Newport Aquatic Center oarsmen heading for Boston

Eight rowers and a coxswain from Newport Aquatic Center are headed to Boston this weekend to compete in the 48th annual Head of the Charles Regatta.

The race takes place on the Charles River and is billed as the world’s most prominent and largest two-day rowing event. NAC men’s head coach Jeff Collett will be guiding the team. The race is the first for NAC this season and Collett sees it as a good measure of early season progress.

“We are looking to place in the top 15,” Collett said. “That would be a solid showing with the work we have put in this early in the season”

The NAC Men’s youth 8+ boat is made up of coxswain Mac Dafferner and oarsmen Tyler Ashoff, Gordon Lewis, Connor Breen, Kyle Flagg, Matt Clemens, Nick Catranis, Matt Kernan and Jacob Studer.

Head competition sends the boats off one after the other rather than side by side with elapsed time determining the winner.

Eighty-five national and international high school age crews will be competing in the Men’s Youth 8+ event. The starting time for the Men’s Youth 8+ event is 10:05 a.m. Pacific time on Sunday.

NAC’s boat has bow No. 26. A live feed of the race is available at https://hocr.org/the-2012-regatta/2012-live-webcast/.

The Head of the Charles also marks itself as the “ultimate two-day rowing competition.” Over 9,000 athletes, 300,000 spectators and 1,400 volunteers are expected to take to the Charles River and its shores for the event.

— Bill Lewis