180 Degree Turn

Question
I was wondering if you could advise on the best strategy to complete a tight, 180 degree turn in a head race while maintaining as much boat speed as possible and minimizing the time to complete the turn. Any differences in strategy for a single vs. a larger boat? Thanks!

Answer
Hi Pat: Interesting question.  I never really coxed, but I have rowed in singles and the bow seat of a quad (which is like coxing).  In a single, it is pretty easy.  You just keep pressure on one side while just "airing" or holding water with the other blade by placing it in the water and applying no pressure.

In an eight, which is really not very maneuverable at all, in addition to using the rudder, steering with added or subtracted power on one side of the boat is an effective
way to turn with minimum loss of speed. The direction in which you are turning is called
your off side.  So if you had to turn to port (for the purpose of this question, we will assume the coxswain wants to go to port or turn left), the port side rowers are on the off side.  Taking the offside forward-most rower (the bow seat) out of the equation has immediate effects on a turn with minimum loss. Dropping port rowers off sequentially, bow to stern, and concurrently powering them up while lightly fine tuning the turn with the rudder is an effective way to turn a racing shell for a hairpin.  The name for dropping off a rower or rowers is 揳irstroking? In an airstroke, a rower takes a complete stroke in time without hitting the water (or just skimming the water). This maintains the balance and rhythm of the crew and assures that an airstroking rower can return to rowing seamlessly. Entire sides often airstroke when maneuvering in tight situations.

If this isn't working, the cox can have one or more offside rowers holding water in lieu of airstroking. This is very effective for turning, but the speed of the boat is going to be checked. Only the stern of the offside rowers (i.e., stroke and 6 seat in a port turn) should hold water.  Using port-side rowers in the bow end to hold water actually counters the boat from turning in the desired direction.

The other alternative is to have the offside rowers back down in lieu of just holding water.  This will tighten the turn, but will kill your speed.  This is something you would do in order to avert a collision.

I'd recommend you experiment during practice with executing 180s and seeing which combination works best.  I'd be curious to know which one works best for you.

Good Luck/AP