Tag: steering

Question of the Day

By readyallrow October 15, 2013

Do you have any advice for a novice coxswain who just crashed for the first time? It really shook me up and I know I won’t be able to get back in the boat for a few days (due to our walk-on coxswain rotation) but I want to get over it.

How did it happen? Was it serious or minor? Was another crew involved? Were there any injuries? Was any equipment damaged? Did it happen because you didn’t know how to get yourself out of a situation or because you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings? On a scale of 1-10 (this being 1, this being 5, and this being 10), how pissed was your coach?

Shit happens. Obviously shit happening is more likely to be forgiven when you’re a novice vs. when you’ve got some experience under your belt but most coaches will let it go if you a) take responsibility, even if it wasn’t your fault because regardless, it was still your fault, b) if you talk to them once you’re off the water instead of avoiding them/the issue, and c) if you understand how you got yourself in that situation, what you did wrong, and what you could/should do differently next time to avoid crashing again (hint: there should never be a “next time”). If there was any kind of damage to the boat, ask your coach if you can help fix it or at the very least, watch while he/she fixes it. I think this is good for two reason. One, you learn how to repair boats, which is a pretty valuable skill. Two, you learn the value of the equipment you’re responsible for and how much time, money, and effort goes into repairing them when something happens.

Whatever you do though, please, please, please do not react to crashing the boat (or any other adverse situation) with a Kanye shrug because I can promise you, that will piss your coach (and crew) off more than anything else. Not taking the situation seriously or recognizing the fact that you potentially just caused serious damage to the shell and/or endangered yourself and your crew is not a laughing matter. It really irritates me when I see novice coxswains try to laugh situations like this off. No. Don’t do that. Your cute baby face and witty charm will not get you out of your coach’s line of fire and will probably keep you out of the boat longer than if you’d just taken the situation seriously from the beginning.

Coxing Video of the Week

Video of the Week: “Ignatious, STOP ROWING!!”

By readyallrow September 30, 2013

Words truly can’t describe how great this video is. It’s a gem. A true rowing gem.

Coxing How To Q&A Racing

How to Pass Crews During a Head Race

By readyallrow September 24, 2013

Previously: Steer an eight/four || Call a pick drill and reverse pick drill || Avoid getting sick || Make improvement as a novice || Protect your voice

I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about this at any great length but I figured it’d be a good topic to get out there since we’re starting to get into head race season. Passing another crew requires you to be a bit of a maverick, depending on the situation. It’s not something you should be figuring out how to do as you do it though because deciding what the best course of action is requires a lot of decision making in a very short period of time. When your mind is going a mile a minute you don’t want to be trying to figure out all this stuff in the middle of the race.

The first thing you’ve got to do before passing a crew is assess the situation and figure out how many crews are ahead of you and how close you are to bridges or any other kind of potential obstruction. If there is a lot of traffic up ahead or there’s a chance you won’t have completed your pass before you reach the bridge, it might be best to hold off until crews spread out or you’re through the bridge. It sounds counter-intuitive but from a safety perspective, holding back is always preferable to a collision. No coach who has their priorities straight will tell you otherwise.

From there, when you do go to make your pass, and sticking with the idea of what is safer in the long run, you’ve got to decide if taking a slightly wider course off the better line is preferable to taking the better line and potentially being involved in a collision that could cost you even more time. This is where having studied the course beforehand can work in your favor. If you’re on a river with a lot of curves – the Charles, for example – it’s less about how you come out of the turns and more about how you go in. Even if the faster line around a turn to port is to hug the buoys, if you’re passing someone and know that the next turn is to starboard, it would be advisable, if it’s safe, to pass the crew on the outside, that way you’ll be on the buoys around the next turn.

One thing to remember if you decide to pass on the inside is that if the next turn is fairly sharp and in close proximity to the last one, you’ll either have to be really good at steering or you’ll have to have the crew adjust their power to bring you around, which has the potential to add seconds to your time. 60ft long boats don’t turn on a dime, which is something a lot of novices don’t realize, so knowing the best way to move your shell around a tight turn is something you should have figured out before you race. That way if such a situation arises where you’re going around a tight turn, either because you chose it or were forced into it, you’ll know how to do it smoothly and with as little added time as possible.

