Editing Racing shell (section)

== Boat classification ==

There are a large number of different types of racing shells.  They are classified using:

*'''Number of rowers'''. In all forms of modern competition the number of rowers can be 1, 2, 4, or 8. In the 19th century, there were often races with 6, 10 and 12 rowers per boat.{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}
*'''Position of [[coxswain]]'''. Boats are either coxless, bow-coxed (also called [[bowloader]]s), or stern-coxed.  In coxless ("straight") boats, a steersman is responsible for steering by either use of a mechanism connecting one of his shoes by wire to the rudder—the swiveling of the shoe turns the rudder, or by using a hand controlled string, called a tiller rope, which is parallel to the gunwales or the boat, and controls the rudder in a similar fashion. Singles and doubles do not employ a rudder in competition; the oarsmen steer by increasing or decreasing pressure or length on one scull or the other.  In competition, bow- and stern-coxed boats may race one another.
*'''Type of rowing'''. The rower(s) may each hold one oar ([[sweep rowing]]) or two oars ([[sculling]]). The shell then has one rigger or two riggers per  rower.

Although sculling and sweep boats are generally identical to each other (except having different riggers), they are referred to using different names:
*Sweep: [[coxless pair|straight pair]] (2-), [[coxed pair]] (2+), [[coxless four|straight four]] (4-), [[coxed four]] (4+), [[Eight_(rowing)|eight]] (8+) (always coxed)
*Sculling: [[single scull|single]] (1x), [[double scull|double]] (2x), [[quad scull|straight quad]] (4x); also, but not in world-class competition,  coxed quad (4x+), and [[octuple scull|octuple]] (8x+)