Rowing Part 5

(7) "Bow, swing back straight. Your body is falling out of the boat at the finish. Use the outside leg and hand more firmly through the stroke, and row the hands a little higher in to the chest; also arch the inside of the wrist a little more to help you in turning the oar on the feather."

So much for individuals. Now for the crew.

(1) "The finish and recovery are not a bit together. I can almost hear eight distinct sounds as the oars turn in the rowlocks. Try and lock it up absolutely together. There ought to be a sound like the turning of a key in a well-oiled lock--sharp, single, and definite."

(_Note._--This is a very important point. On the unison with which the wrists turn and the hands shoot away depends the unison of the next stroke. When once, in coaching, you have locked your crew together on this point, you will greatly decrease the difficulty of the rest of your task.)

(2) "Don't let the boat roll down on the bow oars. Stroke side, catch the beginning a little sharper. Bow side, when the roll of the boat begins, do not give in to it by still further lowering your hands. Keep your hands up." (The same instruction applies, _mutatis mutandis_, when the boat rolls on the stroke oars. Apart from individual eccentricities, a boat is often brought down on the one bank of oars by the fact that the opposite side, or one or two of them, grip the water a little too late.)

(3) "You are all of you slow with your hands. Rattle them out sharply, and make your recovery much more lively. Steady now! don't rush forward.

Keep the swing slow and long. You are all much too short on the swing, and consequently get no length in the water."

[Ill.u.s.tration: SNAPSHOTS OF A CREW IN MOTION.

NO. 7.--A BAD LURCH ON TO STROKE-SIDE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 8.--A LURCH ON TO BOW-SIDE.]

[(4) "...] Watch the bodies in front of you as they move, and mould yourself on their movement."

(5) "You have fallen to pieces again. Use your ears as well as your eyes, and listen for the rattle of the oars in the rowlocks. Whenever you fall to pieces, try to rally on that point. Also plant your feet firmly on the stretchers, and use your legs more when the boat rolls."

These, I think, are a fair sample of the faults that may be found in almost any crew, and to their eradication coach and oarsmen have patiently to devote themselves.

MEASUREMENTS OF AN EIGHT-OARED RACING-BOAT.

For purposes of convenience, I have taken the following measurements from a boat built by Rough for Leander, in 1891. In that year she carried a very heavy crew, who won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley in record time. She repeated her Grand Challenge victory in 1892 and 1893, with crews very differently const.i.tuted from the first one:--

ft. ins.

(1) Length over all 60 3

(2) Beam amidships, under gunwale 1 11

(3) Depth " " " 1 1

(4) Height of thwarts above skin of boat 0 7?

(5) " seats " " 0 9?[7]

(6) " rowlock sills above seat 0 6?

(7) " heels above skin of boat 0 1

(8) Position of front edge of slide in relation to rowing-pin when well forward level

(9) Length of movement of slide 1 4

(10) Distance from rowing-pin, measured horizontally and at right angles to boat, to centre of seat 2 7

(11) Distance from wood of one thole-pin to wood of the other 0 4?

This boat, like nearly all English Eights, was "side-seated," _i.e._ the centre of the seat, instead of being over the kelson, was set away from it, and from the outrigger. Bow's and stroke's seats were 2 ins.

from centre, No. 5's 3 ins. Nearly all Fours and Pairs in England are now centre-seated, as are Eights in America. Of course, with centre-seating, a.s.suming that you want the same leverage, you require a longer outrigger. Otherwise, the only difference between the two systems would seem to be that with centre-seating you naturally align the bodies better.

[7] A few very short-bodied men have to be "built-up," _i.e._ their seats have to be raised even higher than this to enable them to clear their knees and to swing. This, however, should not be done unless absolutely necessary, as it tends to make the boat unsteady.

Since 1891 boat-builders have somewhat increased the length of the boats they build, and it is not uncommon now to find boats with a measurement of 63 feet and a few inches over all. The boat whose measurements I have given had, if I remember rightly, a slightly wider beam at No. 3 stretcher than she had amidships. I have noticed, and my experience in this respect confirms that of Mr. W. B. Woodgate, though it is entirely opposed to the Rev. A. T. Shadwell's theories, that a boat with a full beam somewhere between No. 4 and No. 3 is always a fast one. A boat should never dip her head, but should always maintain it free.

MEASUREMENT OF OARS.

On this matter there is now a great divergence of opinion amongst rowing men. From 1891 inclusive up to the present year, the Leander crews have, with trifling divergences, rowed with oars built on the following measurements:--

ft. ins.

(1) Length over all 12 0

(2) Length in-board, _i.e._ measured from rowing face of bottom to end of handle 3 8

[_Note._--In some cases an extra half-inch was added, which would make the length over all 12 0]

(3) Length of b.u.t.ton from top to bottom, measured in a straight line 0 3

(4) Length of blade measured over the arc of the scoop 2 7

(5) Breadth of blade 0 6

[_Note._--These are what are called square blades, _i.e._ the widest part came at the end. Barrel blades are those in which the widest part comes about the middle. In 1893 an extra half-inch was added out-board.

In 1896 the length of the Leander oars over all was only 11 ft. 11?

ins., the in-board measurement being 3 ft. 8 ins. With these oars the Leander crew defeated Yale, and in the next heat, after a very severe struggle, rowed down and defeated New College, who were rowing with oars three inches longer out-board. Here are the measurements of the oars with which the Eton crew won the Ladies' Plate in 1885--

ft. ins.

Over all 12 6

In-board 3 7

Length of blade 2 5

Breadth of blade near shank 0 6?

" " at end 0 5

(These blades were "coffin"-shaped on a pattern invented by Dr. Warre.)]

_Measurement of Oars of Oxford Crew, 1890._