The Tall Ships are gone, but boats are back in the water this weekend in Dorchester Bay as the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) returns to Carson Beach for the second year of its dynamic Beach Sprint racing format.
The three-day coastal rowing event kicked off this morning with a clinic led by Team USA Rowing Coach Marc Oria held from 8 a.m. to noon. Racing will begin this afternoon with timed trials from 4:15 to 7 p.m.
About 130 athletes will compete in the event this weekend.
“This afternoon we will have our timed trials, which is the preliminary round for the event, and that will kind of get all the racing that happens tomorrow sorted out,” said Brendan Mulvey, Director of Racing at HOCR. “Some people will be knocked out, some people will progress to a second round, and then third round tomorrow evening.”
Once timed trials are complete, the top athletes will move on to head-to-head racing, which will take place on both Saturday and Sunday.
Photos by Cassidy McNeeley.
“We have two athletes that will stand side by side at the start line. They will run straight down to their boats, jump in, and then slalom out to the far buoy, 180-degree turn, and then row straight back in, crash the beach, run and hit a button at the finish line.”
In total, the head-to-head races include a 250-meter on-water slalom component with a short beach sprint of roughly 30 to 50 meters before and after.
“With its speed and energy, Beach Sprints are unlike anything most fans have seen in rowing,” said Tori Stevens, executive director of the Head Of The Charles. “We’re excited to debut this new Olympic format in Boston, a city with deep rowing roots and the rare combination of river and ocean.”
While Beach Sprints will not make its Olympic debut until the 2028 Los Angeles Games, some Olympic-level athletes from the USA, New Zealand, Brazil, and Puerto Rico will be competing right here in Boston all weekend long.
“Last summer was the largest beach sprint to date in North America. We have a great platform in the rowing community in Boston, and the Head of the Charles brand kind of pulls in some of these big athletes,” Mulvey said. “We’re really excited and just plugging for Carson Beach and the Dorchester community; we’re so happy to be here.”
Visit https://hocr.org/the-regatta/beach-sprints/ for the race schedule and more details.
