Head of the Charles 2004, and despite a nasty fierce wind in the Charles River basin, which made for a shortened course, Brookes' top eight including a couple of well-known Taureans performed brilliantly in the men's championship eights. They beat all but one of the top US universities to finish fifth overall, and likely to get a commendation and automatic invitation back next year as a reward for being within 5% of the finish time for winners Cambridge. The only crews to finish ahead of Brookes in this high-quality competition were CUBC, the Dutch Olympic eight, Princeton heavies, and western champions UCal Berkley. Even the US national team (actually its second eight) finished one place back in sixth, although this might have more to do with a too-friendly encounter with the famous Eliot Bridge.