The Head of the Charles... Rowing's Favorite Fall Regatta!

I received an email from one of my rowing colleagues today reminding me that the Head of the Charles Regatta was being held this weekend (October 18 -20, 2024) in Boston.

Also known as HOCR, the Head of the Charles is a rowing head race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October each year on the Charles River, which separates Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is the largest 3-day regatta in the world, with 11,000 athletes rowing in over 1,900 boats in 61 events.

Per the article below, (originally published on May 10th, 2018), I have many fond memories of the Head of the Charles... (The Boy's in the Boat's remarkable "run" in the spring of '78 actually began in the Fall of '77 at the Head of the Charles!)

UPDATE: May 21st, 2018 - When I first saw the picture above, I assumed it was in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the "Magic 8's" remarkable run... kidding! The real reason behind the latest light scheme... Father Judge held its Senior Prom last week at The Waterworks with a beautiful view of Boathouse Row on the river. The Parents Association got together with the individual Boathouses and the result was that the entire row was lit up in Crusader Red and Blue... how cool is that!

In 1978, Father Judge High School’s Varsity Eight had a remarkable year.

By Paul McBride

May 10, 2018

I received an email today reminding me of the upcoming "Dad" Vail Regatta to be held May 11th & 12th in Philadelphia. The email dovetailed nicely with a story that I was already pulling together for the Father Judge Alumni News.?

40 years ago (May 1978) The Philadelphia Bulletin Sports Headline read “Father Judge’s Crew is Hardly Motley!"

The headline was accompanied by the picture below of the newly crowned Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association’s City Champions.

(L to R) Coxswain Ken D'Aurizio (partially obscured) Stroke/Joe Adler, 7/Paul McBride, 6/John Gentile, 5/Butch Boston, 4/ Kevin Cauley, 3/Tom Neczypor, 2/Tom Kowalik and Bow man John Hopkins.?

The City Championship win was the culmination of an “almost” perfect rowing season that Spring on the Schuylkill River.

The winning ways actually began in the Fall of '77 when Father Judge's 8 arguably won the Head of the Charles on Boston’s “straight course.” Father Judge set the course record for the "Charles" back in 1971 and has always performed well on one of the most tortuous courses in all of rowing. There was a dispute over the winning time with several course officials favoring Judge. The official winning time showed a half second's difference between Judge and Upper Canada (a 5-year high school).

After heading back to Philadelphia for some grueling winter workouts, the team returned to its "home turf" - the Schuylkill River - in early Spring 1978 poised for success. Head Coach Phil Roche loved Sylvester Stallone's "dash" up the Philadelphia Art Museum Steps in ROCKY so much, that he adapted it into our workout with a little "twist"... we ran the steps with one of our teammates on our BACK! Carrying a teammate up those steps was literally a LOAD of fun.

The hardcore workouts paid off immediately once the team hit the water again. Judge's 8 literally "rowed through" the competition taking medals in the individual and cumulative Manny Flick Regattas, The Catholic League Championship and the City Championship. The picture above was taken as we left the Grandstand Dock. If you look very closely, you can see boxes stuffed into our socks. That would be our Gold Medals!

Rowing in a heavyweight 8 is the ultimate collaborative team sport in that it requires "9" men (including your coxswain) to give their best individual performance by working together as one boat. The coxswain is the conductor of this orchestral maneuver and knows each member of the boat's strengths and weaknesses - that can lead to sweet music as the medals pile up!

For one shining moment in 1977 and 1978 Father Judge's Varsity Heavyweight 8 did just that... medal after medal, win after win as early Spring gave way to late Spring.?

The ultimate US Rowing Award is given at The National Regatta which was held at Princeton University that Spring. The winner of this Regatta goes on to The Henley Royal Regatta which has been held annually since 1839 on the Thames River in London. Unfortunately,?Judge's stroke man, Joe Adler, did not make the age requirement for the US Schoolboy Nationals.

The Heavyweight 8 had to be reconfigured and after several "Challenges" - boat races where individual oarsmen are placed in the boat to test the boat's speed and fit - another teammate from our Junior Varsity 8 joined the boat. Unfortunately, the timing of the boat was thrown off and the boat wasn’t able to regain its previous balance. This turn of events, coupled with the fact that the US boats were racing yet another Canadian 5-year high school, did not bode well for Father Judge. The Canadian varsity boats were made up almost exclusively of young men who would be classified as college freshmen in the US.?

That said, Father Judge's "Magic 8" defeated all of its US competition but fell short by half a boat-length to the larger and older Canadian crew. A trip to England was not in the cards as the almost perfect season was not to be.?

The Boys in the Boat from Father Judge have been getting together more often as they reminisce about their time together in the “70’s".?In August 2021 in recognition of the 85th Anniversary of original “Boys in the Boat” from the 1936 Olympics,?the "Great Eight of '78" got together. It was the first time all nine members were together since June of 1978.

(L to R) Jim McCullough, (filling in for head coach and Hall of Fame Inductee Phil Roche, Coxswain Ken D'Aurizio,?Stroke/Joe Adler, 7/Paul McBride, 6/John Gentile, 5/Butch Boston, 4/Kevin Cauley, 3/Tom Neczypor, 2/Tom Kowalik, Bow Man John Hopkins.??Philadelphia, August 2021

While they have been physically away from the water for many years, in their shared memories they're still "on the water and pulling ahead of the competition" as they head into the final stretch just before the Grandstand.

Here's to a great race for all of the teams competing in this year's Head of the Charles.

About the author - Paul McBride is a former Marine, and RVP at ZeOmega Population Health Management Software a leader in Care Management and Medicare Advantage software. He is also the Founder and President of American Military Society Press. You can contact him at [email protected]