top of page
BOATsections.png

Introduction to
Rowing

​

Equipment

Blade 
The wide part of the oar that is used to move the boat through the water. The blade is painted with the school's colors and is a way to distinguish among boats at a distance. 

Boats 
At a large regatta, such as the Head of the Charles, you may see eight different kinds of boats raced. Rowers in boats in which each rower handles two oars are called scullers. These come in singles, doubles, and quads. Rowers with only one oar are called sweep rowers. These come as doubles, with and without coxswain, fours, with and without (without coxswains are also called "straight pairs" or "straight fours"), and eights with coxswain. At the high school level, you will normally only see fours-with and eights. Coxswains normally sit in the stern, where they can see the whole boat and communicate face-to-face with the stroke, but you may also see boats with the coxswain in the bow, lying nearly prone. This inhibits communications somewhat, but reduces wind resistance and improves the weight distribution in the boat. All the boats are called shells, although boats rowed by scullers are also called sculls. A new, varsity eight costs about $32,000 and a novice eight is $25,000. Each shell has its own set of oars and cox-box. Each shell is designated with a color (electrical tape) on the rigger, oars, cox-box, and boat box. 

Bow 
The front of the boat. Area usually contains name of shell. 

Button 
A wide collar on the oar that keeps it from slipping through the oarlock. 

Cox-box 
An electronic amplifier for the coxswain's voice that plugs into a speaker system built into the boat, so that each rower can hear his or her instructions. It also contains a strokemeter which works from the magnet under the stroke's seat and measures the cadence, or strokes rowed per minute. Each of the 10 shells in the boathouse has a specific cox-box that goes with it. 

Deck 
That portion of the bow and stern that are covered with fiberglass cloth or thin plastic. 

Ergometer 
Also called and "erg," it's a rowing machine that closely approximates the actual rowing motion. The verb "to erg" means to work out on an ergometer. An "erg piece" is a particular set of work on the ergometer, such as rowing 2000 meters. Erg tests are used by coaches to ascertain an athlete's aerobic and endurance capabilities. There is even a World Indoor Rowing Championship event, the "Crash-B's" held annually in Boston. 

Gate 
The bar across the oarlock that keeps the oar in place. 

Oars 
Oars propel the boat through the water. Sweep oars are about 12-13 feet long and made of fiberglass or Carbon Fiber (lighter). They cost about $290 each. 

Races 
There are two types of races: Head races, and sprints. Head races are usually held in the Fall and sprints in the Spring. Sprints are 1500 meters for high school and 2000 meters for college. In sprints, boats race directly against each other in lanes on a marked straight or nearly straight course. In larger meets, there will usually be qualifying rounds, then petite finals for non-qualifying boats and grand finals for the top finishers in the qualifying rounds. Qualification is by placement, not by time, i.e. a second place boat in one heat will qualify before a fourth place boat in another, even if the fourth place boat had a better time. Head races are longer, usually 2.5 to 3.5 miles, and are times events. Boats start off typically at 15 second intervals and all race the same course, often with many turns, following the course of the river. 

Rigger 
The triangular-shaped metal device that is bolted onto the side of the boat and holds the oars. 

Slide 
The little tracks in which the seats are set to allow the seats to move back and forth as the rower completes his or her movement. 

Speed Coach 
An electronic device in the rowing shell that tells the coxswain the stroke rate, boat speed, elapse time, and distance. It reads off an impeller that attaches to the bottom of the rowing shell. 

Stern 
The back of the boat. 

Stretcher 
Where the rower's feet go. The stretcher consists of two inclined footrests which hold the rower's shoes. The shoes are bolted into the footrests.

 

Personnel

Bowman or Bow 
The rower whose back is closest to the front of the boat, i.e. the first rower to cross the finish line. This is also the #1 seat. 

Coxswain 
The person who steers the shell and is the on-the-water coach, motivator, and strategist. Pronounced "cox-n". 

Stroke 
The #8 seat, the rower sitting closest to the stern. The stroke sets the rhythm for the boat; others behind must follow that cadence.