The last thing you’ve got to consider is whether you want to increase the stroke rate to get by the other crew or if you want to keep it the same. You can take it up a beat or so if you want but it’s not usually necessary and if you’re constantly changing your speed you run the risk of running out of gas and not having enough energy to maintain your pace through the end of the race. If you’re passing someone, your strokes are already more powerful and your boat is generating more speed so all you need to do is find an open lane to glide into.

If there’s a crew behind you that’s threatening to pass, increasing the stroke rate might be a good idea if you think your crew can sustain it. If there are crews that are packed together in front of the one you’re trying to pass, you might want to pass them at your base pace and then settle in where you can, either with or behind the pack in front. If you think you can pass another crew, that’s a calculated risk you’ll have to make a decision on as it’s happening based on the information you have on hand. You should also be watching the crew you’re passing to see if and how they counter your move. They might take the stroke rate up to hold you off, which might mean that instead of cruising by them, you might need to take the rate up for a couple strokes too.

Another thing you’ve got to factor in is whether or not the crew in front of you is a rival. A normal crew will do their best to hold you off but a rival will make it their mission to make sure that your bowball doesn’t get past theirs. Be prepared for this and know how to counter it.

General passing rules – these should be announced by the regatta official(s) at the coaches and coxswains meeting so don’t skip that. Different regattas have different rules, especially at head races. Some might allow you to pass under a bridge, others might penalize you for doing it. You won’t know unless you go. I’d also recommend not assuming you know the rules just because you’ve been there before. You never know when they might change them.

When passing, your bow must be pointed towards the side you intend to pass on by the time you are within at least one length of open water on the crew you’re passing. The crew that’s being passed should be fully out of the way by the time the passing crew is within half a length of open.

When you are passing, you should yell out “coxswain, move to starboard/port” to the crew in front of you. Most coxswains will acknowledge you (do this by raising your hand, like normal) and immediately move over but some will be less accommodating. This can be attributed to two things: a) they can’t hear you, which is sometimes understandable or b) they’re purposely doing that because they think it’ll make you give up on trying to pass them. All you have to do in situations like this is yell again to move over. Your bow (wo)men can help you out here by yelling at them to move too. People in bow, don’t wait for your coxswain to tell you to do this. If you can hear them repeatedly telling someone to move, just look over and repeat what they’re saying. If you have to tell at them again to move, threaten them with a penalty. They will get penalized for not moving out of the way because it’s considered unsportsmanlike conduct. At HOCR it’s a 60 second penalty the first time, 2 minutes the second time, and an automatic DQ for the third time.

If you are being passed, move. Communicate with your stroke before the race (or bow if you’re in a 4+) and tell them that if there’s a crew coming up on you, they must tell you. It doesn’t need to be some big long conversation between the two of you either. That’s part of the reason why I think a lot of the rowers don’t tell their coxswain what’s going on behind the because they think they need to say “hey, there’s a boat passing us on starboard” and they don’t want to waste that much energy or oxygen, but in reality all they need to do is say “starboard” or “port”. I know your lungs are on fire but I think you can manage to squeak out a one or two syllable word. Help your coxswain out. If your crew gets penalized for not yielding, it’s just as much your fault as it is the coxswain’s.

Try to avoid passing under bridges when you can. Know the rules as to what bridges you’re allowed to pass under and which ones you aren’t if there are multiple ones along the course. Don’t be that coxswain that thinks it’s a good idea to go three wide under Weeks (shout out to the coxswain who messed up my turn last year by being that person…ya jerk).

I’ll try to find more videos of this if I can but I came across this one while writing this and thought it was a good example of a coxswain telling a crew to move repeatedly (Michigan) and the crew being passed not moving (Dartmouth), leading to a collision before Eliot. Michigan was able to recover quickly but you can see it really stalled Dartmouth. If you’ve got time, definitely check out the whole video but the part I’m referring to starts around 20:00 and the collision around 21:45.

One other quick thing to note, you can hear somebody say “you had room!”, someone else say “fuck you”, and someone else say “fucking” something (it’s kinda hard to hear). I get that situations like that are irritating but you’ve got to be careful about spouting off on other crews like that because you can also get an unsportsmanlike penalty even if steering-wise you did everything correct. I’m lucky I didn’t get a penalty last year for yelling “are you fucking kidding me” to the coxswain who thought going three-wide under Weeks was do-able because there were three officials standing on Weeks watching the whole thing unfold. (I was the only one of the three crews to not be penalized so yay for that.) In the heat of the moment it’s understandable but ask yourself if it’s worth a penalty if an official hears you.

