Virginia Begins Fall Season at the Head of The Charles on Sunday

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Oct. 16, 2015

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia rowing team opens its fall season at the world’s largest regatta, the Head of The Charles, in Boston on Sunday (Oct. 18).

The 51st edition of the Head of the Charles will feature over 2,200 crews and 11,000 athletes in 55 events and is expected to draw a crowd of more than 400,000 spectators over two days.

The Cavaliers will send two boats to Boston. Virginia will have an entrant in both the Championship Eights and Championship Fours. The fours will start at 2:16 p.m., while the eights are scheduled to begin at 2:44 p.m. UVA will look to have the top collegiate boat in the Championship Eights for the fifth consecutive year.

The Head of the Charles course is 5,000 meters along the Charles River, featuring seven bridges, multiple turns and passing in a head-race format. In head races, each crew starts single file about 10-15 seconds apart and the results are based on time. All three of the Cavaliers’ fall regattas follow this format, which differs from the spring season, where boats line up side-by-side and race down a straight 2,000-meter course.

On Saturday, nine Cavalier alums will comprise a boat that will compete in the Women’s Alumni Eights. UVa assistant coach Brett Gorman will compete for her alma mater, Michigan, in the same race.

The Cavaliers continue their fall season at the Princeton Chase in Princeton, N.J., on Sunday, Nov. 1.