Introduction to rowing


Rowing boats

In watercraft, a racing shell (also referredcharacterized by their "stiffness", as the
to as just a fine boat(UK) or just shell) islack of flexing means none of the force
an extremely narrow, and oftenexerted by the rower is wasted in twisting
disproportionately long, rowing boatthe  boat.
specifically designed for racing or exercise.
It is outfitted with long oars, outriggers toSliding  seats
hold the oarlocks away for the boat, and
sliding seats. The boat's long length andA rower on a fixed seat is limited in the
semicircular cross-section reduce drag to aamount of power he can apply to the oars by
minimum. This makes the boat both fast andthe strength in his upper body and the
unstable. It must be actively balanced by thedistance he can pull the oars on each stroke.
rowers to avoid tipping. Being able toAfter outriggers were added to the shell
balance, or "set" the boat while puttingallowing the use of longer oars, rowers took
maximum effort into the oars is therefore anadvantage by taking longer strokes and using
essential  skill  of  rowing.their legs during the stroke. At first, the
athletes wore trousers with wear resistant
Historyleather bottoms covered in grease and the
shells had concave, longitudinal seats. The
The racing shell evolved from the simpleathletes could then use their legs to slide
working rowboat. Boats with longer hulls andalong the seat, adding the power of their
narrower in beam were developed in the earlylegs and letting them greatly lengthen the
1800s specifically for team racing. Thesestroke. This eventually lead to the modern
dedicated boats were the first boats thatsliding seat, mounted on rollers, which
could be called racing shells, and they haveallows nearly frictionless movement of the
since evolved into the highly specializedrower's  body.
forms  used  today.
Boat  classification
Outriggers
There are a large number of different types
A narrower boat provides a sharper angle toof  boats.  They  are  classified  using:
the bow and a smaller cross-sectional area
reducing drag and wave drag, and avoidingNumber of rowers. In all forms of modern
hull speed limitations at race speed. Thecompetition the number is either 1, 2, 4, or
first racing shells, while narrower than8. Although they are very rare, boats for
working rowboats, were limited by the widthother numbers of rowers do exist (such as the
necessary to mount the oarlocks on the boat's24 person Stampfli Express). In the 1800s,
sides ("gunwales"). By attaching outriggersthere were often races with 6, 10 and 12
to the gunwales, the oarlocks could be placedrowers  per  boat.
farther out, two things happened: oars got
much longer, providing more length to thePosition of coxswain. Boats are either
strokes, and hulls got narrower, until theycoxless, bow-coxed (also called bowloaders),
were as narrow as it was possible while stillor stern-coxed. In coxless ("straight")
retain  sufficient  buoyancy  and  balance.boats, a steersman is responsible for
steering by either use of a mechanism
Notable  Hull  Designersconnecting one of his shoes by wire to the
rudder--the swiveling of the shoe turns the
Klaus Filter - FISA design (BBG, Filippirudder, or by using a hand controlled string,
Boats,  WinTech  Racing,  Hudson  Boatworks)called a tiller rope, which is parallel to
the gunwhales or the boat, and controls the
Manolo  Ruiz  de  Elvira  -  Vespolirudder in a similar fashion. Singles,
doubles, and quads do not employ a rudder in
George  Pocock  -  Pocock  Rowing  Shellscompetition; the oarsmen steer by increasing
or decreasing pressure on one scull or the
Eric  Goetz  -  Resolute  Racing  Shellsother. In competition, bow- and stern-coxed
boats  may  race  one  another.
Materials
Although sculling and sweep boats are
Originally made from lapstrake wood, shellsgenerally identical to each other (except
are now almost always made from a compositehaving different riggers), they are referred
material for strength and weight advantages.to  using  different  names:
The first composite shells were made from a
form of papier-mâché and became popularSweep: straight pair (2-), coxed pair (2+),
in the 1870s. Modern shells are usually madestraight four (4-), coxed four (4+), eight
of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic in a(8+)  (always  coxed)
honeycomb structure. They are manufactured by
either cold laying up of the carbon, which isSculling: single (1x), double (2x), quad
then left to set, or by using heat curing,(4x), octuple (8x) (very rare, and always
which ensures that the carbon fibre compositecoxed)
is properly set. The best shells are



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