The Head of the Charles Regatta is this weekend, when more than 9,000 rowers and 300,000 spectators will flock to the Charles River for the two-day rowing competition. Races are all day Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Here are five things you should know about the regatta and Northeastern’s participation.

1. The Head of the Charles started in 1965 and was spearheaded by Ernest Arlett, Northeastern’s first rowing coach. He was also the sculling coach for the U.S. Olympic team at the 1976 Summer Olympics. That same year Arlett was inducted into the Northeastern University Athletics Hall of Fame.

2. The regatta’s course starts at Boston University’s DeWolfe Boathouse on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, and ends about three miles upstream near Northeastern’s Henderson Boathouse on Soldier Field Road in Allston.

3. On Saturday, Northeastern will go for an unprecedented fifth straight victory in the Men’s Alumni Eights race, which the team has won every year since the race’s inception in 2009. At the 2012 regatta, the Northeastern alumni crew set a course record with a race time of 14:49.25.

4. There are 55 different races this weekend. In previous years Northeastern has fielded teams in the Men’s Alumni Eight, Women’s Alumni Eight, Men’s Club Eight, Women’s Club Eight, Women’s Championship Four, Men’s Championship Eight, and Women’s Championship Eight. Click here for a complete list of the races Northeastern teams are competing in this weekend.

5. It is strongly recommended that spectators take public transportation to the course, which you can get to from the BU Central stop on the Green Line and the Central and Harvard stops on the Red Line. Spots anywhere along the Charles River will give you a good view of the races, or you can watch from one of the many bridges that span the Charles River.