Coxing Rowing

Navigating the Schuylkill River (Philadelphia, PA)

By readyallrow September 19, 2013

I got a request last week to do a post on navigating the Schuylkill so that’s what today’s post will be on. I don’t know if I was just overlooking it or what but I couldn’t find a single map anywhere online that showed the 2k course, head race course, bridges, and traffic patterns.

Here’s a panoramic from Boathouse Row’s Wikipedia that shows all the clubs on Kelly Drive. I edited it to add the names so you know which is which. To view a larger version just right-click and select “view image”, then magnify it when it opens.

To the left you can see the entire rowable part of the river, indicated by the blue brackets at the top and bottom of the picture. Even though the Schuylkill is fairly long, there are only about 3 miles of it that crews can safely row on. (This doesn’t count the part of the river up in Conshohocken where Villanova rows.) To give you an idea of how many meters that is, it’s just under 5k one way, so a little over 9.5k total. Time wise, I think going from top to bottom at a reasonable steady state pressure took us about 15-20 minutes this summer depending on the current. Once you get past the railroad bridge at the top of the river it gets pretty rocky and difficult to navigate so crews tend to not venture up there. The lower part of the river is blocked by the dam and a large net-like barrier that prevents crews from getting too close to it. To access the last four boathouses on the Row you have to go under the cables, making sure to stick close to the docks (while still giving crews room to launch). There’s a small island down by the row that, as you’re coming in to dock, you want to make sure you stay to the left of.

When I was at that Level 1 certification class back in March one of the things they spent a lot of time talking about was safety, for obvious reasons. They specifically spent a good deal of time talking about the things coaches are required to carry in their launch, including a paddle and at least 11 PFDs (personal flotation devices), amongst other things. The reason for this is because in 1984 a coach named Kippy Liddle was out with her crew and her engine stalled after getting caught in the vertical cables down by the dam. She didn’t have a paddle or anything that would allow her to row herself out of harm’s way so she instructed the other person in the launch (a coxswain) to put on the one PFD that was in there and swim to shore. She was able to do so successfully but when Liddle jumped out of the boat to try to swim to shore (after drifting closer and closer to the dam), she was swept over it and killed. She was told by the people coming to rescue her to stay in her launch but she didn’t listen, which contributed to her death. The people in the rescue launch also had their engine stall and ended up going over the dam too, but because they stayed in the launch they weren’t hurt. This is part of Schuylkill River history at this point but the point of this story is to make sure your coach’s launch has life jackets and a paddle and to always stay with your boat (regardless of what body of water you’re on).

This is the lower end of the river down towards Boathouse Row. The black dotted line is meant to represent the cables that prevent you from getting close to the dam. It’s not 100% accurate in terms of placement but it’s relatively close, so you get the point.

The biggest difference between the Schuylkill and most other bodies of water is that it follows a left hand traffic pattern, whereas most places follow a right hand pattern.

When you launch, your bow should be pointing upstream so that when you shove, you can immediately begin rowing to the left side of the river. If you’re coming from the lower boathouses, you should turn to port as soon as you get past the cables. If you’re launching from Undine, Penn AC, College Boat Club, or Vesper you should shove off, take a couple strokes to get away from the dock and then have your starboard rowers in bow 4 row to get you pointed towards the west side of the river. If you look at the map and see where the “30” sign is on the expressway, you should be aiming somewhere below that general area as you’re crossing. Any higher than that and you’ll be cutting off people that are rowing downstream. A good rule of thumb is to just row parallel to the cables and then straighten out once you’re on the other side. As you go upstream, keep an eye out for small boats or slower crews ahead of you. Typically you pass on the left but with left hand traffic patterns you pass on the right, which means you might need to venture towards the middle-ish part of the river, depending on how much room the crews in front of you are taking up. If you’re doing warmups and stuff or are only rowing by pairs or fours, stick close to shore so that crews can easily pass you without getting in the way of crews rowing downstream.

