Sweep and Sculling Boats

 

 

 There are two types of boats or shells used in the sport,  sweep boats and sculling boats. In sweep rowing, each rower handles one long oar. In sculling, a rower uses two smaller oars, or sculls. Sweep boats can have two, four, or eight rowers. Sculling races use one, two, and four-person boats.

Racing boats vary in length from 18.3 m (60 ft) for an 8-oared shell to 7.3 m (24 ft) for a single scull. The large, heavy, and often unwieldy wooden rowboats of the past have been transformed into long, slender, and light keelless shells, built on a wooden or fiber framework, and equipped with seats for the rowers that slide back and forth. The rowers' feet fit into shoes, called footboards, that are fixed to the boat's bottom. Oars are usually about 3.7 m (about 12 ft) long, with blades of 61 to 91 cm (24 to 36 in) in length and 15 cm (6 in) in width; in recent years the blades have become shorter and broader.

Many  boats also have room for a coxswain, the person who steers the boat. The coxswain can sit at the bow or stern of the boat, depending on how big the shell is, and how it’s constructed. Steering can also be accomplished by rowers by using a foot-controlled rudder. This is known as "toeing." Single and double boats are usually steered by changing the pressure applied to the port (left) and starboard (right) oars.

The price of new racing boats ranges (8-30 thousand dollars) depending on  the type, size, and materials.  The following is a list of the types of boats, their names, and abbreviations.

Sweep Boats
Rowers have one oar		 Sculling Boats
Rowers have two oars
  • coxless pair (2 rowers) (2-)
  • coxed pair (2 rowers) (2+)
  • coxless four (4 rowers) (4-)
  • coxed four (4 rowers) (4+)
  • eights (8 rowers) (8+)
  • single (1 sculler) (1x), coxed
  • double (2 scullers) (2x), coxed
  • quad or quadruple (4 scullers) (4x), coxless
  • octuple (8 scullers) (8x), coxless

 
  Oars and seat positions

Each oar is placed in a swiveling metal "oarlock", which keeps the oar firmly in place. This oarlock (A) is attached to the boat's body by a series of bars called a "rigger." (B)

Each rower sits in a sliding seat (C), and places their feet into stirrups called foot stretchers (D). Just like on a racing bicycle, these foot straps help keep the rower's feet in place.

The boat has two sides, bowside.and strokeside.   Bowside is called starboard and strokeside is called port. Each rower is named by their position or "seat" on the boat.  The seat at the front of the boat (#1) is known as "bow" while the seat at the back of the boat or stern (#2,#4, or #8, depending on the size of the boat)  is also called the "stroke."