The racing shell is a rowboat specifically designed for racing. The shell is extremely narrow and fairly long. It is powered by long oars which are fitted into outriggers to hold the oarlocks away from the boat. The boat is fast, but it is also unstable because of its length and semicircular cross-section which reduces drag to a minimum. The rowers must actively balance the boat while putting maximum effort into the oars—an essential skill in sport rowing.
The modern sport of competitive rowing traces its origins to the River Thames in London, England. In the early eighteenth century professional watermen began holding racing with prizes offered by the London Guilds and Livery Companies. Doggett’s Coat and Badge is the oldest surviving race: it was originally held in 1715 and is still held from London Bridge to Chelsea.
Thomas Doggett was an Irish actor and comedian who relied heavily upon the Thames waterman (the eighteenth century version of the modern taxi driver) to convey him between his workplaces in London and his residence in Chelsea. According to legend, Doggett was rescued by a waterman after falling overboard. In gratitude for his rescue, he offered a rowing wager to the fastest waterman over the course between The Swan Pub at London Bridge and the Swan Pub at Chelsea. Doggett organized and financed the race each year until his death in 1721. In his will he left instructions for the continuation of the race.
By the end of the eighteenth century boat clubs were organized at Eton College and Westminster School. In 1815 clubs at the University of Oxford held a race between Brasenose College and Jesus College. The sport spread to Germany and then to the United States with the Narragansett Boat Club (1838), Detroit Boat Club (1839), and Yale University (1843).
The International Rowing Federation was founded in 1892 to provide regulation for the fast-growing sport. In 1900, rowing became an Olympic sport; women’s rowing was added in 1976.
Today’s sleek racing shell evolved from the working rowboat in the nineteenth century. For team racing, the boat required a longer hull and the narrower beam reduced drag for racing. However, the first racing shells were not as narrow as today’s shells: the oarlocks had to be mounted on the gunwales (the sides of the boat). Thus, the next major innovation came in the form of outriggers attached to the gunwales which allowed the oarlocks to be placed outside of the boat. This meant that the hull could become narrower, reducing drag even more and increasing its potential speed and it also meant that the oars could become longer. Longer oars meant more power which again resulted in more speed.
To increase power to the oars, rowers started using their legs. Initially this involved wearing leather bottoms (wear resistant) covered in grease. This allowed the rowers to use their legs to slide along the seat adding the power of their legs to the stroke. The next innovation to the racing shell was the sliding seat. Mounting the seat on rollers allows nearly frictionless movement of the rower’s body.
Like the nineteenth-century rowboats, the first shells were made from lapstrake wood. By the 1870s, composite shells made from a form of papier-mâché became popular. Today, carbon-fiber reinforced plastic in a honeycomb structure is most commonly used.
In today’s racing shell competition, the shells are classified by the number of rowers: 1, 2, 4, or 8. Boats with 4 or 8 rowers may have a coxswain and thus the boats may be coxless, bow-coxed, or stern-coxed.
Shown below are some photographs of racing shells at Port Townsend, Washington.