Venetian
rowing
Whereas the English style of rowing,
derived from the Vikings, concentrates on coping with the tides of the
Thames – which requires raw speed, the Venetian style has to deal with
the shallows of the Lagoon and the narrow canals of the city, which
require artful control. The Venetian system has other advantages:
the boats can be rowed by a variable number of oarsmen from one up to
full capacity, and the oarsmen occupy the ends of the boat, leaving the
most comfortable space for the passengers.
The
club is lucky enough to own a venetian sandalo and have the use of
various members boats. To row a Venetian boat, such as a
gondola, the rower stands up and faces forwards. This has
two advantages over English "sit-down rowing". The first is that
the rowers can see where they are going and secondly, most boats
(particularly sandalos) can be rowed with differing numbers of
people, so the whole crew doesn't necessarily have to arrive on
time! The disadvantage is that they are slower than English
rowing boats, but it is a lesisurely means of transport.
The Venetian system of rowing
depends upon an ingenious and beautifully
made artefact called the "forcola" which has been made in Venice over
hundreds of
years.
The forcola provides the fulcrum
against which the oarsman can push and
drive the blade against the water. It can be adjusted up and down
and set at an angle to suit an oarsman of different build. It is
used not only used to propel the boat, to slow down and stop and go
astern, but also to guide her through the narrow canals
The forcula allows the
rower to propel the boat and also to stop it. For the person who
is at the back (the Poppa), steering the boat, there is a
specially-designed forcula, which enables him to do many types of
complex manoevres - including "tira acqua" - which acts like a
"thruster" and moves the boat sideways. To stop the boat all
rowers will do a "scia!" which involves taking their oars
out of the normal forcule position and placing them down in the water
resting in front and against the forcula.
For
a special salute, for example when passing under a bridge of cheering
people in Venice or
going past an important person, the crew will do an "Altezza
remi". This means that they all lift their oars to a vertical
position along the centre of the boat. They then bring them down
again , one at a time, starting from the front of the boat.