Sculling and Rowing Terms from Wikipedia

Thanks to Wikipedia, I am able to offer you a guide to translating the rowing and sculling terms I use.

The athletes

Bow or Bow seat: The rower closest to the front or bow of a multi-person shell. In coxless boats, often the person who keeps an eye on the water behind him to avoid accidents.
Bisweptual: A rower who can row both on starboard and port side.
Bowside: (UK) Any sweep rower who rows with the oar on the Bowside (the right or Starboard side) of the boat.
Coxswain: The oar-less crew-member, usually included, who is responsible only for steering and race strategy; the coxswain either sits in the stern or lies in the bows of the boat.
Engine room: The middle rowers in the boat. In an 8-person shell, this is generally seats 3, 4, 5 and 6 and often called the “middle 4.” They are generally the biggest and strongest rowers. Because they are situated in the middle, their technique doesn’t have to be as perfect as the others.
Gumboot seat: Related to the engine room, the gumboot is the rower (in an eight oar boat) in 3 seat, typically seen as a rower who’s not strong enough to row in 5 seat (typically the most powerful rower in the boat) but not technical enough to row in the stern or bow pairs.
Heavyweight: a rower who weighs more than the restrictions for lightweight rowing. Often referred to as Open weight.
Lightweight: A rower whose weight allows him or her to be eligible to compete in Lightweight rowing events.
Port: A sweep rower who rows with the oar on the port or left side of the boat.
Sculler: A rower who sculls - rows with two oars
Seat Numbers: A rowers position in the boat counting up from the bow. In an eight, the person closest to the bow of the boat is “bow,” the next is 2, followed by 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and finally 8 or “stroke.”
Starboard: A sweep rower who rows with the oar on the starboard or right side of the boat.
Sweep: A rower who rows with one oar.
Stroke (Seat): The rower closest to the stern of the boat, responsible for the stroke rate and rhythm.
Strokeside: (UK) Any sweep rower who rows with the oar on the Strokeside (the left or Port side) of the boat.

The boats

Sweep

In a sweep boat, each rower has one oar.

Eight (8+): a shell with 8 rowers. Along with the single scull, it is traditionally considered to be the blue ribbon event. Always with coxwain because of the size, weight and speed of the boat - bow loader eights exist but are banned from most competitions for safety reasons.
Four (4-) or (4+): a shell with 4 rowers. Coxless fours (4-) are often referred to as straight fours, and are commonly used by lightweight and elite crews and are raced at the Olympics. In club and school rowing, one more frequently sees a coxed four (4+) which is easier to row, and has a coxswain to steer.
Pair (2-) or (2+): a shell with 2 rowers. The Coxless pair (2-), often called a straight pair, is a demanding but satisfying boat to master. Coxed pairs (2+) are rarely rowed by most club and school programs. It is no longer is an Olympic class event, but it continues to be rowed at the World Rowing Championships. The bow loader coxed pair was nicknamed “the coffin” due to the difficulty for the cox’n to escape in the event of a capsize.

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Sculling

In a sculling boat, each rower has two oars, one on each side of the boat.

Octuple (8x): a shell having 8 rowers with two oars each. Generally a training boat, but raced by juniors in the UK.
Quad (4x): a shell having 4 rowers with two oars each. A coxswain is generally not used except by novices or juniors.
Double (2x): a shell for two scullers without a coxswain.
Single (1x): a shell designed for an individual sculler. Very good for skill development, particularly beginners, and a very competitive class at the Olympics. Extremely rare is the coxed single which is only used as a training boat or for adaptive rowing.

