Re: Rowing "Navy Style"


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Posted by Jock on January 02, 2007 at 15:01:23 from 87.105.81.146 user Jock.

In Reply to: Rowing posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on January 01, 2007 at 22:11:04:

What is "Navy Style" in the rowing of thirteen foot sailing dinghies, please?

At last, a question that old Jock knows something about!

I was taught to row at a tender age by the original "Jock"
who was a graduate of the Conway. He taught us to row
"with your whole body, not with your arms", keeping the
back straight, feathering the blade on the return stroke
and keeping in time with the chap ahead of you.

I rowed in this manner around the southern part of the
Grand Union Canal and on the River Thames and considered
myself to be a competent rower. In turn, I trained my crew
to row in a similar manner. They organised several "Three
Men in a Boat" holidays in camping skiffs. Then we met
Johnathan!

Johnathan had been Royal Navy. He shouted at us.
"Call that rowing, you'd be better whipping eggs!". What
Johnathan objected to was our way of dipping our blades in
the water or catch. We started our stroke in the air and
entered the water on the diagonal. Johnathan expected us to
drop our blades into the water almost on a right angle.

As to your second question. Ransome is a great teacher.
Almost all my sailing vocabulary came from AR. I guess he
expected his young readers to translate "Navy Style" as
"properly".



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