As you come up on the Girard Ave. bridge (indicated on the map above by a green star with a number “1” in it), you’ll want to be aiming for the first arch on the left hand side, as indicated by the blue arrow going upstream. Coming through Girard you should be aiming for the second arch on the Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge (which until June I thought only existed in Monopoly), indicated by the #2 green star. Avoid going through the first arch here because it’s a tight squeeze and is fairly shallow. The second arch is wide enough for a couple crews to go under at the same time as long as you’re paying attention.

When you’re returning to Boathouse Row, coming through the railroad bridge you should be going through the second arch from shore, as you can see in the picture where the yellow arrow is. Through Girard you’ll want to come through the middle arch. This will point you directly down that straight stretch of the river. Be sure to not venture too far into the middle so that crews who might be passing on the way upstream can do so safely.

As you continue upstream, the next bridge you’ll encounter is Columbia (green star #3). It’s important – very important – that as you come around the turn, you don’t cut it too soon and/or sharply and end up on the right hand (aka wrong) side of the river. On a normal day this is critical but it becomes even more so during regattas when crews who have just finished racing are coming through the bridge. Once you’re through the bridge, stay on the left side of Peter’s Island. You really can’t mess this up unless you go through the 4th arch from the left and not one of the first three. Again, if you’re planning on stopping or are moving slower than other crews, pull over to right beside the island or right along shore so that the crews who are still moving at a good pace can row through the middle of the river without interruption. A good “pro tip” if you’re out during really hot days (like we were this summer – hello 100+ degree heat wave) is to stay as close as you can to either shoreline so that you’re in the shade, both while you’re rowing and when you stop.

The center abutment on Columbia is the “marker” for what arches are upstream and downstream, which gives you three arches on either side to travel through. Traveling upstream, the center arch of the left three is the “preferred” arch, although the other two are available if the center one is congested. If there’s been a lot of rain, be careful traveling through the arch closest to shore because you’ll find a lot of logs, tree limbs, etc. sitting along the shoreline that can wreck your boat if you get too close. The amount of rain that we got in a one-week period in June was record breaking for Philly, so we saw a lot of limbs and sometimes whole trees floating down the river. Always be aware of stuff like that when you’re choosing which arches to travel through.

This bridge is a little weird because you’re not necessarily aiming for the center of the arch like you would be on a normal bridge. As you approach it, you should sort of be pointed at the upstream corner of the left hand abutment of the center arch. Read that again slowly and think about it. Upstream corner of the left hand abutment of the center arch. As you get closer to the bridge you can adjust as necessary and make your turn to port to get yourself pointed straight upstream.

The downstream arches are marked by the lane numbers, which you can see in this photo. This shows the bridge as you’re going upstream, so you can see that as soon as you come through the bridge at the end of the race course you have to immediately turn to port. If you continue to row straight you can easily get in the way of crews rowing upstream. The closer you are to the shoreline, the sharper your turn is going to need to be, so you might need to get some help from your rowers to bring you around depending on what the steering is like in your boat.

This photo below shows a downstream shot with all the lanes visible, as well as the grandstands and the tower, which is where the finish line is located.

The course isn’t buoyed so it’s important that you get your point on your lane and maintain it to avoid impeding someone else’s race or practice. I think it’s at 300m to go where there is a cable that goes from the shoreline to Peter’s Island that has each lane number hanging down from it. If you line up directly on those coming out of Strawberry Mansion and pass right under them as you come through the last 500m, you’ll be all set.

Moving along, the next bridge you’ll come to as you’re heading upstream is the Strawberry Mansion bridge (green star #5). You can see in the photo the blue arrow indicates the upstream lane and the yellow arrows indicate the downstream lanes, which are on the race course and are indicated by the lane numbers that are along the top of the bridge. As you come out of Peter’s Island it’s important to stay pointed on the western arch in order to avoid venturing into lane 6.

Any time there is not a race happening, lane 6 must be left open as a “neutral zone” between the crews traveling upstream and downstream. This goes for launches as well. There is also a lane 0 that goes through the arch closest to shore as you’re traveling downstream (not shown in the picture) that is used as a travel lane for crews traveling to and from the canoe club and the St. Joe’s boathouse. This is not intended to be a travel lane during regular practices so as you come through the bridge if you’re in lane one, especially if you’re in a blind boat, make sure you’re paying attention and not venturing too close to the docks.

