| In watercraft, a racing shell (also referred to as just a | | | | ensures that the carbon fibre composite is properly |
| fine boat(UK) or just shell) is an extremely narrow, and | | | | set. The best shells are characterized by their |
| often disproportionately long, rowing boat specifically | | | | "stiffness", as the lack of flexing means none of the |
| designed for racing or exercise. It is outfitted with long | | | | force exerted by the rower is wasted in twisting the |
| oars, outriggers to hold the oarlocks away for the | | | | boat. |
| boat, and sliding seats. The boat's long length and | | | | Sliding seats |
| semicircular cross-section reduce drag to a minimum. | | | | A rower on a fixed seat is limited in the amount of |
| This makes the boat both fast and unstable. It must be | | | | power he can apply to the oars by the strength in his |
| actively balanced by the rowers to avoid tipping. Being | | | | upper body and the distance he can pull the oars on |
| able to balance, or "set" the boat while putting | | | | each stroke. After outriggers were added to the shell |
| maximum effort into the oars is therefore an essential | | | | allowing the use of longer oars, rowers took |
| skill of rowing. | | | | advantage by taking longer strokes and using their legs |
| History | | | | during the stroke. At first, the athletes wore trousers |
| The racing shell evolved from the simple working | | | | with wear resistant leather bottoms covered in grease |
| rowboat. Boats with longer hulls and narrower in beam | | | | and the shells had concave, longitudinal seats. The |
| were developed in the early 1800s specifically for | | | | athletes could then use their legs to slide along the |
| team racing. These dedicated boats were the first | | | | seat, adding the power of their legs and letting them |
| boats that could be called racing shells, and they have | | | | greatly lengthen the stroke. This eventually lead to the |
| since evolved into the highly specialized forms used | | | | modern sliding seat, mounted on rollers, which allows |
| today. | | | | nearly frictionless movement of the rower's body. |
| Outriggers | | | | Boat classification |
| A narrower boat provides a sharper angle to the bow | | | | There are a large number of different types of boats. |
| and a smaller cross-sectional area reducing drag and | | | | They are classified using: |
| wave drag, and avoiding hull speed limitations at race | | | | Number of rowers. In all forms of modern competition |
| speed. The first racing shells, while narrower than | | | | the number is either 1, 2, 4, or 8. Although they are very |
| working rowboats, were limited by the width | | | | rare, boats for other numbers of rowers do exist |
| necessary to mount the oarlocks on the boat's sides | | | | (such as the 24 person Stampfli Express). In the 1800s, |
| ("gunwales"). By attaching outriggers to the gunwales, | | | | there were often races with 6, 10 and 12 rowers per |
| the oarlocks could be placed farther out, two things | | | | boat. |
| happened: oars got much longer, providing more length | | | | Position of coxswain. Boats are either coxless, |
| to the strokes, and hulls got narrower, until they were | | | | bow-coxed (also called bowloaders), or stern-coxed. In |
| as narrow as it was possible while still retain sufficient | | | | coxless ("straight") boats, a steersman is responsible |
| buoyancy and balance. | | | | for steering by either use of a mechanism connecting |
| Notable Hull Designers | | | | one of his shoes by wire to the rudder--the swiveling |
| Klaus Filter - FISA design (BBG, Filippi Boats, WinTech | | | | of the shoe turns the rudder, or by using a hand |
| Racing, Hudson Boatworks) | | | | controlled string, called a tiller rope, which is parallel to |
| Manolo Ruiz de Elvira - Vespoli | | | | the gunwhales or the boat, and controls the rudder in a |
| George Pocock - Pocock Rowing Shells | | | | similar fashion. Singles, doubles, and quads do not |
| Eric Goetz - Resolute Racing Shells | | | | employ a rudder in competition; the oarsmen steer by |
| Materials | | | | increasing or decreasing pressure on one scull or the |
| Originally made from lapstrake wood, shells are now | | | | other. In competition, bow- and stern-coxed boats may |
| almost always made from a composite material for | | | | race one another. |
| strength and weight advantages. The first composite | | | | Although sculling and sweep boats are generally |
| shells were made from a form of | | | | identical to each other (except having different riggers), |
| papier-mâché and became popular in the | | | | they are referred to using different names: |
| 1870s. Modern shells are usually made of carbon-fibre | | | | Sweep: straight pair (2-), coxed pair (2+), straight four |
| reinforced plastic in a honeycomb structure. They are | | | | (4-), coxed four (4+), eight (8+) (always coxed) |
| manufactured by either cold laying up of the carbon, | | | | Sculling: single (1x), double (2x), quad (4x), octuple (8x) |
| which is then left to set, or by using heat curing, which | | | | (very rare, and always coxed) |