regatta site also has a live-stream feed, so you can follow along in real time.  We expect ample cell coverage as well, so we will try to post results on site.

Coaches’ Travel Note:

The Head of Charles is a unique event.  It is very hard to obtain an entry through the open lottery system.  The only way to avoid the lottery and guarantee an entry for the next year is to finish in the top half of your event.  In 2016, for the second time in the history of the club, Mercer has three guaranteed entries.  The second unique aspect of the Charles is that it is an incredibly difficult course to navigate for a coxswain.  There are a couple of extreme turns, six bridges, and many boats to pass along the way.  Therefore, we want to make sure our coxswains are prepared.  We want to ensure that we have best possible chance of finishing in the top half of each race, so future Mercer rowers have the opportunity to participate at this great event.  We believe it is crucial for us to have the ability to get athletes out on the course for a row on Friday, and have our coxswains attend the coxswains clinic on Saturday, as it will help them be relaxed and prepared for the race on Sunday.

A huge thank you again to everyone who has offered to help.  We look forward to another successful regatta.

Go, Mercer!