Foot control
A foot control is a device in a rowing boat that enables rowers to steer the boat without a helmsman . For this purpose, the shoe is rotatably mounted on the stretcher of a rower (usually with the batsman , more rarely with the bowman rowing at the very front of the boat) and connected to a control blade at the stern of the boat via cables . The foot control is used in the following crew boats:
- the two without a helmsman
- the four without a helmsman
- and the double quad (without helmsman)
In the single (skiff) and double sculls , neither a helmsman on board nor a foot control is installed, and the course is corrected by rowing harder on one side (pulling over) .
Operating the foot control requires a certain skill. Particularly in a rowing regatta , the course must be kept very precisely to avoid accidents with other boats. Due to the absence of a helmsman, foot-steered boats can achieve slightly higher speeds than if a helmsman were on board.
literature
- Wolfgang Fritsch: manual for rowing: training - stamina - free time . 4th, revised edition. Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Aachen 2006, ISBN 978-3-89899-111-7 , p. 88 .