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Aneight, abbreviated as an8+, is aracing shell used incompetitive rowing (crew). It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat withsweep oars, and is steered by acoxswain, or "cox".
Each of the eight rowers has oneoar. The rowers sit in a line in the centre of the boat and face the stern. They are usually placed alternately, with four on the port side (rower's right hand side – also traditionally known as "stroke side") and four on the starboard side (rower's lefthand side – known as "bow side").[1] The cox steers the boat using arudder and is normally seated at the stern of the boat. Because of the size, weight, and speed of the boat in comparison to the4+ and2+, it is generally considered unsafe to race the 8+ coxless or to have abowloader cox.[2]
Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to reduce drag to a minimum. Originally made fromwood, shells are now almost always made from acomposite material (usuallycarbon-fibre reinforced plastic) for strength and weight advantages. Eights have a fin towards the rear, to help prevent roll and yaw and to help the rudder. The riggers are staggered alternately along the boat so that the forces apply asymmetrically to each side of the boat. If the boat issculled by rowers each with two oars the combination is referred to as anoctuple scull. In a scull boat, the riggers apply forces symmetrically. A sweep oared boat has to be stiffer to handle the unmatched forces, and so requires more bracing, which means it has to be heavier and slower than an equivalent sculling boat. However, octuple sculls are not used in main competitions.
"Eight" is one of the classes recognized by theInternational Rowing Federation and one of the events in theOlympics.[3] Thefirst Olympic eights race was held in 1900 and won by the United States.
