Sculls, Eights and Funnel Cake-A Plenty

As inhabitants of river houses were roused from their hangovers last Saturday morning by the band warm-up for the Head of the Charles Regatta, hordes of rowing enthusiasts were already up to enjoy some early-morning fried dough.

On Saturday, the collegiate crowd milled around the tents and kiosks without taking much notice of the races. Two girls rowing for Tufts admitted that they were not concerned with their results, and one Columbia oarsman said that he came up mainly “for the festivities.”

Mixed in with the twenty-year-olds sporting their school colors, alumni, families and rowing aficionados were among the ranks at the yearly Head of the Charles regatta. They came to mingle and to sample the chowda, sweet potato fries, kettle corn and other treats hawked by local food vendors.

Allie C. Johnson ’05 admitted that one attraction of the Head of the Charles was the “cute foreign guys in boats... or not in boats,” she trailed off as a chiseled rower strode by. One could also find a great match for one’s dog among the many pure-breds on parade.

On Sunday, more people and more commercial sponsors’ displays crowded the scene. Students rocking out to Gavin DeGraw’s headline performance at Row-a-Palooza were not dissuaded by the drizzle that began around three p.m. Excited on-lookers flocked to the bridges to watch the men’s and women’s Championship Eights event glide colorfully by. Many of the best crew teams in the world were in attendance, including many Ivy League and national teams.

One group on the footbridge that attracted a lot of attention was the club team from Amsterdam, whose rowers wore shabby maroon blazers handed down from generation to generation. The strapping Dutchmen were delighted to practice and compete along the Charles for a week, but they lamented the fact that “in Holland, there would be beer everywhere.” They hadn’t found any along the Charles.

Across the river in Reunion Village, a two-year-old feature of the regatta, professionals young and old sipped wine and beer in the comfort of private tents reserved by alumni associations and families, toasting to four more decades of Head of the Charles tradition.