​

Etiquette

Crew 
"Crew" means rowing team, so don't inquire about the crew "team" since the word "team" is redundant. The nine people--a crew-- when placed in a shell are called a "boat". One does not refer to an empty shell as a "boat". Heads up An eight is 58 feet long, so it takes a lot of room to maneuver it. If you hear "heads up" someone is trying to move a boat in your vicinity, and you are expected to make way. 

Records 
Don't ask about record times, since they are so influenced by weather conditions as to be virtually meaningless. 

Regatta 
Any rowing event involving competition. Any race is a regatta, however, large or small. Races are never called "meets" or "games" and rowers do not "play crew". A popular crew slogan is "Athletes row. Others play games".

 

Technique

Catch 
The "catch" is the point in the stroke where the oar blade enters the water. The catch is supposed to happen at the very end of the recovery, when the hands are as far ahead of the rower as possible. Rowers who begin to uncoil before they drop the oar blades are sacrificing speed by not getting a complete drive. "Lunging at the catch" means the motion is not smooth. If you see a lot of splash at the catch, assuming the water is relatively smooth (or "flat"), the oar blades are not entering the water properly. 

Catching a Crab 
When an oar blade enters the water at an angle, instead of perpendicularly, it can get caught under the surface. The oar handle drives into the stomach and has the potential to throw a rower out of the boat entirely! Even if not that disastrous, "catching a crab" will certainly drastically interrupt the flow of the boat through the water. 

Drive 
Just after the catch, the rower begins pulling back on the oar. Initially, the body position should not change; all the work is being done by the legs. Then, the upper body begins to uncoil, and the arms start their work of pulling the oar through the water. Finally, the rower pulls his or her hands quickly to the body, finishing in a "layback" position. 

Feathering 
When the blades are brought out of the water, then should all move horizontally at the same height, just above the water. The rower is "skying" if the hands are dropped too low before the catch, causing the oar blade to rise before it drops into the water. Proper feathering is always difficult, but becomes extremely challenging in choppy water. 

Finish 
After the drive, the oar handle is moved down, drawing the oar blade from the water. At the same time, it is turned horizontal to the surface ("feathered"). 

Pressure 
The amount of effort a rower puts into the stroke. Races, of course, are conducted at full pressure, but practices and warm-ups may entail a series of strokes at half or three-quarter pressure. 

Recovery 
The oar remains out of the water as the rower first pushes his or her hands away form the body and past the knees. Then the body follows the hands and the sliding seat moves forward until, knees bent the rower is ready for the next catch. 

Set 
The balance and feel of the boat. The most efficient boats are balanced evenly over the center line and remain so throughout the strokes. If rowers are not aligned properly, or a rower swings off center as part of his or her motion during a stroke, or if rowers on one side of the boat are pulling with more or less force than the other side, the set of the boat can be altered, introducing drag into its motion. 

Stroke rate 
The number of strokes per minute at which the team is rowing. At the start of the race, the rate is high perhaps 40 for an eight then settles to the low 30's for the body of the race, then may move back to the low 40's for a finishing sprint. 

Swing 
The inexpressible "feel" of a boat that is moving together as a single unit.

 

Additional Information (from CPSRA.org):

Results & Race Info

  • Row2K, In season race results posted by coaches and race organizers

  • Regatta Central, This is a regatta registration and rowing services provider. Within the CPSRA league, this site is most active during the fall season

  • Ronin Racing, This is also a regatta registration and rowing services organization which is also most active during the fall season

 

Clothing (unisuits, racing gear & swag)

 

Equipment

  • Vespoli is a provider of racing shells located in New Haven, CT

  • Concept2 makes oars, oar locks, rowing hardware and rowing machines for working out off the water

  • Nielsen-Kellerman (NK) makes the electrical systems, coxswain amplifiers, stroke rate monitors, SpeedCoach GPS, the specialized rowing stop watches and stroke counters used by coaches

  • WinTech, a provider of racing shells

  • Resolute, a provider of racing shells located in Rhode Island

 

NOTE: There are many other high quality boat and equipment providers. We have tried to focus on those in our region who our league members typically use.

 

Rowing Organizations & Services

USRowing is the governing body of the sport of rowing in the U.S. This organization provides coaching education, certification and runs elite programs that represent the U.S. in international competition. From the Junior National team, for athletes under 19, to the National and Olympic programs, USRowing is Rowing in the United States. 

bottom of page