The Rigging and Other Equipment

The term “Rigging” is used to describe how the boat is outfitted, including all of the apparatuses (oars, outriggers, oarlocks, sliding seats, etcetera) attached to a boat that allow the rower to propel the boat through the water. It is derived from an old Anglo Saxon term wrigan or wrihan, which means “to clothe.” It literally means to outfit or clothe a boat. “Rigging” is also used to describe the configuration of the boat and settings of the apparatuses. The following terms are often associated with a boat’s rigging, along with other often used terms for equipment used in rowing:

Backstop: The stop mechanism on the seat slides which prevents the rower’s seat from falling off the sliding tracks at the back end (towards the boat’s bow) of the slide tracks. Also, in the UK, the sliding seat position closest to the boat’s bow. As a command, it instructs the crew to adopt this position. (The US calls this seat position the “back end”)
Bow: the front end of the boat.
Bow ball: An essential small, soft ball no smaller than 4 cm diameter securely attached to a rowing or sculling boat’s bow. Primarily intended for safety but also useful in deciding which boat crossed the finish line first in very close races.
Bowcox / bow steered: When a coxswain is placed in a seat partially enclosed in the bow of the shell.
Bowside: (UK) The Starboard or right side of a boat. Derives from the tradition of having the bow rower’s oar be on the starboard or right side of the boat.
Bow number: A card holding the number assigned to the boat for a race.
Bow rigged: (UK) Term describing the person stroking the boat has their oar on the Bowside (Starboard or right side) rather than the typical Strokeside of the boat.
Cleaver blade: Modern oar blades that have a more rectangular hatchet-shape. (also hatchet blade)
Coxbox: Portable voice amplifier; may also optionally incorporate digital readouts displaying stroke rate, boat speed and times.
Ergometer, ergo or erg: An indoor rowing machine.
Foot Stretchers: An adjustable footplate which allows the rower to easily adjust his or her physical position relative to the slide and the oarlock. The footplate can be moved (or “stretched”) either closer to or farther away from the slide frontstops.
Footplate: Also known as Foot Stretchers. The piece of the boat to which the rower’s feet are attached, either by tying their actual shoes (sneakers) in, or (more often) by putting their feet into a permanently-attached pair of sneakers.

Frontstop: The stop mechanism on the seat slides which prevents the rower’s seat from falling off the sliding tracks at the front end (towards the boat’s stern) of the slide tracks. Also, in the UK, the sliding seat position closest to the boat’s stern. As a command, it instructs the crew to adopt this position. (The US calls this seat position the “front end”)
Gate: (UK) Term for an oarlock.
German rigged: A boat where a pair of oarsmen, usually seats 4 and 5 in the engine room, both row on the same side of the boat.
Gunwales: (pronounced: gunnels) The top rail of the shell.
Hatchet blade: Modern oar blades that have a more rectangular hatchet-shape. (also cleaver blade)
Launch: A motorboat used by rowing instructors, coaches or umpires.
Macon blade: Traditional U-shaped oar blade. (also Spoon blade or Tulip)
Oar: A slender pole which is attached to a boat at the Oarlock. One end of the pole, called the “handle,” is gripped by the rower, the other end has a “blade,” which is placed in the water during the propulsive phase of the stroke. The blade portion of the oar is similar to a razor blade or a piece of paper: Essentially two-dimensional, the third dimension is very thin.
Oarlock: The rectangular lock at the end of the rigger which physically attaches the oar to the boat. The oarlock also allows the rower to rotate the oar blade between the “square” and “feather” positions.
Outrigger: See “Rigger,” below.
Pogies/Poagies: A type of mitten with holes on each end, which allow the rower to grip the oar with bare hands while also warming the hands, used frequently by northern rowers.
Port or Portside: The left side of the boat when facing forward.

