While the Head of the Charles celebrates its 60th year with decades of storied history across most events, the Youth Coxed Quad category is in relative nascency, having been introduced to the schedule in 2016. Six programmes have come away with championship wins in the Men’s Coxed Quad, with New Canaan Rowing Club winning back-to-back Charles events in 2018 and 2019, while The Windsor Boys’ School has equaled that feat with their wins in 2023 and 2024. This year’s regatta invites 51 quads from across the United States, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, and China to compete for a top prize in North American fall rowing.
The Windsor Boys’ School
Bow number one in the event, The Windsor Boys’ School returns to Cambridge with another victory in the Fawley Challenge Cup under their belts. Their 2025 victory, by a commanding four-and-a-half lengths, gave them their third victory in four years at the Henley Royal Regatta. Coupled with the excellent performance of their ‘A’ crew at the Henley, Windsor’s ‘B’ entry narrowly lost to Hinksey Sculling School, who wound up in the final opposite the aforementioned victors from Windsor ‘A.’ Starting first and fifth with their two crews, Windsor appears primed to continue their winning streak after capturing gold at the 2023 and 2024 Head of the Charles Regattas, which would put them as the first programme to win this category three times in a row.
Los Gatos Rowing Club
Fast on the heels of their British opponents will be California’s Los Gatos Rowing Club, starting at bow number four. The Bay Area club won the 2024 Youth National Championship in the Varsity Quad, and then one-upped themselves this past spring, winning both the Varsity and Second Varsity Quads at the 2025 edition of the Youth National Championships. While Los Gatos appears to be prioritizing their Coxed Four in Boston, the depth and competitiveness of their squad is still enough to post a top finish, with the quad composed of one oarsman apiece from the winning 1V and 2V quads, an athlete from the 3V quad (fifth place at Youths), another from the U17 Eight (sixth at the Youth National Championships), and the coxswain from the fourth place U16 Coxed Quad.
Belen Jesuit High School
Punching up from a scholastic level is Miami, Florida’s Belen Jesuit High School, an all-boys’ programme that has been dominant across both the high school and youth levels over the past two decades. At the Youth National Championships this past spring, Belen Jesuit made the A-final in the Varsity Quad, finishing eighth, while their Second Varsity Quad finished 13th. However, in a major boon for the Wolverines’ development, they won gold in the U17 Quad at Youth Nationals, in addition to a gold medal in the Junior Varsity Quad, alongside a fourth-place finish in the Freshmen Quad, at the 2025 Scholastic Nationals. When speaking of his athletes’ dedication this season, Head Coach Yunian Cabrera Torres said, “When you have a motivated team, it’s easier to work with them and push toward new limits.” Bow number 44 must pass as many crews as possible to give their coxswain a clear run down the track for them to earn a spot on the podium.
RowAmerica Rye
While RowAmerica Rye’s quadruple sculls did not dominate at the Youth National Championships last spring, finishing in the C-Final for both their first and second boats, it is impossible to deny that the club routinely develops the finest junior crews in the country, in both the sculling and sweep disciplines and across both men’s and women’s events. This is evident through, among the many other golds, posting three victories in a row at the USRowing Youth National Championships blue-ribbon event, the Youth Eight. While Rye earned a silver medal in this event at last year’s HOCR, it remains to be seen where their boating priorities lie, as they have two Youth Eights entered, a Youth Four, two U17 Fours, and a Double alongside their Coxed Quad. However, a similar entry spread did not diminish any of their entries’ results in 2024, and only a novice to the sport would discount a crew from Rye.
Maritime Rowing Club
As is the theme for this entire list, Connecticut’s Maritime Rowing Club, entering at bow number 11, joins the fray with an impressive amount of depth. At the USRowing Youth National Championships, Maritime finished fourth in the Varsity Quad, sixth and seventh in the Second Varsity Quad, and third and sixth in the U17 category. For the Head of the Charles, Maritime returns two athletes each from their Varsity and Second Varsity Quads. So far this season, Maritime finished first and second in the Coxed Quad event at Hartford’s fall classic, the Head of the Riverfront.
Nereid Rowing Club
New Jersey’s Nereid Rowing Club ships up to Boston after their 2025 season concluded with a fifth-place finish in the Varsity Quad and an 11th-place result in the U17 Quad. Starting bow number three, the programme will attempt to chase down Rye and Windsor.
St. Catharines Rowing Club
The instantly recognisable cerise-and-blue singlets of Canada’s St. Catharines Rowing Club are starting off at bow number six, and the club returns one oarsman from last year’s crew. They enter the regatta having won both the Welland Five Bridges Classic and the Head of the Trent in the Coxed Quad, albeit they won the latter after rival Ridley College hamstrung themselves with a penalty. Spectators should anticipate yet another close race between the two Ontario teams.
Ridley College Rowing Club
St. Catharines, Ontario, plays host to another excellent team in the Ridley College Rowing Club. Ridley returns two athletes from their gold medal quad at last spring’s Canadian Secondary Schools National Championship, who also finished fourth at the Royal Canadian Henley. At the Welland Five Bridges Classic, Ridley won the Coxless Quad and finished second in the Coxed Quad. At the Head of the Trent, they eclipsed rival St. Catharines by 1.9 seconds on raw time, though they ultimately finished second after committing a penalty.
Predictions
It would be wildly shocking to predict anything other than a win and the first threepeat in this category for The Windsor Boys’ School. They have put their bow in front of every other crew in the most important races on both the North American and European continents for the past few seasons. Chasing them down for the minor medals will be Miami’s Belen Jesuit and California’s Los Gatos Rowing Club, with additional fights put up by Windsor’s ‘B’ entry, Nereid Boat Club, Maritime Rowing Club, RowAmerica Rye, and one of the Canadian crews in St. Catharines Rowing Club and Ridley College Rowing Club.
