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Rowers in several shells race past the grandstands at the Head of the Charles, seen from behind.

Head of the Charles Sunday: Holland Acht Hold Off Harvard

The world champion Dutch eight edge the Crimson on the final day in Boston, Cambridge put nearly 20 seconds into Oxford, and a US scratch crew of world champions finishes eight seconds behind its own bronze-medal eight.

Words: Row360
Photography: Benedict Tufnell
1 min read
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The sun was out for the final day of the 61st Head of the Charles which saw Holland Acht hold off Harvard by little more than half a second in the men's championship eights. The Dutch, who retained their world title at the Bosbaan in August, won in 13:32.835. Harvard finished as the fastest college crew. Cambridge, unable to deliver coach Rob Baker a third consecutive title, did at least medal and put just over 17 seconds into old rivals Oxford in the first meeting of the 2027 Boat Race season. Leander were ninth.

The US entered two eights in the women's championship. The full World Championships bronze-medal line-up won in 14:44.037, eight seconds ahead of a scratch boat assembled from the world champion four, the pair and the spare pair. Virginia (15:02.791) and Princeton (15:06.987) led the colleges in third and fourth. Leander were fifth, just ahead of sixth-placed Cambridge, who finished six seconds clear of tenth-placed Oxford.

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St Paul's School, Henley's Princess Elizabeth winners, retained the men's youth eights title despite a penalty, while RowAmerica Rye held on to the women's title. Three events went to Los Gatos, among them both youth coxed quads, bringing Windsor Boys' School's three-year hold on the men's title to an end. Sixteen-year-old Ellery Borggaard of Cambridge Boat Club and Community Rowing's Mariia Prodan took the youth singles.

Tufts won the women's collegiate eights for a fourth straight year, ahead of Wellesley, and their B boat finished fourth.

Four rowing coxswains in life jackets sit in a line of shells on the water at the starting line.