As far as landmarks go, Strawberry Mansion is about 750m into the 2k course and 250m in to the 1500m course. Additionally, in the second map you’ll see four pink arrows with the numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5 in them. These indicate the following points along the race course:

Arrow #2: 500m in to the 2k course/starting line of the 1500m course

Arrow #3: 1000m in to the 2k course/500m in to the 1500m course

Arrow #4: 1500m in to the 2k course/1000m in to the 1500m course

Arrow #5: The finish line (note that it doesn’t run completely parallel to the bridge)

The last set of bridges you’ll encounter are the Twin Bridges, which are up in the East Falls area of Philadelphia. Rowing through here is at your own risk but if you do, the same left hand traffic pattern applies. Racing and high stroke rates aren’t allowed because of the rocks and everything that are just past the bridges. The water gets pretty shallow so to be safe, just don’t go up here. It’s not worth the risk of damaging your shell.

Before you get to the bridges is where you’ll spin. As you come down, make sure you’re hugging the shore a bit so that once you start rowing you’re not tripped up by the slight bend in the river right before the starting line of the 2k course, which is indicated by the #1 pink arrow. Once you get to this point you should line up on one of the lane numbers on Strawberry Mansion and aim to stay in that relative area for the duration of your row down the course. Coming through Strawberry Mansion there’s another slight turn to starboard (seen in the second map) that you’ll need to hit in order to stay in line on the course. I’d recommend consciously practicing this when you’re out so that on race day it’s a natural reaction and not something you’re spending too much time thinking about.

The last thing I want to go over is what I briefly talked about at the beginning with regards to the island down by Fairmount. I took a screenshot from Google Maps (zoomed in all the way) of the cables that go across the river, which you can see more clearly if you enlarge the picture. You can see the vertical cables across the majority of the river with the exception of the small channel closest to the docks, which is outlined by the blue line. There are no buoys or anything where that blue line is drawn so even though in theory you could row through the cables coming downstream and venture into that open area, it’s ill advised because of the dam (hence the red circle). Aim to stay where the green checkmarks are between the docks and the imaginary blue line when traveling to and from the lower boathouses.

The Schuylkill is a decent body of water to row on but it gets congested quickly due to the number of crews that row in that area. You’ve really got to be on top of your game in order to have an efficient practice and avoid getting in another crew’s way. I was surprised over the summer how many boats were out so I can only imagine how magnified that is during the school year.

Check out this video that a double took of their row upstream. It shows them launching from Fairmount, rowing under the cables (0:39), and then rowing over to the far shore on the west side. It jumps through to each of the bridges so you can see what they look like and what the travel lanes are. They steer a pretty good course so I’d recommend trying to replicate it as closely as possible when you’re out.

This video (by the same rower) shows the route to take as you’re coming in to dock. He was going to Bachelors, which is the club just on the other side of the cables. By the time you get around the turn, you shouldn’t be rowing by all eight or all four anymore. I’d drop down to fours or pairs if you’re in a four. There’s a lot of traffic in this area and not a lot of room to maneuver. Safety first. Also be aware of the Penn AC dock as you come around the corner. It sticks out farther than the other docks on the Row (as seen in this aerial shot), which means you’ve got to swing a little wide coming around if you’re docking anywhere below Penn AC. If you come around the corner tight it sets you up really well to dock at the Girls’ Club or Undine but will basically mean that you’re going to run yourself up over Penn AC’s.

This video is the same thing except the camera is on the stern instead of the bow, so you can get a bigger picture of what the docking process looks like.

And finally, this video shows both an upstream and downstream row, complete with shots of all of the bridges and the grandstands at the finish

Image via // @TheBoatsMan

Coxing How To Q&A Racing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow September 16, 2013

Hi! Since fall season hit, I’ve been trying to improve my steering. The problem is, my team has a limited number a boats and we’re taking a Resolute to a head race. The steering essentially forces me to go straight and I find it impossible to make it around big turns! I was wondering, how can I steer a head race in a Resolute?

Whenever I’m in Resolutes I feel like I’m steering a bathtub or something. I don’t know if they’re all like that or just the ones I’ve been in but it was really frustrating. I think one of the boats we used at Penn AC was a Resolute too and I remember the coxswains had a lot of problems steering around the turn right after the finish line on the Schuylkill, probably because we had the same racing rudder that you have.

