An Orientation to Rowing

The Rowing Boat

A rowing boat, designed for racing, is called a shell or a scull depending on its oar configuration

Oar configurations are:

Sweep: one oar per rower
Scull: two oars per rower

Shells are configured for one, two, four or eight rowers. Common references to shell styles include:

single or 1X: one rower, 2 oars, no coxswain
double or 2X: two rowers, 2 oars per rower, no coxswain
pair or 2-: two rowers, one oar per rower, no coxswain
quad / quadruple or 4X-: four rowers, two oars per rower, no coxswain
straight four 4-: 4 rowers, one oar per rower, no coxswain
four or 4+: 4 rowers, one oar per rower, with coxswain
eight or 8+: eight rowers, one oar per rower, with coxswain
octople or 8X: eight rowers, 2 oars per rower, with coxswain (a rarely see configuration)

Shells are 25' (single) to 65' (eight) long

A "good" eight for competition costs about $25,000
A "good" four costs about $11,000
A set or oars for eight costs about $1800
A basic "cox box", the cox's PA system for a boat, costs about $600

Some shell manufacturers include names such as Kaspher, Hudson, Vespoli, King and Dirigo

Crew

Seats are numbered from the front of the boat with 1 (bow) and count ascending to the back (stern)
Seat "0" is the coxswain's position
The two rowers in the bow of an eight are called the "bow pair" and are usually the lightest in the crew
Rowers in seats 3 to 6, the middle of the boat, are often referred to "engine room" and are usually the most powerful rowers in the shell
The rowers in the last two seats are known as the "stern pair"
The rower in the closest to the front of the boat is usually called the "bow" rather than by seat number
The rower in the rear most seat is called "the stroke" the stroke sets the rate for the entire crew
The coxswain (cox, coxie, cox'n) sits very low in the bow or stern of the shell dependin on the boat design.
The coxswain steers the boat and calls race strategy on race day. During practice the coxswain carries out the practice plan set by the coach
Stroke rate is the number of strokes executed per minute. Faster stroke rates do not necessarily push the shell through the water faster. The strength of the stroke or "power" is a better predictor of boat speed. The rower in the stroke seat set the rate for the entire crew.
The coxswain calls stroke power. Common terminology is 1/2 power, 3/4 power and full power
Coxswains will call "power 10" when the situation dictates which is 10 stokes of maximum effort
If a rower is "rushing the slide", the recover phase of the stroke is shortened by shooting the seat toward the foot stretchers, thus throwing the weight of the rower to the stern and slowing the boat
"Paddling" is called by the coxswain, for slow, relaxed, no pressure rowing as a cool down from a "piece" (race of drill)

Support

Parkersburg High School provides very limited financial support for our crew. Equipment, uniforms, facilities, travel expenses are funded by rowers' families fundraising.
The Big Red Crew Boosters is a completely volunteer organization. It is essential that rowers and their families pitch in to make crew a success for everyone. If you cannot afford the time, please give money so the work you cannot do may be hired out.
The crew roster lists names and phone numbers of people who have volunteered to take the lead in some area of work (committees) for crew. If you have talent you'd like to contribute, pick up the phone and call.

Competitive Classes

Competitive groupings vary somewhat, but generally separate gender, age, grade in school, weight, experience and type of shell being rowed
- Novice: rowers who have not raced before
- Varsity: rowers who have rowed more than one year, and are still in high school
- Juniors: high school students under age of 19, in junior year or earlier
- Lightweight: categories vary from year to year but recent scholastic weight is #155 for men and #135 for women
Race classes may include multiple combinations of categories noted above, for example:
- freshmen eight
- novice lightweight 4+ or 8