The Start Line: The British ship off to Boston

October 17, 2025

Join us at The Start Line and look ahead to an outstanding weekend of domestic and international racing

Credit: AllMarkOne

Welcome back to The Start Line! Check out some of the racing that is taking place across the UK and in the United States this weekend.

Dozens of British crews cross the pond for the Head of The Charles Regatta

For 60 years, the Head of the Charles Regatta has been welcoming crews from across the world for three miles of racing down the iconic Charles River. In this special anniversary year, crews from 25 countries, including some of the finest that Great Britain has to offer are making the trip to state of Massachusetts. Nearly 2700 entries from 853 clubs will make the pilgrimage to Boston with events ranging from Youth categories right up to Grand Masters.

The Championship events naturally draw the headlines and on both the Men’s and Women’s side of things, there’s plenty of British talent making the trip across. For the second year in a row, the women of Oxford University BC and Cambridge University BC will meet for the first time this season on the Charles River. The light blue men also make the trip across and they will lead off Championship Eights, having won last year while Leander Club will start bow number 14, coxed by double Paralympic gold medallist Erin Kennedy. As well as the Oxbridge crews, Leander Club and Molesey BC will also be fielding some brilliant combination in the Women’s Championship Eights.

British rowers are very familiar with ‘The Triple,’ the infamous crown given to crews who win Schools’ Head, National Schools’ Regatta, and Henley Royal Regatta. Over the past few years, this has started grow into ‘The Quadruple’ adding in a win at the Head of The Charles as well. St Paul’s School BC and The Windsor Boys’ School’ have achieved this feat in recent years. The two crews will lead off Youth Eights and Youth Coxed Quads having won those events last year, respectively. St Paul’s will be joined in Youth Eights by a strong British contingent. KCS Wimbledon, King’s Chester, St Edward’s, Radley, and the Windsor Boy’s School are all fielding crews, while Headington School BC, who placed sixth last year, are joined in the Women’s event by St Paul’s Girls School, and Tideway Scullers School as well.

The Head of the Charles is famously a coxes race. The bends and the bridges have claimed legendary status and a cox can make a name for themselves steering a race-winning line. While J18s and J16s are used to racing coxless quadruple sculls across the UK, that’s not the case in Boston. Diamond Jubilee finalists, Marlow RC are joined semi-finalists Tideway Scullers School as well as Headington School BC who also have a crew entered.

The three-day event is known for being a big reunion for rowers across the world. Nothing epitomises this more than Alumni Eights. Crabtree BC, have crews in both the Men’s and Women’s events but one crew in particular os drawing the headlines. Going off bow 24, the second of the two Cambridge crews is dripping with talent including Olympic champions Grace Prendergast and Imogen Grant, and the latter is also racing in the Women’s Championship Single Sculls. Durham University BC and St Edward’s School BC will also be represented by their graduates racing under 1877 Club and St Edward’s Martyrs BC.

Speaking of reunions, the Head of The Charles offers the unique opportunity for families to row together. In the Directors’ Challenge Parent/Child Double Sculls, Molesey BC’s Joseph and Tom Middleton and Ben and Julia Hunt-Davis will go up against Crabtree BC’s Sam and Charlie Brooks as well as Matthew and Ollie Parish. Wallingford RC will be represented by Rachel and Anne Grainger while Stirling RC will have Oliver and Kevin Plank making the trip across the pond.

Across the weekend, plenty of British athletes who race for American universities will also be racing, hoping to lay down an early-season marker ahead of the Spring racing season.

Head of The Charles Draw

Berwick ARC hosts next instalment of the Northern Rowing Long Distance Sculling series

Now into it’s fourth week, the Northern Rowing LDS heads to the River Tweed. 66 crews are scheduled to row the 5000m course, finishing at White Sands.

Queen Elizabeth High School BC will lead off the division with their Open J17 and J18 Quadruple Sculls. We can expect some great racing across the Open Single Sculls. Andrew Cairns will be representing the host club and he’ll be up against some cracking scullers from Durham ARC, Chester le Street ARC and Cambois RC.

Across the Masters events, the biggest fields will be in the Open Masters GH Double Sculls and the Open Master DFI Quadruple Sculls. Keep an eye out of Chester-le-Street ARC’s Women’s Quadruple Scull that starts bow number 10, they’ll be looking to see how far up the finish order they can get.

Berwick LDS

What else is on this weekend?

Meet the mother of four who beat the GB Rowing Team at last year’s British Rowing Indoor Championships

Credit: AllMarkOne

Fergus Mainland caught up with indoor rowing legend Elizabeth Gilmore to chat all things ergos and plans for the 2025 British Rowing Indoor Championships

Social Spotlight: When you meet your crew on the start line…

Mixed Challenge Quads were a first at the 2025 British Rowing Beach Sprint Championships, where you could either enter a crew or a seat entry, to be drawn into a boat on the day.

Check out how our rowers got on, interviews on our website now!