Your best option is going to be using the rowers to help you turn. In some races, like HOCR, this is a necessity anyways on some of the turns. You should still use the rudder and turn it in the direction you want to go but to fully get around the turn, you’ll want to have the rowers adjust their power so that one side powers down while the other side brings it around. Having one side row at 100% and then telling the other side to “pull harder” just does. not. work. It doesn’t! I don’t know why coxswains do this. If you’re turning to port, you want the port rowers to go down to maybe 75% (I never go less than 50% on any turn) and then have your starboards go balls out to bring you around. It’s gotta be coordinated well so that everyone still stays in time, knows when to adjust their power, and when to even it out again. I typically say something like “ports down, starboards up in 2…in 1…now, starboards GO”. This tells everyone what to do in as few words as possible. We also practiced doing this a lot before HOCR last year so they had plenty of opportunities to get used to how I was planning on calling it.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow September 16, 2013

I’ve just joined a varsity program and we have been doing a lot of long pieces in preparation for 6K season. Whether it be ‘racing’ pieces or ‘technique’ pieces, I do find myself stumbling on things to say. I’m not quite clicking as much as I did last year (maybe it’s because last year during fall season we were still learning how to actually row – this is my first year on varsity). Do you have any tips to coxing longer pieces without being annoying? And also – do you have an advice on how to steer while keeping it close with other boats that we’re practicing with?

I’ll tackle the steering question first. The first thing you’ve got to do is communicate with the other coxswains. Ask them where they’re pointing when you’re on straight bodies of water and adjust your point accordingly. Do this before you start rowing. When you’re on a river that has bends and curves, make sure you know when to start turning depending on whether you’re on the inside, middle, or outside and then tell the other coxswains when you’re starting your turn. This will help you prep for head races when you might have to turn while passing or being passed.

In addition to communicating with one another, the next two most important things you’ve gotta do are not oversteer and not freak out because of how close another crew is to you. I’d say anywhere from 5-6ft. is enough room to have between the two sets of blades. Any more and you’re probably taking up too much of the river. Any less and you’re probably going to clash blades (unless you’re really good at keeping a point). When I first started coxing I was a chronic oversteerer. I got much better over the course of my freshman year but would still fall back into bad habits when having to steer next to other boats.

Trusting other coxswains is one of the hardest parts of the job for me and being really close to them always made me nervous. Whenever we’d do pieces with other crews I’d volunteer to be the one in the middle so I could force myself to become more comfortable with crews on either side of me. It forces you to be even more aware of the adjustments you’re making and how big they are vs. how small they need to be. If you get jittery because another crew is close to you and then overcorrect by throwing the rudder to one side, you’re going to end up doing a fishtail-pinball like maneuver that’s going throw off you, the rowers, the other coxswain(s), and your coach because of the potential that they’ll have to stop the piece so you can get your point again or so the crews can untangle their oars.

The TL;DR of this is to communicate, pick a point and stick to it, maintain your composure, and make small adjustments when necessary.

With regards to coxing longer pieces, as long as you’re not saying the same thing over and over and over expecting something different to happen, speaking in a monotonous tone, and/or saying a bunch of nonsense, you won’t be annoying. Check out the post linked below – I think there’s some good info in there that’ll help you figure out things to say throughout the pieces.Also, check out the recordings I’ve posted for some ideas of things to say and how to say them. (Don’t just pick out things that sound cool either – know why they’re being used and understand the purpose behind them.)

Don’t put too much weight on the “varsity” label. I see it far too often and it’s annoying. Yes, being on varsity is a step above novice (or JV) but there’s really nothing special about it. You’re doing more work and pushing yourself harder but that’s the point. Congratulations, you leveled up and have now reached Level 2 in rowing. “Varsity” is just a word that people put on a pedestal because they think it means all these things that it doesn’t. The only difference between being on varsity and not being on varsity is that on varsity you’re expected to have a slightly better understanding of the concepts you learned the previous year, just like in school. Keep doing what you know how to do, make an effort to learn what you don’t, and always work to make small improvements when you’re out on the water. That is what being on the varsity team is about.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow August 20, 2013

Hi Kayleigh! So a few days ago, we took some fours out on the water to get a good cool down after summer season, but also to get in a good warm-up for the upcoming fall season. I’ve always been used to fours with the handle on the right side, pointing the handle forward to go to starboard, and pointing the handle backward to go to port. That day, I was put into a four with a completely different steering system that I was not used to at all. There was a handle directly in front of me that jutted out from the top, and I would have to move the handle to port or starboard. I was guessing that you would point the handle in the direction that we wanted to go but we did a lot of straight-course rowing so I didn’t get to experiment as often as I would’ve liked to. My question is, what are the different types of steering in fours? And do the same principles apply (small adjustments, not going too hard on the rudder) to all types of steering? Thanks!

