What is a cox?
The coxswain, or cox, is the non-rowing athlete in the boat. In races, they are vital for steering, tactics, and motivation of the crew. In training, they help the coach implement the training plan on the water, as well as making sure the crew stays safe.
Who can cox?
At SABC, we believe anyone can learn to cox! We take rowers and non-rowers and will help you learn how to manouver the boat, aid the rowers in improving their technique, and get the most out of your crew on race day.
Useful Links
OURCs: the University body in charge of rowing in Oxford
British Rowing:
Other resources:
The coxswain, or cox, is the non-rowing athlete in the boat. In races, they are vital for steering, tactics, and motivation of the crew. In training, they help the coach implement the training plan on the water, as well as making sure the crew stays safe.
Who can cox?
At SABC, we believe anyone can learn to cox! We take rowers and non-rowers and will help you learn how to manouver the boat, aid the rowers in improving their technique, and get the most out of your crew on race day.
Useful Links
OURCs: the University body in charge of rowing in Oxford
- https://ourcs.co.uk/coxing/
- https://ourcs.co.uk/coxing/coxing-faq/
- https://ourcs.co.uk/coxing/coxing-competencies/ - for those looking to upgrade
- https://ourcs.co.uk/coxing/coxing-documents/
- https://ourcs.co.uk/information/river-restrictions/
- OURCs Captain of Coxes can be contacted on: [email protected]
British Rowing:
- https://plus.britishrowing.org/category/coxing/
- https://www.britishrowing.org/knowledge/courses-qualifications/coxing/
Other resources:
- The Winning Cox:
- https://www.thewinningcox.com/
- https://www.youtube.com/@TheWinningCox
The SABC Coxing Guide
Quick Links:
The boat: An overview for coxes
Role of a cox
SABC specifics
Starting an outing
During an outing
Finishing an outing
The boat: An overview for coxes
Role of a cox
SABC specifics
Starting an outing
During an outing
Finishing an outing
The boat: An overview for coxes
In an 8+, the cox sits at the stern (back) of the boat. Most boats have a cox seat, a back strap, and a space for the cox box.
Role of a cox
There are three main responsibilities of a cox during an outing:
Safety:
Steering:
Athlete feedback:
- Safety
- Steering
- Athlete feedback
Safety:
- Are the river conditions safe to go out? This will change based on your own ability/status, and the skill of the rowers. See https://ourcs.co.uk/information/flags/
- Are your rowers safe throughout the outing?
- Are you safe throughout the outing?
- Are you doing your best to keep other river users safe?
- https://www.britishrowing.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-RowSafe-8.pdf
Steering:
- Follow the rules of the river; stay on the right hand side of the river unless you are overtaking
- Be courteous to other river users and aware of their speed and stopping ability
Athlete feedback:
- Give concise, constructive feedback to the rowers in the boat
- Relay what you see to the coach
SABC specifics
The Consortium boathouse and rafts
SABC shares a boathouse with St Hugh’s (SHBC) and Wadham (WCBC) college boat clubs. This means we share both the upstairs space and the boat bays. The ergs are shared between the colleges, and captains are responsible for booking them to make sure no-one turns up to run a session and finds a different club already using them. Make sure that no-one is in the boathouse (including the bathrooms and changing rooms) before locking up and going on an outing, if you know that St Hugh’s and Wadham are also preparing for outings. Communicate with their cox/captain to make sure it does get locked up before everyone pushes off. In the boat bays, all of our boats can be accessed by the left and centre doors, as are St Hugh’s boats. Wadham uses the centre and right doors.
The rafts in front of our boathouse can (just about) fit two eights on them. Communicate and coordinate with other crews going out at the same time to make sure everyone can access their boats. If two crews are already occupying the raft, you can launch from the Pembroke/Teddy Hall raft, or wait for a crew to push off. You can politely enquire how long it will take for a crew to push off/get the boat back in, and let them know that you are also waiting to go out/in.
SABC shares a boathouse with St Hugh’s (SHBC) and Wadham (WCBC) college boat clubs. This means we share both the upstairs space and the boat bays. The ergs are shared between the colleges, and captains are responsible for booking them to make sure no-one turns up to run a session and finds a different club already using them. Make sure that no-one is in the boathouse (including the bathrooms and changing rooms) before locking up and going on an outing, if you know that St Hugh’s and Wadham are also preparing for outings. Communicate with their cox/captain to make sure it does get locked up before everyone pushes off. In the boat bays, all of our boats can be accessed by the left and centre doors, as are St Hugh’s boats. Wadham uses the centre and right doors.
The rafts in front of our boathouse can (just about) fit two eights on them. Communicate and coordinate with other crews going out at the same time to make sure everyone can access their boats. If two crews are already occupying the raft, you can launch from the Pembroke/Teddy Hall raft, or wait for a crew to push off. You can politely enquire how long it will take for a crew to push off/get the boat back in, and let them know that you are also waiting to go out/in.
The coxing cupboard
There are three coxing cupboards along the back wall of the upstairs of the boathouse. They are labelled by college. Ours is in the middle!
Please do your best to keep the cupboard tidy, and put things back where they belong. This makes outings much smoother for everyone involved.
Remember to turn off the lights and shut the door when you leave the cupboard.
