The Vital Skill of Backing Into Stake Boats

STORY BY KAYLEIGH DURM

This article is for coaches, and I say that knowing right off the bat that the ones who need to read it most won’t.

Often, the limiting factor in developing coxswains is coaches and their lack of interest in teaching the skills coxswains need to succeed. So consider this a quick hit of professional development, prefaced by my usual reminder that the rowers are not the only athletes on your team worthy of your attention and guidance.

At some point this season, your coxswains are going to have to back into a stake boat, and like most things related to coxing, it both is and isn’t as hard as it seems. Once you’ve done it a couple of times, you can do it with your eyes closed the rest of your career. That said, it takes deliberate thought and maybe some diagramming on the part of coxswains, patience and engagement on the part of the crew, and a dedicated allocation of practice time on the part of you, the coach.

Notice that I didn’t say reallocation. Among the bare minimum coxswains should expect from you, allocating time during practice well in advance of the team’s first race to rehearse backing into stake boats ranks high.

Backing into stake boats is the equivalent of shooting free throws in basketball. Steph Curry doesn’t have a 91-percent free-throw average because he just shows up on game day and wings it. A few years ago, an article in The San Francisco Chronicle described how on game day Curry blocks out everything around him before he takes a shot and allows muscle memory to guide the ball through the hoop. If he misses, it’s because he thinks, if only for a split second.

“When physically and mentally fatigued at the end of each practice or workout, he must hit 10 foul shots—at least five of which have to be swishes—before he can leave the floor,” the article stated.

That’s why Curry leads the league in free-throw percentage. He’s made the physical and mental practice a built-in, unquestioned part of his day-to-day routine, as regular as the rising and setting of the sun.

We’ve all experienced good stress and bad stress on race day, but when bad stress stems from knowing you’re unprepared to back into a stake boat, your coxswain and the crew are already at a mental disadvantage. It’s overwhelming, it’s distracting, and there’s nothing more cherry-on-top than having eight people display the Dunning-Kruger effect by telling you confidently what they think you should do.

Coaches, don’t set your coxswains up for failure by not making time to practice the physical and mental skills they need to be able to do this successfully. You have full control over the 90 to 120 minutes of practice time each day. “There isn’t time” is an excuse that says to your coxswains that you don’t value them or their roles enough to help them learn how to execute a fundamental aspect of race day.

As much as I believe coxswains should advocate for themselves, I also realize that’s hard to do, especially for younger or newer coxswains. Rather than waiting for them to ask, “Can we practice this?” make it a default part of the plan each day. You’ll never convince me that spending 10, 20, or 30 extra minutes on drills or steady state is a more valuable use of your time.

Below are the basic steps I talk through with coxswains on land before they practice on water. Having a whiteboard helps, particularly with visual learners, so we can diagram where the boat needs to go and who needs to do what with each oar. This is from the perspective of coxing a port-rigged eight in reasonably calm conditions. Obviously, further adjustments would need to be made in adverse conditions, which is why you need to practice in good weather, bad weather, during a good practice, after a bad practice, etc., so you can account for whatever elements you might encounter on race day.

Step 1: Pull into the center of your lane, no more than a length of open water in front of the stake boat. If you have time to take a couple of 10s before you need to get locked on, turn around and row back to the start rather than backing it down for 400 meters. Sometimes you can do this in your lane; other times you need to exit the course completely. Confirm at the coaches and coxswains meeting which is applicable for your venue.

Step 2a: Confirm the shell is aligned with the stake boat before you begin backing. There are too many variables at play to try to be dead-on straight before you begin backing it, but you do need to be reasonably well centered and aligned. This will save you a lot of time and effort later.

Step 2b: Ensure the rudder is straight and remind the rowers to keep the boat set and not to fidget in their seats while you’re backing it down. Sometimes those who aren’t rowing will stretch, take off an article of clothing, reach down to grab a water bottle, turn around to talk to whomever’s behind them, and all that contributes to the boat’s being offset and pulling to one side or the other. The rudder is more likely to get pulled around as you back it, also causing the boat to turn to one side, so you’ll need to keep the cables taught to prevent this.

