Rowing Handbook 2013 - The Friends' School

Rowing Terms
Back chocks:
Back chocks position:
Blade:
Bow:
Bow ball:
Bow side:
Button:
Canvas:
Catch:
Clearance:
Coxswain:
Crab:
Crew:
Drive:
Feather:
Fin:
Finish:
Front chocks:
Gate:
Gunwale:
Hands away:
Inboard:
Length:
The stops preventing the sliding seat from coming off the back end of the slide.
Rowing on back chocks means the rower does not use the slide – arms only.
The knees of the rower are hard down, and the rower is not moving the seat on the
slide.
Flattened or spoon-shaped end of oar or scull; often used as term for oar.
Two meanings:
• The fore-end of the boat
• The rower seated at the fore-end of the boat
Safety ball fitted to sharp stem of racing boat.
The right hand (starboard) side of the boat, and all rowers whose oars are in the
water on the right side of the boat when viewed from the stern.
Plastic sheath on oar to prevent it slipping through rowlock; adjustable on modern
oars.
The decking fore and aft on a racing boat; in race verdicts, the distance between the
bow ball and the bow man’s seat.
The part of a stroke when the blade is put in the water.
The distance between Stroke’s puddle and Two’s puddle of the previous stroke.
(Cox) Steers the boat from the seat in the stern or a lying position in the bow.
Occurs when the rower fails to get the oar out of the water at the end of the stroke;
can result in the rower being ejected from boat to water.
Rowers who man a boat; American college term for rowing.
The part of the stroke between catch and finish.
To turn the blade parallel with the water surface at the start of the recovery to
reduce wind resistance.
Small flat plate perpendicular to the bottom of the boat to aid steering a straight
course.
The part of the stroke just before and as the blade comes out of the water.
The stops preventing the seat from coming off the aft end of slide as the rower
reaches out to take the catch.
The hinged rod which locks the oar onto the swivel mounted on the rigger.
Horizontal plank at the top of the hull running the length of the boat.
The act of dropping the oar handle at the finish of the stroke so that the blade leaves
the water and is feathered at the start of the recovery.
The distance between the far end of the handle of an oar or scull and the face of the
button. The remainder of the oar is called the outboard.
The length of a boat (i.e. “They won by a length”); The reach of a rower forwards to
take each stroke.
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