The bows are the front of the boat.' + ' Originally, when all boats were made of wood, the bows would be covered by a piece of canvas to keep the water out. Hence if a boat is said to have won "by a canvas" it means that the distance between the first and second boats is the same as the length of the bows.' + ' Now most boats are made of plastics but there are still some wooden boats with canvasses.' + ' On the front of the bows there is always a small rubber ball called a bow ball.' + ' This is to act as protection for the boat in a collision, although it would be little use in a high speed crash.
' + ''; bows=window.open('','Bows',options); bows.document.writeln(body); bows.document.write(text); bows.document.close();} function stern(){ options='scrollbars=1 toolbar=0,resizable=0,location=0,width=300,height=565'; body='The stern is the back of the boat.' + ' There is not much to say about the stern of a boat except that underneath it is the fin and sometimes a rudder depending on what class of boat it is.' + ' The fin of a boat is like the fin on a windsurfer, it helps directional stability and is mounted underneath the stern about halfway between the rower at stroke and the end of the boat.' + ' The rudder is found on all coxed boats and sweep oar boats and some sculling boats (but never singles).' + 'It is used to steer the boat and can be operated by a cox using string attached to it or by a rower using a fitting on his footplate.
' + ''; stern=window.open('','Bows',options); stern.document.writeln(body); stern.document.write(text); stern.document.close();} function bowside(){ options='scrollbars=1 toolbar=0,resizable=0,location=0,width=300,height=610'; body='The bowside of a boat is on the right hand side if you are facing in the direction of travel.' + ' Of course you rarely are while rowing, so for rowers the bow side is on the left.' + ' Riggers are the cantilevered struts which support the oars while rowing.' + ' It is called the bow side because for a standard rigged sweep oar boat, the rower at bow rows on this side.' + ' A sweep oar boat is a boat (unlike the one in the picture) which has one oar for each rower.' + ' There are other ways to rig boats (especially eights) than standard rig such as Inverse, German and Italian rigs.' + 'The advantage of rigging a boat differently is than it enables you to have every rower rowing in the best position and on their favored side.
' + ''; bowside=window.open('','Bowside',options); bowside.document.writeln(body); bowside.document.write(text); bowside.document.close();} function strokeside(){ options='scrollbars=1 toolbar=0,resizable=0,location=0,width=300,height=565'; body='The strokeside of a boat is on the left hand side if you are facing in the direction of travel.' + ' Of course you rarely are while rowing, so for rowers the stroke side is on the right.' + ' It is called the stroke side because for a standard rigged sweep oar boat, the rower at stroke rows on this side.' + ' It is the stroke side hand which scullers usually hold behind their left hand while rowing.' + 'Sculling is where each rower has two oars (like the boat in the picture).' + 'While sculling, the handles of the blades (oars) overlap each other at points in the stroke and so one hand must be held behind the other.' + 'If one handle is above the other the boat will be unbalanced.
' + ''; strokeside=window.open('','Strokeside',options); strokeside.document.writeln(body); strokeside.document.write(text); strokeside.document.close();} function stroke(){ options='scrollbars=1 toolbar=0,resizable=0,location=0,width=300,height=635'; body='The stroke seat is the seat of the rower closest to the stern of the boat.' + ' While rowing, he is the one who has to set the rythm and stroke rate of the crew as everybody else in the boat can see him.' + 'This is psychologically a difficult place to row for a number of reasons: firstly, the stroke man has no-one else to follow and has to have the determination not to slacken off at all throughout the pain that is a rowing race; and secondly not being able to see the rest of the crew, the stroke man must be able to ignore anything going on further back in the boat and row his own race.' + ' The stroke mans responsibility is to provide a stroke which the crew can follow and it is the responsibility of the rest of the crew to follow him.
' + ''; stroke=window.open('','Stroke',options); stroke.document.writeln(body); stroke.document.write(text); stroke.document.close();} function bow(){ options='scrollbars=1 toolbar=0,resizable=0,location=0,width=300,height=675'; body='The Bow seat is the seat of the rower nearest to the bows.' + ' The rower at bow has to be a technically good rower as it is he who primarily sets up the balance of the boat throughout the stroke.' + ' Of course, this is an oversimplification; the other rowers in the boat alter the balance as well but ,generally, boats seem to be more sensitive to what bow does. Also ,because, he can see better than anyone what the boat is doing, it is easiest for him to correct the balance of the boat.' + ' In a coxless boat it also usually falls to the bow man to stear using a mechanism on his footplate (the part of the boat that his feet are attached to).' + ' This also leads to him calling all the tactics in a race as he is the rower with the most awareness of what is going on.' + ' The bow seat is a difficult seat to row at well.
' + ''; bow=window.open('','Bow',options); bow.document.writeln(body); bow.document.write(text); bow.document.close();} function three(){ options='scrollbars=1 toolbar=0,resizable=0,location=0,width=300,height=570'; body='The three seat, being in the middle of the boat, is usually occupied by a larger member of the crew as here it is shear power which is of most importance.' + ' However, the three man does have another responsibility apart from the general ones such as balance, timing, etc and that is to back up the stroke man.' + ' whenever the stroke does a lift (an increase in the work rate of the crew) it is the job of the three man to follow him and put some extra impetus behind the move, transferring it to the rest of the crew.' + ' If the three man does not do this the stroke man will oftn have to take the first few strokes of the lift himself before the others catch up.
' + ''; three=window.open('','Three',options); three.document.writeln(body); three.document.write(text); three.document.close();} function two(){ options='scrollbars=1 toolbar=0,resizable=0,location=0,width=300,height=270'; body='The man in the two seat must be big. Generally the least neat scullers will be put here to make use of their shear power. The two man has no other responsibilities. It is a great place to row.
' + ''; two=window.open('','Two',options); two.document.writeln(body); two.document.write(text); two.document.close();} //Here's where it ends-->
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The boat on the left is a coxless quad (4x-)made by Hale Racing Boats. If you click on different parts of the boat a window will (eventually) appear to tell you a little bit about it. Pretty dull, obvious stuff for rowers but if all you know about rowing is which teams compete in the Boat Race, you might find it interesting. |
| Shorthand code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1x | single sculls (never coxed) |
| 2x | double sculls (never coxed) |
| 2- | coxless pair |
| 2+ | coxed pair |
| 4x- | coxless quadrouple sculls |
| 4x+ | coxed quadrouple sculls |
| 4- | coxless four |
| 4+ | coxed four |
| 8 | eight (always coxed) |
Author: T. Chris Wallwork
