Technical Terms
If you ever finish a training and wonder what the coach has been on about take a look at the information below and it might help you next time some one tells you to watch your finish and to slow the recovery down! There is also a note on boat types.
The Stroke
The stroke is made up of:
|
the catch |
in which oars are placed in the water |
|
the pull through, or drive |
in which the legs are extended and the body opens up to make maximum use of the slide, levering the boat forwards |
|
the finish |
in which oars come out of the water |
|
the recovery |
in which the rower's body moves towards the stern in preparation for the next stroke |
Oars are rotated onto the feather parallel to the water surface at the finish to minimise air resistance and to the vertical at the catch to maximise water resistance.
Glossary
|
Canvas |
the length of the foredeck |
|
Crab |
a disaster in which a rower fails to extract the oar from the water at the finish, causing the handle to smash him/her in the body or pull him/her overboard |
|
Length |
the length of the boat |
|
Starboard |
the right side of the boat facing forward |
|
Puddles |
swirls of water left by oars after a stroke |
|
Rating (or beat) |
the number of strokes taken in a minute |
|
Portside |
the left side of the boat facing forward |
|
Washing |
giving another boat a wash with churned up water |
Boat classes
There are eight boat classes, of which five are for sweep-oared rowing in which the rower uses one oar with both hands, and three are for sculling in which two oars are used, one in each hand. Some classes carry a cox, who either sits in the stern or lies in the bow to steer the boat. The boat classes are:
|
boat code |
boat name |
length in meters |
length in feet |
weight in kg |
weight in lbs |
|
|
Scull boats |
|
|
|
|
|
1x |
Single scull |
8.2m |
27ft |
14kg |
30.8lbs |
|
2x |
Double scull |
10.4m |
34ft |
27kg |
59lbs |
|
4x |
Quadruple scull |
13.4m |
44ft |
52kg |
114lbs |
|
|
Sweep boats |
|
|
|
|
|
2- |
Coxless pair |
10.4m |
34ft |
27kg |
59lbs |
|
2+ |
Coxed pair |
10.4m |
34ft |
32kg |
70lbs |
|
4- |
Coxless four |
13.4m |
44ft |
50kg |
110lbs |
|
4+ |
Coxed four |
13.7m |
45ft |
51kg |
112lbs |
|
8+ |
Eight |
19.9m |
62ft |
96kg |
211lbs |