In watercraft, a racing shell (also referred to as just a fine boat (UK) or just shell) is an extremely narrow, and often disproportionately long, rowing boat specifically designed for racing or exercise. It is outfitted with long oars, outriggers to hold the oarlocks away from the boat, and sliding seats. The boat's long length and semicircular cross-section reduce drag to a minimum. This makes the boat both fast and unstable. It must be actively balanced by the rowers to avoid tipping. Being able to balance, or "set" the boat while putting maximum effort into the oars is therefore an essential skill of sport rowing.
Read more about Racing Shell: History, Boat Classification
Famous quotes containing the words racing and/or shell:
“Upscale people are fixated with food simply because they are now able to eat so much of it without getting fat, and the reason they don’t get fat is that they maintain a profligate level of calorie expenditure. The very same people whose evenings begin with melted goat’s cheese ... get up at dawn to run, break for a mid-morning aerobics class, and watch the evening news while racing on a stationary bicycle.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“There are no small number of people in this world who, solitary by nature,
always try to go back into their shell like a hermit crab or a snail.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)