Rigger: A “Rigger” is the rowing slang name for an Outrigger. It is a projection from the side (gunwhale) of a racing shell.[1] The oarlock is attached to the far end of the rigger away from the boat. The rigger allows the racing shell to be narrow thereby decreasing drag, while at the same time placing the oarlock at a point that optimize leverage of the oar. There are several styles of riggers, but they are most often a triangle frame, with two points attached to the boat, and the third point being where the oarlock is placed. Rigging is also used to describe whether a boat is stroked by a port or starboard (i.e. port-rigged, starboard-rigged). With sweep rowing, riggers typically alternate sides, though it is not uncommon to see two adjacent seats rigged on the same side of the boat.
Rowlock: Often used in the UK to describe an Oarlock, see above.
Rudder: Adjacent to the skeg and used by the coxwain (or in some coxless boats, by a rower using a “toe”) to steer the boat via attached cables.
Seat: Molded seat mounted on wheels, single action or double action. Single action is fixed bearing wheel, double action is wheel on axle that rolls on track and rolls on horns of seat. A secondary meaning of location in the shell, the bow seat is one, and is numbered upward to the stroke seat (8, in an 8 man shell). Thirdly can mean a competitive advantage in a race, to lead a competitor by a seat is to be in front of them by the length of a single rower’s section of a shell.
Shell: The boat used for rowing.
Shoulder: load bearing supports that mount rigger and attach to keel of boat. (also knee)
Skeg: The small fin on the bottom of the boat for stability.
Slides: Hollow rails upon which a rower or sculler’s sliding seat will roll. Older shells might be convex rails with double wheels (also Tracks)
Slings: Folding, portable temporary boat holders. Two are required to hold a boat.
Smoothie: A blade design in which the face of the oar blade is smooth, without the traditional central spine.
Speed coach: A device mounted on the keel of some high-performance shells that determines the boat’s speed based on the speed of a small propeller and transmits this information to the coxbox.
Spoon blade: Traditional U-shaped oar blade. (also Macon blade)
Starboard or Starboard side: The right side of the boat when facing forward.
Starboard rigged: (USA) a boat where the stroke rower is a starboard rower.
State room: The space between the gunwales (UK).
Stern: the rear end of the boat.
Stretcher: A slang abbreviation for Foot Stretchers.
Strokeside: (UK) The port or left side of the boat (even if the boat is bow rigged). Derives from the tradition of having the stroke rower’s oar be on the port or left side of the boat.
Toe: In some boats without a coxswain, a rower may be able to control the rudder and steer the boat by changing the direction his foot points. This is called “toeing a boat.” And the mechanism is called a “toe.”
Tracks: (see Slides)
Tulip: Traditional U-shaped oar blade. (also Macon blade)

The Commands

“Easy”: (USA) to stop rowing hard.
“Easy oars”: (UK)To stop.
“Hard on (port/starboard)”: The rowers on that side of the boat must row harder (and the opposite side must row slightly easier) in order to facilitate a sharper turn.
“Heads” or “Heads Up”: Off the water, a shout to alert others to watch out for a boat being carried.
“Hold it/her up, hold water”: (UK) Stop the boat.
“Hold it/her hard”: (UK) Emergency stop.
“Check it/her down”: Square the oars in the water to stop the boat.
“Let it run”: To stop rowing after a given piece of on the water rowing length, but to put the handles of the oars either to the gunwales or out in front of the rower, in such a manner that the oar paddles are parallel to the water yet not touching it. This allows the boat to glide for a distance leaving no paddle wake in the water. Similar, but not exactly the same is the command “Gunnel”, where rowers push the oars until the handle touches the boat’s gunwale.
“Take the run off”: To stop rowing and hold the blades at a 45 degree angle in the water to slow the boat down.
“On the square”: to row without feathering the blades on the recovery.
“Weigh-enough” (or “Wain…’nuff”): (USA) The command to stop what ever the rower is doing, whether it be walking with the boat overhead or rowing.
“Power 10″: the command to take 10 strokes at more than full pressure. Used for passing and gaining water in a race. (sometimes “Power 5″, “Power 20″, or “Power 30″)
“… in 2″: Most water commands are appended to take place after two strokes. For example “Power 10 in 2″ or “Weigh-enough in 2″

The Stroke

Catch

The part of the stroke at which the oar blade enters the water and the drive begins. Rowers conceptualize the oar blade as ‘catching’ or grabbing hold of the water.

Crab

A rowing error where the rower is unable to timely remove or release the oar blade from the water and the oar blade acts as a brake on the boat until it is removed from the water. This results in slowing the boat down. A severe crab can even eject a rower out of the shell or make the boat capsize (unlikely except in small boats). Occasionally, in a severe crab, the oar handle will knock the rower flat and end up behind him/her, in which case it is referred to as an ‘over-the-head crab.’

