Page:Boating - Woodgate - 1888.pdf/159

 As the sculler becomes more used to his action, he will find his boat keep more even. At first he will be repeatedly putting more force on one hand than on another, and will have to rectify his course by counterwork with the neglected hand. Some scullers, though othenvise good, never steer well. ‘Lhey do not watch their stern-post, to see if they go evenly at cach stroke ; still less, if they see a slight deflection to one hand after one stroke, do they at once rectify the deviation by extra pressure on the other hand during the ensuing stroke. A good steerer in sculling will correct his course even to half a stroke ; if through a bend, or a wave, or other cause, he sces one hand has taken the other a little round by the time that the sculls are crossing, he will row the other hand home a trifle sharper, and so bring the keel straight by the timc he feathers. When a sculler gets more settled to his work, and has got over the first difficulty of clearing his hands at the crossing, he will begin to acquire the knack of bringing the boat round to one hand, without any distinct extra tug of that scull. He will press a trifle more with the one foot, and will throw a little more of his weight on to the one scull, and so produce the desired effect on his boat.

When a sculler promotes himself to a light boat, he must be very careful not to lose the knack of even turns of wrists which he has been so assiduously studying in his tub, In the wager boat, far more than in the tub, is the action of the seuller’s body affected and his labour crippled by any uneven action of either hand. ‘lhe gig did not roll if one hand went into the water an infinitesimal fraction of a second sooner, or caine out that much later than the other hand. Lut the fragile sculling boat, with no keel, and about thirtecn inches of beam, resents these liberties, and requires ‘sitting’ in addition, when- ever any jnequality of work takes her off her balanc The sculler must especially guard against feathering under water. {le is more tempted to do so now, while he is in an unsteady boat, than when he was in his sober-going gig. He feels instinctively that if he lets his blades rest flat on the water for