by Clare Callow

Created on: February 17, 2009

The coxswain, or cox, is the pivotal part of any rowing team, guiding the team throughout the race, giving them instructions, and, most importantly, steering the best and fastest course. Rowing as competition is a difficult enough task, but imagine removing the coxswain: while the first two things can be overcome without too much difficulty, the ability to steer while facing backwards and the tiller is a good four feet away is a very rare one indeed.

A coxless, or uncoxed, rowing team does accomplish this daunting task, but truth is, there is some trickery involved in this apparent magic. One of the team steers the boat via a a pair of cables attached to his/her foot. This position is known as steersman and can be given to whoever is the most appropriate and experienced in the team: the bowman (the rower rowing closest to the bow of the boat. Rowing has such a creative naming system, I know) is usually also steersman as they have the clearest view in those few fleeting moments they can look over their shoulder, although other members of the team may also be steersman.

The amount of individual effort involved in coxless rowing is significantly greater than that of a coxed team. As coxswains are, to all practical purposes, in charge of their rowing team, the individual team members of a coxless pair or four have a lot more responsibility than a coxed rowing team. The duties of a coxswain include taking the team through a physical warm-up and technical check of equipment, and interpreting the coach's thoughts to present to the team as a clear set of physical instructions. An appropriate analogy is that of a deaf orchestra attempting to play without a conductor. Without a cox, the relationship between coach and team becomes even more intense. The rowers also need to be able to strategise the technical aspects of their rowing strokes as a team. The steersman has the added burden of fitting, somewhere in the 35 strokes or so per minute, glances over their shoulder to ensure they are on the right course and then issuing instructions to correct any slip-ups.

Strategies for assigning steering to the rower with the best position include making the stroke (person closest to the stern) or one of the middlemen steersman. This allows the steersman to use the bow and/or stern as a reference point to keep the boat straight. It adds to an already heavy load in the case of the stroke, as this position is also responsible for setting the pace of the rowing strokes.

On the plus side, coxless teams reach significantly faster speeds due to their lighter weight in the water, and the added challenge of coordinating strategy with physical exertion makes coxless rowing an exciting sport.

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