Step 2c: Back it down with your stern four, not bow four. The stern of the boat is the part you’re trying to maneuver, and having your stern four backing will give you maximum control over that end. In my experience, the power range that works best is arms-only at half pressure (minimum) up to arms-and-bodies at three-quarter pressure (maximum). I never include the legs and never use full pressure.

The number of people you have rowing and at what pressure should also be proportional to the distance you are from the stake boat. Don’t back it down from two lengths away with just your stern pair rowing at half pressure, and don’t back it down from half a length away with your stern six going full pressure. Common sense is critical throughout this whole process, but especially here.

Step 2d: While the crew is backing, your upper body should be turned so you can see over your shoulder. You also need to keep your weight centered so the boat doesn’t pull to one side. If I haven’t already connected with the stake-boat holder, this is when I try to lock eyes and say, “Hey, what’s up.” That assures me the holder is paying attention and ready to catch the stern.

Step 3: Clearly, assertively, and at an appropriate volume, communicate to the crew when they need to weigh enough. You can usually stop backing when your stern is three to four seats away from the stake boat. You’re going for a gentle drift, not a Tokyo drift. As you get closer, the stake-boat holder will grab you and you’ll officially be “locked on.” If the stake-boat holder can’t grab you because you’re too far to one side, you’ll need to pull forward and try again. It’s rarely worth the time and effort for the holder try to hold on to the boat while you readjust. Just have the holder release the stern and try again.

Step 4: Once the stake-boat holder has a firm hold on the stern, get your point. Full disclosure: This is the hard part that’s not actually hard if you’ve had adequate time to prepare and practice. It requires clear communication on your part and diligent coordination on the rowers’ part.

Since the stern needs to remain stationary, you’ll want to move the bow laterally by having the rowers take very small, precise strokes—what we call “sculling it around.” This is more efficient than having bow or two seat take normal strokes, since that will pull you forward and out of the grasp of the stake-boat holder, whereas sculling gives you more lateral control and less forward pull.

Sculling it to port: In a port-rigged shell, to get your bow pointed to port, have your two seat hold the oar in the right hand, reach around with the left hand to grab bow seat’s oar, tap down and feather it out of the water, and bring it parallel to the boat. Once parallel, the rower can take short arms-length strokes, keeping the blade on the square the entire time. Usually, three to five are all you need if you’re relatively straight and there isn’t too much wind.

Sculling it to starboard: In a port-rigged shell, to get your bow pointed to starboard, have your three seat hold the oar in the left hand, reach around with the right hand to grab two seat’s oar, tap down and feather it out of the water, and bring it parallel to the boat. Similarly as before, you should need only a couple of strokes to get your bow pointed straight.

Step 5: Locked on and locked in. You don’t want to get locked on so early that you have to spend forever getting and correcting your point. You also don’t want to get there so late that you don’t have time to get a good point at all. Timing and presence are everything.

Once I’m locked on and have my point, I close my eyes for a second, take a long, deep breath, compartmentalize, and lock in. The crew should be sitting easy and keeping the boat set while you wait for the official to say “sit ready.” Within the two-minute warning, I try not to make any additional adjustments to my point unless conditions necessitate.

Navigating a stake boat isn’t something you can learn by reading or talking; you have to perform the exercise on the water, go through the calls, and ensure that everybody in the boat knows their part. Although the coxswain is the one executing the maneuver, it’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure that it happens smoothly and efficiently.

Only one person can facilitate that, and that’s the coach. If you’re a coach reading this, I encourage you to share this with other coaches in the spirit of coaching education. Coxswains, if your coach is someone who needs this but would never read it without prodding, leave the magazine on your coach’s desk or launch before practice—opened to this page.                                                  KAYLEIGH DURM

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