Team WinTech and King had a blistering 2024 Head of the Charles Regatta, securing 15 gold medals alongside 14 silvers and seven bronzes, with 17 additional medals handed out for fourth and fifth-placed finishes. In beautiful conditions that saw flat water, pristine skylines and record-breaking runs down the course, our successful crews were scattered across various categories and boat classes, emphasising that WinTech and King remain the choice of champions.

Headlining our three-day effort were the four course records that accompanied those wins. In the Women’s Grand Masters Coxed Fours on Saturday, East Arm won in 20:03, nine seconds ahead of their closest competition before Olympic champion Oliver Zeidler took to the water with his partner, Sofia Meakin (herself a Swiss international), to win the Directors’ Challenge Mixed Doubles by a whopping 34 seconds in 17:00. On Sunday, two course records came in the Directors’ Challenge Men’s Quad and Mixed Eight; a French composite won in 15:03 for the former, and Wimbleball RC secured the latter in 15:43. Both were the fastest in history for those categories, and we were so proud to have our boats involved in these four historic runs.

Not to be overshadowed, a further 14 wins were recorded over the course of the weekend. Molesey Boat Club took the Men’s Grand Masters Coxed Four before John Mannion and Amel Younis won the Lightweight division of the Men’s Championship Double in a field stacked full of Olympic-level talent. Our depth in the doubles was on show as Purdue were the fastest collegiate crew in the same category, securing their pennant in 17:14.

On the women’s side, Whitemarsh Boat Club were the fastest Lightweight crew in the double division before Justin Schmidt took the pennant in the Men’s Lightweight Single for the same boat club. His triumph was by nearly 18 seconds over the next-fastest sculler.

The King shell was once again hailed as the fastest junior shell on the Charles river, as RowAmerica Rye picked up where they left off in the summer of 2024 to win the Women’s Youth Eights. Seven top-ten crews were in King racing shells to rubberstamp our dominance in this specific category, including Saugatuck in silver and fourth.

More broadly, RowAmerica Rye had a phenomenal regatta, picking up a further three golds in our shells across the Women’s U17 Youth Eights (seventh overall), Women’s Youth Coxed Four and Men’s U17 Youth Coxed Four. Not satisfied with a gluttony of gold, a smattering of silver followed in Women’s U17 Youth Coxed Fours, Men’s U17 Youth Coxed Four (a one-two), Men’s Youth Coxed Fours, Men’s Youth Coxed Quads and Women’s Youth Singles.

The Windsor Boys School returned to Boston to retain their Men’s Youth Coxed Quads title; a win secured by just over 13 seconds. Our final win was in the Men’s Collegiate Coxed Fours via the University of San Diego. They dominated the category, winning by nearly 27 seconds. 

Female silver medals were also collected in Women’s Senior Masters Eights (Toronto Sculling), Women’s Grand Master Eights (Endeavor Racing Alliance), Women’s Grand Masters Coxed Fours (Chinook) and Women’s Alumnae Eights (Texas). Saugatuck were second in the Survivors Row, an 11-boat exhibition division, before the British Paralympic Mixed Coxed Four finished in silver (losing out to their long-term rivals from the USA). Wesleyan were second in the Women’s Collegiate Eight before ERA closed out our gold-silver lockdown in the Directors’ Challenge Mixed Eight.

A bucketload of bronzes followed, with an Irish Masters boat finishing third in the Men’s Senior Masters Eight and Chinook placing third in the Men’s Grand Masters Eight. Saugatuck, who had an excellent weekend, were bronze medal-winners in both the Women’s Grand Masters Coxed Four and Women’s U17 Coxed Fours. Endeavor Racing Alliance were third in Women’s Masters Eight, whilst a composite crew – named Eat More Cake – were third in the Directors’ Challenge Women’s Quads. The University of Washington placed two boats in the top five of Women’s Championship Eights and their ’A’ crew – stroked by Cambridge alumni and Boat Race winner Meg Lee – raced to third in a King.

Other excellent results included fourth-placed finishes for RCA Alumni (Men’s Senior Masters Eight), Palm Beach (Men’s Grand Masters Eight), Lucky Charms (Women’s Grand Masters Eight), Molesey (Men’s Senior Masters Coxed Fours), Old Collegians (Women’s Alumnae Eight), Princeton (Men’s Master Eights), Boola Boola (Women’s Masters Eight), TriStar (Women’s U17 Coxed Four), SC Kuesnacht, which featured two Irish and two Swiss Olympians (Men’s Championship Coxed Fours), University of Washington (Women’s Championship Eight) and Team Susan (Directors Challenge Mixed Eight).

We also secured five fifth-placed finishes, with Endeavor Racing Alliance (Women’s Senior Masters Eight), Palm Beach (Men’s Senior Masters Coxed Four), University of Washington (Women’s Alumnae Eight) Saugatuck (Men’s U17 Youth Coxed Fours) and Windsor Boys School (Men’s Youth Coxed Quads).

This was a vintage collection of results for Team WinTech and King at a regatta that waved a fond farewell to summer racing and signalled the start of a long winter of mileage before the season began in earnest in 2025. We cannot wait to watch some of these boats develop over the next few months and are proud to support so many exceptional crews.

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