Part of being safe on the water involves learning the “rules of the road” for your local waterway. Mostly boats pass “port – to – port” and this can be confusing as rowers face backwards. The discussion (below) highlights the fact that local rules exist and this general guide may not apply.
In general, being able to look behind you is a key skill in rowing and sculling. When I teach learn to row, lesson 2 includes instruction on how to see where you’re going. I teach two methods – the “glance” when you turn your chin till it’s over your shoulder. Here you can see quite a long way in front of your shell. The second is a full turn so you can see your bow ball.
The reason I teach both is because if you only glance over your shoulder there’s a massive blind spot directly in front of your boat where a hazard is probably lurking!
Susanna and I rowed together for many years – we developed a warning system for our steering. When we thought we were going really well, “rowing like goddesses”, that was the moment we were probably about to hit something. And we’d look around to check our course.
If in doubt, look round more frequently.
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Taking criticism is hard. We discuss how to give and receive a critique and why coaches offer feedback to some athletes and not others. Click the image to watch.
Boathouse Chat for the Weekend
Might anyone here have any documentation as to the “right of way “ of a Human powered vessel? I’m trying to bring clarity to other groups.
Many masters recommend learning how to use a cap-mounted mirror as a way of improving your ability to know what’s in front of your boat.
A new (and somewhat pricey) alternative has been launched – sunglasses with tiny convex mirrors built into the frame. TriEye are focused on cycling and rowing. The rowing design has two mini mirrors and the bike version has only one. The red arrows point to the in-built mirrors.
TriEye glasses with inbuilt mirrors
Regular Rowing mirror choices
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