RegattaCentral

Head of the Hudson is a 3.1 mile race against the clock.  There is ample covered parking at the venue, and a nice view of the last 1000 meters of the race course. 

Also, the Corning Bike Trail, which runs alongside the Hudson River from Albany to Troy, has views of the race course along most of its length.

Below is a satellite image of the course, and below that (scroll all the way down), a schematic of the traffic pattern.