For the most part, yes, the same principles apply to all them. Small adjustments are key except in cases where you’re going around a big turn and need that extra “oomph” to get you around. The only real difference between steering a four vs. an eight is that the four is going to respond faster than the eight will since it’s smaller.

Basically there are three types of steering for the fours, all of which we’ve mentioned.

The strings, which work the same way they do in the eights

The lever that is directly in front of you

The handle (or “steering palm control unit”, as Vespoli calls it) that is beside you

The handle steering isn’t one I’ve used but I think it’s fairly straightforward – to steer to starboard you push it forward and to steer to port you pull it back towards you.

Something I learned after coxing a couple of bow loaders with the lever steering is that occasionally they are set up where the cables are crossed, which is frustrating if you aren’t used to it or, in my case, didn’t know that was even a thing. I coxed a Filippi when I was in Philadelphia and could not figure out why the boat kept going to port when I was clearly steering to starboard. Eventually the coach realized that I had no idea what was going on and he told me that yea, the cables in Filippis are crossed which means the steering is backwards to what I’m used to. I don’t know why some boats are like this but the best way to determine how the steering in your shell works is to play with the rudder a bit before you go out so you can see which direction it moves when you move the lever one way or the other, as well as how big your adjustments need to be.

If the steering cables are too loose you’ll find that when you’re on the water and move the rudder an inch or so you might not actually be doing anything to the rudder even though you think you’re making an adjustment. If you find that the rudder isn’t responding much to you moving the lever, let your coach know so they can tighten the cables.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow August 13, 2013

I heard that you should just steer whilst the blades are in the water to reduce drag and maintain the set. Does that mean I only move the strings when the blades are in, or do I return them to the straight position during the recovery? The latter doesn’t seem like it would turn the boat much.

During the recovery yes, unless you’re going around a really sharp curve, you would go back to having the rudder straight and the strings even. In my opinion the whole “steering while the blades are in the water” thing only truly applies to when you’re racing, especially during sprint races, because you don’t want to be steering much to begin with and, obviously, you don’t want to slow it down by creating drag from the rudder. During practice it’s not as big of a deal but the same idea still applies.

Like you said, going back and forth between having the rudder turned and having it straight won’t turn the boat as much as just holding it in the direction you want to go, but the “con” of that is that it’ll affect the set of the boat (more or less depending on the skill level of the rowers you’re coxing). You should only hold it to the side like that though if you’re trying to get around a big curve or a sharp turn. In cases like this, just tell your rowers that you’re steering to port/starboard (you should do this regardless), and have them adjust their handle heights as necessary. (Don’t forget to tell the when you’re off the rudder too so they can readjust their hands.)

So, to answer your question, when you’re going straight or going around very slight curves, you should make small adjustments as necessary and go back to having the strings straight on the recovery. I usually steer for a stroke, take a stroke or two off, and then make another adjustment if I have to. If you’re going around a larger turn just hold the rudder to the side you’re trying to go and have the rowers adjust their handle heights until you’re finished steering.

Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 27, 2013

I used to cox women for all four years I was in high school. I’m in college now and on a men’s team. In an eight or a stern loader four I have a hard time seeing things in front of me since my rowers are so much taller than women I’m used to coxing. This had led to close calls with logs floating in the water and other obstructions. HELP!

I’ve had similar problems coxing men’s eights a couple times. I’ve had a few close calls with singles and pairs because they sit directly in front of my bow so I have no idea they’re there until the coach says something and I steer around them. (Although why you’d sit right in front of an eight and stare right at them as they walk up on you instead of just moving is beyond me.)

