THE SEAT.
The rower must sit a-midships on the thwart or seat of the boat, else she will heel to the side on which he is sitting, and much of his labour will be lost. He should sit with ease to himself, having his feet on the middle of the stretcher, and his legs not quite extended; but his knees, as he rows, should be brought down, and his legs stretched.
THE PULL.
The rower should make long strokes in a heavy boat, and shorter and quicker strokes in a light boat. At the beginning of the pull, he must, in general, bend his body till his head is over his knees, and extend his arms as far aft as convenient, that the blades of the sculls may be thrown correspondingly forward. [Plate XXIX.] f. 1. With regard to the back in particular, some think that, if a short distance is to be rowed, it should be bent; and that, if a long distance, it is less fatiguing to keep it straight. When the arms are extended as far aft, and the blades of the sculls as far forward as convenient—which must never be so far as to jam in the rullocks—([Plate XXIX.] f. 1) the rower must dip the sculls into the water, and pull towards him, by at once bending the arms and the body.
When in the middle of the pull, if the sculls are not short enough, or even if the head and body are slightly turned, one of the hands will go higher than the other; and, as the right is generally the stronger, it may go above, and the left below. It is often found difficult to keep one hand clear of the other in pulling a pair of sculls. This is so much the case, indeed, that the inexperienced frequently suffer more from the knocking and rubbing of the backs and sides of the hands against each other, than from the friction of the handles of the oars in the palms of the hands. This may be easily obviated by attending to the following advice:—
Having seated yourself in the centre of the thwart, with your feet close together against the centre of the stretcher, ship your sculls, but, before pulling a stroke, move your body three or four inches to the right hand, and still retain your feet in the centre: thus you will be sitting rather obliquely; this will throw your right shoulder more forward, and consequently the right hand; and thus the hands will work perfectly clear of each other. This rule, however, must be modified by the circumstances of river-rowing. A waterman writes us as follows:—“As to carrying one hand above the other, my way is, that if, for instance, I go from Greenwich to Blackwall against tide, I keep down on the Greenwich side, in general look toward the shore, and having my face over the left shoulder, my right hand is then above. If I go from Greenwich to London, my face is turned over the right shoulder, and the left hand is then uppermost.”
Plate XXIX
Beginning of the Pull.