Feeling rather than looking…

A boat like this is quite complex. How do you put your oar in the rowlock? On which part of the boat can you stand? What do you call these steel bars?

Before the rowers enter the boat, it’s important to know what the boat looks like. If you don’t know where to put your feet, there’s a chance you fall into the water in a split second or damage the boat. During the first training session, we put the boat in trestles to properly feel the boot. “Look, this is the plateau where you can place your feet, and these are the slidings which enable you to move through the boat.” Not everyone who participates is completely blind. Julie and Isis are not fully blind, so they don’t have to feel the boat to know what all the parts look like. Still, it’s good to know how the different parts of the boat feel and what they are called.