Head Of The Charles Regatta 2015 HOCR Program | Page 6

welcome/ A LETTER FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND OUR PRESENTING SPONSOR, BNY MELLON EDWARD SMITH, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, HEAD OF THE CHARLES REGATTA CURTIS ARLEDGE, VICE CHAIRMAN AND CEO, BNY MELLON INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT W elcome to the 2015 Regatta! On behalf of the Regatta’s Board of Directors, as well as everyone at our Presenting Sponsor BNY Mellon, we heartily welcome you to Boston for this year’s running of the Head Of The Charles Regatta, the largest two-day rowing event in the world. For the third consecutive year, BNY Mellon is proud to continue as the Presenting Sponsor of the Head Of The Charles Regatta and is equally delighted to support this iconic New England event in its fifty-first year. In this pre-Olympic year and as rowing continues to expand both domestically and internationally, BNY Mellon especially is pleased to have a role in shaping both the Head Of The Charles and the historic Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. Further, Newton Investment Management, a BNY Mellon company, also supports the annual Newton Women’s Boat Race in the United Kingdom. In 2013, working alongside the HOCR race directors, BNY Mellon established the inaugural BNY Mellon College Championship Trophy for collegiate competitors in the Regatta’s Men’s and Women’s Championship Eights. The trophy is presented to the fastest college competitor in the Championship Eights Races. Last year, the winners were the Harvard University men and the University of Virginia women. Good luck to all competitors as they vie for top collegiate honors this year. PHOTO: MASON D COX PRESENTED BY BNY MELLON 2015 looks to be another banner year for competitors as they line up to compete in 60 events. While there are scores of other domestic fall races, no other “head” race in America draws spectators the same way as the Head Of The Charles Regatta. The confluence of over 600 universities, colleges, and schools added to the winding and challenging Charles River makes Boston the ideal host for such an event. Nowhere else in the United States can the audience get as close to the racing as one can here. As such, the rowers can enjoy the loud, appreciative shouts from family, friends and supporters. Over the weekend, up to 350,000 enthusiastic fans will walk along the banks of the river to witness what has been dubbed the “Super Bowl” of rowing. With so many races to squeeze in during daylight hours, the racing will begin at 0800 and run throughout the entire day, culminating at dusk, both on Saturday and Sunday. These Olympic, youth, club, and collegiate athletes, come from far and wide, even across the globe—hoping for favorable winds and fast turns and, most importantly, the prospect of a medal hanging around their necks when they leave! Of note in 2015, please be sure to take a stroll to the Weld Boathouse area where you will find an array of companies engaging the audience and selling or sampling products. Multi-year corporate OPPOSITE A “Stone’s” throw from Eliot Bridge FIFTY-FIRST HEAD OF THE CHARLES REGATTA 7