Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Octuple scull
open-in-new
<p>An octuple sculling shell, often simply called an oct and abbreviated as an 8x or 8x+, is a <a href="/facts/Racing_shell/RKErTcpn">racing shell</a> used in the <a href="/facts/Rowing_(sport)/vN9AnU2G">sport of rowing</a>. </p><p>Unlike the <a href="/facts/Eight_(rowing)/C9TTKusB">eight</a> (8+), a racing shell with a crew of eight rowers and a <a href="/facts/Coxswain_(rowing)/Nh29mprF">coxswain</a> (cox) that can be seen at the <a href="/facts/Rowing_at_the_Summer_Olympics/6e7hSDKM">Olympic Games</a> and <a href="/facts/The_Boat_Race/ljJ96kat">the Boat Race</a>, in which each of the eight rowers have one <a href="/facts/Oar_(sport_rowing)/BB2s5Tne">oar</a> (or blade) which they pull with both arms, in the octuple each of the eight rowers has two oars, one in each hand and use a rowing technique called <a href="/facts/Sculling/CLCXCMRB">sculling</a>. Similar to the 8+, the oct must always have a coxswain to steer and direct the crew. </p><p>Although the octuple had earlier been used for recreational rowing in Britain, it was used competitively for the first time at the annual regatta of the <a href="/facts/National_Association_of_Amateur_Oarsmen/u6QUMg2B">National Association of Amateur Oarsmen</a>, the predecessor of <a href="/facts/USRowing/kyFBAIfL">USRowing</a>, at Baltimore in 1905. According to <a href="/facts/British_Rowing/SKqHRwd5">British Rowing</a>, the octuple is [now] only used by the youngest juniors. </p><p>An octuple is typically 65.2 feet (19.9 meters) long and has a minimum weight of 213.85 pounds (97.00 kilograms), excluding oars. </p><p>Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to reduce drag to a minimum. They usually have a fin towards the rear, to help prevent roll and yaw. Originally made from <a href="/facts/Wood/z13NpHPl">wood</a>, shells are now almost always made from a <a href="/facts/Composite_material/UBysQldh">composite material</a> (usually <a href="/facts/Carbon-fibre_reinforced_plastic/6PlL4mB2">carbon-fibre reinforced plastic</a>) for strength and weight advantages. </p><p>The riggers in sculling apply the forces symmetrically to each side of the boat, whereas in the "<a href="/facts/Eight_(rowing)/C9TTKusB">eight</a>", where each of the eight rowers pull one sweep oar, the forces are staggered alternately along opposite sides of the boat. </p>