| An Introduction to Rowing 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 against him/her in the body or pull him/her overboard
Length: the length of the boat
Starboard: the right side of the shell facing forward
Puddles: swirls of water left by oars after a stroke
Rating (or beat): number of strokes taken in a minute
Portside: the left side of the shell facing forward
Washing: giving another boat a wash with churned up water
Boat Classes
There are eight boat classes, of which five are for speed-oared rowing in which the rower
uses one oar with both hands, and three are for sculling in which two oars are used, on in
each hand. Some classes carry a cox who either sits in the stern or lies in the bow to
steer the boat.
| Scull Boats |
Length |
Weight |
| Single Scull |
8.2m (27ft) |
14kg (30.8lbs) |
| Double Scull |
10.4m (34ft) |
27kg (59lbs) |
| Quadruple Scull |
13.4m (44ft) |
52kg (114lbs) |
| Sweep Boats |
|
|
| Coxless pair |
10.4m (34ft) |
27kg (59lbs) |
| Coxed pair |
10.4m (34ft) |
32kg (70lbs) |
| Coxless four |
13.4m (44ft) |
50kg (110lbs) |
| Coxed four |
13.7m (45ft) |
51kg (112lbs) |
| Eight |
19.9m (62ft) |
96kg (211lbs) |
|