Whenever I’m on the water, regardless of who I’m coxing, I’m never trying to look at what’s directly in front of me; instead I’m looking at everything that is 100ish meters in front of me. That way if I see something and know I can’t completely maneuver the boat out of the way in time I can say “ports, watch the log under your oars”. If I see something like another boat then I’ll obviously do whatever’s necessary to avoid them, either by using more pressure from one side or just stopping and readjusting my point. Stopping is a last resort though. I move my head to the left or right every couple of strokes just to check where I am but the key is to limit how far you move your shoulders and lean out. If I have to lean a little farther than normal I will and most of them will see you doing that and just know that you’re trying to see what’s ahead but I’ll still usually say something like “sorry guys, just checking what’s ahead…” if the boat really crashes over. If there’s a lot happening up ahead then sometimes I’ll sit up on the back of the stern for a stroke or two just to give me a broader view of where I can go. Talking to my coach and asking him what’s ahead of me when there’s a lot of traffic is also helpful on occasion.

You can’t avoid everything but you can always make an effort to try. One universal thing with my crews is that I always tell them that if they hear something, like a log bumping under the boat, just yell up to me so I can try to push it away. Same goes for if we pass really closely to a piece of debris and it’s right up against the hull (which has happened a few times). Having taller/broader rowers in front of you can be tough sometimes but there are plenty of ways to work around it as long as you communicate and pay attention.

Coxing Novice

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 21, 2013

Hi I’m a novice coxswain (like really novice, my first day of actual coxing was today) and I have a steering question. Should I steer when the rowers are on the drive or on the recovery (blades in or out of the water)? I have looked it up a couple places and found conflicting answers. Today I just steered during both because I figured for my first time it was more important not to hit anything than to have perfect “steering technique”. And I have one more question actually – I found it practically impossible to talk or run drills while steering today. That will get easier as I master steering right? For now do you have any tips for focusing on both talking and steering especially while running drills that involve calling pauses and counting strokes? Thank you so much and I LOVE your blog!

You’re right, the first few times you go out it’s more important to figure out how the steering works and just avoid running into anything. I tend to make small steering adjustments on the recovery. Sometimes I’ll adjust on the drive when we’re doing pieces since that is when the boat is most set (when the blades are in the water) but I find that I often get a better response from the rudder if I do it on the recovery. Turning the rudder effects the set a little though so you want to avoid doing anything that’s going to throw it off even more, especially if it’s already wonky. The boats I’ve been coxing in the last few months have really good steering and the crews I’m coxing are pretty experienced so it doesn’t mess with the set too much. Coming around a corner, if you make that small adjustment right at the finish you can just coast around it. If you’re not used to steering though and/or have an inexperienced crew, just stick to steering on the drive and keep your adjustments to a minimum (both in number and duration).

One thing that you’ll learn as you get more experienced is that steering both is and isn’t something you’re doing all the time. It’s kind of like when you’re driving – sometimes you’re making tiny adjustments with the wheel and sometimes you’re good to just leave it alone. The boat is the same way. You should always be aware of where you are, what’s ahead, etc. and always be keeping your hands on the strings to keep the rudder straight but you don’t always need to be moving the rudder around. Once you get a point you want to steer as little as possible.

As you get more experienced multi-tasking will become second nature. Most coaches are OK with running practice from the launch for the first few days though to let you get the hang of steering. If you’re doing both right away and feeling overwhelmed, tell your coach. It’s more important that you pick up steering than it is for you to call drills right now. Pay attention to the drills and what’s going on so you’re ready to do them when it’s time though.

If counting the strokes in your head is too overwhelming right now just use the stroke counter on your cox box. In newer models (like the one in the picture) it’s in the top right corner of the screen whereas in older models it’s in the lower right corner of. As long as your stroke is rowing you’ll be able to get a count of the strokes since the sensor is under their seat. If they aren’t rowing you’ll have to count the strokes yourself since the cox box won’t pick them up.

Don’t be afraid to try counting, steering when necessary, talking, etc. at the same time (in small doses). You’re going to have to do it sooner or later. As a novice, no one expects you to be perfect right away so now is kind of your one and only chance to “test” things out. If you keep avoiding it though because you think you’re going to mess up, that’s just irresponsible coxing (in my opinion, at least). In the beginning coxing is uncomfortable but embracing the discomfort and not letting it distract you or make you scared is what makes good coxswains.