About Rowing

Competitive rowing in the United States dates back to 1852 with the first Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Massachusetts. Regattas in the Hudson Valley also featured highly in the sport. Poughkeepsie was the site of the national intercollegiate competition from 1895 to 1949.

A rowing shell where each rower has one oar that is rowed with both hands is called a sweep. When each rower rows with 2 oars, it is called a scull. Shells are made for one (known as a single), two (a pair if a sweep, a double if a scull), four (a four) or eight (an eight) rowers. A coxswain is the person who sits in the stern of the double, four or eight to direct the rowers and steer the boat. 

The sweeps have a thin skin of wood or fiberglass ó thus the word ìshell.î All of the clubís wooden shells are approximately 20 to 40 years old and were made by the legendary George Pocock & Co. of Seattle. From the 1920s until the advent of fiberglass shells in the 1960s, the finest state-of-the-art rowing shells in the United States were crafted by Pocock. 

The outer hull is made from either fiberglass or 1/8th-inch western cedar and the ribs and keel from strong but light weight Alaskan cedar. Metal bars protruding from both sides of the hull are the riggers that holds each oar in place. The club currently owns one double, several fours and  two eights.