Drive

The propulsive portion of the stroke from the time the oar blade enters the water (’catch’) until it is removed from the water (’release’).

Feather

To turn the oar so that its blade is parallel with the water (opposite of square).

“Keel”

The balance of the boat. Good keel means that the stability of the boat is good. “keep keel” is a command often heard from the coxswain when the boat starts to sway. (US)

Rating

the number of strokes executed per minute by a crew. (also stroke rate)

Ratio

the relationship between the time taken during the propulsive and recovery phases of a rowing or sculling action.

Release

At the end of the drive portion of the stroke. It is when the oar blade(s) is removed (or released) from the water.

Recovery

the non-work phase of the stroke where the rower returns the oar from the release to the catch.

Set

The balance of the boat. Affected by handle heights, rowers leaning, and timing, all of which affect the boat’s balance, after which the coxswain tells rowers to “set the boat”. (see keel).

Split time (split)

Amount of time it takes to row 500 meters. Displayed on all ergs and on coxboxes installed on boats with speed coaches (see above).

Stroke

one complete cycle through the process above
the rower in the stern of a multi-person shell, whose timing is followed by the other rowers.

Stroke rate: The number of strokes executed per minute by a crew. (also rating)
Square: To turn the oar so that its blade is perpendicular to the water (opposite of feather).

The Race

Start

In head to head races, the start is one of the most important parts of the race. In head races, where boats do not race next to each other, there is a running start, where rowing begins before the starting line and rowers are already at full speed when they cross the start. In sprints (head-to-head), the start consists of the following sections:

Actual start: This is generally five or six partial strokes done at a high rate and in a certain pattern, i.e. three-quarter length stroke (sometimes called three-quarters slide), followed by half, half, three-quarters, three-quarters, and then a full length stroke. The goal is to get the rowers off to a cohesive start and quickly build momentum.
High Ten: A set of strokes done at a high cadence immediately after the start. Not to be confused with “Power Ten,” the high ten is ten strokes at a high rating to finish building speed. Some crews may pull fifteen or twenty high strokes to build even more speed.
Settle: Immediately after the rowers complete their high cadence strokes, the stroke tempo is lowered and the stroke lengthened to the rating to used through out the body of the race. Often accompanied by a Power 10 or 20. Coxswains may call a “Ten to Settle” or “Ten to Glide” to drop the cadence more gradually.

Body: The body of the race is carried out at a consistent rating, with power tens called as the coxswain deems necessary.
Sprint: The last 500 meters of most races are generally at a much higher rating than the rest of the race, as crews pull to exhaustion.
Flutter/Shunt: In head-to-head races, the coxswain may decide to call a flutter, which is essentially the six-stroke start put into the race close to the end. The flutter may push one boat which is trailing another a few seats ahead, but is extremely demanding on a crew. In many cases, it is used as a desperation move when all other options have been exhausted.

Miscellany

Masters (or veteran - UK): Rowers 27 years of age or greater.
Seat race: A method to compare two rowers in fours or eights. Two boats race against each other once. One rower from each boat switch positions, and the two boats race again. Relative performance in the two races is used to compare the abilities of the two rowers.
Pot: A tankard awarded as a prize to each member of a winning crew.
Open water race: competition on unsheltered water exposed to current, tide, wind and requiring navigation skills as well as strength, endurance, and technique. Generally uses a mass start and includes a mix of human-powered boats. Typical race distances are 6 to 26 miles.
Betting Shirts: In collegiate competition, men’s teams sometimes “bet” their shirts on the race, and the loser must render a racing shirt with their logo on it to the winner. Traditionally, this was done as the boats were pulled together right after the race ended and shirts were exchanged, but it is now usually done off the water. Because women’s crew is governed by the NCAA, which forbids betting on athletic events, shirt betting is usually only done by men’s crews. The term can refer to either the practice or the shirt itself; some crews have shirts made specifically for betting so as to keep their racing jerseys should they lose a race.