Always plug in the cox orb, and any other equipment you have used, after an outing. Leave the coxing headset attached to the orb, and hang it up on the hook. If you have used radios, make sure that they are charging - the green light on the charger should turn red to indicate it is charging.
Ask rowers to return things like the heelies, stroke coach, and clams to the cupboard if they have been used. Then they know where to find them in future!
There are three coxing cupboards along the back wall of the upstairs of the boathouse. They are labelled by college. Ours is in the middle!
Please do your best to keep the cupboard tidy, and put things back where they belong. This makes outings much smoother for everyone involved.
Remember to turn off the lights and shut the door when you leave the cupboard.
Always plug in the cox orb, and any other equipment you have used, after an outing. Leave the coxing headset attached to the orb, and hang it up on the hook. If you have used radios, make sure that they are charging - the green light on the charger should turn red to indicate it is charging.
Ask rowers to return things like the heelies, stroke coach, and clams to the cupboard if they have been used. Then they know where to find them in future!
The blades
Our blades look like this:
Blade colours are important as it is the easiest way to tell what club another crew is from.
It is useful but not essential to know the blades of other Oxford-based clubs for communicating with their crews on the river. https://ourcs.co.uk/media/filer_public/df/b6/dfb640d8-8cc3-4e33-bcd1-f367e7577704/ourcs_blade_colours.pdf
SABC has several sets of blades, and it is important to use the right blades with the right crew. They are located to the left of our door in the boat bays, and at the back behind our 8+ shells.
Blades have several components:
Ask the crew to get out these blades before the boat, and place them on the grass next to the fallen tree to the right of the boathouse as you look out to the river.
Our blades look like this:
Blade colours are important as it is the easiest way to tell what club another crew is from.
It is useful but not essential to know the blades of other Oxford-based clubs for communicating with their crews on the river. https://ourcs.co.uk/media/filer_public/df/b6/dfb640d8-8cc3-4e33-bcd1-f367e7577704/ourcs_blade_colours.pdf
SABC has several sets of blades, and it is important to use the right blades with the right crew. They are located to the left of our door in the boat bays, and at the back behind our 8+ shells.
Blades have several components:
- Spoon (painted, curved part that goes in the water)
- Shaft (black stick part)
- Collar (coloured part where the blade connects to the gate, adjustable)
- Handle
Ask the crew to get out these blades before the boat, and place them on the grass next to the fallen tree to the right of the boathouse as you look out to the river.
Our boats
SABC has six boats which require a cox:
Women’s boats:
Vera: SAC 006, a white Filippi
Men’s boats:
[[Sober Spider]]: SAC 003, a yellow Empacher
Mixed:
General Elliot: SAC 401, white
SABC has six boats which require a cox:
Women’s boats:
Vera: SAC 006, a white Filippi
- This is the W1 shell
- Only experienced coxes should take out experienced women’s crews in this shell
- This is the W2 shell
- Coxes may learn to cox an 8+ in this shell with an experienced crew
Men’s boats:
[[Sober Spider]]: SAC 003, a yellow Empacher
- This is the M1 shell
- Only experienced coxes should take out experienced men’s or mixed crews in this shell
- This is the M2 shell
- Coxes may learn to cox an 8+ in this shell with an experienced crew
- This is the M3 shell
- Coxes may learn to cox an 8+ in this shell with an experienced crew
- Any crew may row in this shell
Mixed:
General Elliot: SAC 401, white
- This is the stern-loaded 4+
- Coxes will learn to cox in this boat with an experienced crew
- Moderately experienced crews can row in this shell
Starting an outing
Weather
Before an outing goes ahead, you need to check the flag colour and the weather.
Sunrise and sunset times: https://ourcs.co.uk/information/suntimes/
Flag: https://ourcs.co.uk/information/flags/
Remember: as a cox you always have the last word on if an outing goes ahead on safety grounds. If you do not think it is safe, do not let a coach/rower/captain/another crew on the river persuade you otherwise. The captain of coxes will always back your decision to cancel an outing for the safety of your crew, based on the conditions, your ability, and the crew ability. It is better to be safe than sorry!
Things you need for an outing:** essential!
What to wear:
Equipment:
Misc:
For the rowers:
Your job coxing starts before you get in the boat! One of the important jobs is getting the boat out. This involves giving your rowers clear instructions. Make sure they know only to do the instruction when you say ‘go’!
For getting boats from one of our boat bays, generally follow this pattern:
Checking the boat
There are several important things to check before you get in the boat and push off.
Getting into the boat
Once all of the blades are in the gates, and everyone has everything they need, the boathouse and boat bay can be locked up and you can start getting people in the boat.
Get bow-side to hold the boat steady and stroke-side to get in. For novices, remind them to only step on the black tape (they might need to move their seat back) and not on the bottom of the boat, and make sure that the blade handle is in front of them. Stroke-siders should then push their blades out so the oar lock (blue doughnut) is against the gate. This helps balance the boat.
Now ask the stroke-siders to hold onto the raft while the bow-siders get in, with the same reminders as necessary.
Once the rowers are in, ask for the whole crew to hold the raft while you get in! Place the cox box in the round holder and attach the wire of the boat speaker system to the cox orb, in the same place the charging cable goes (you might have to check which way up the cable is). Then turn on the cox box.
Check that all the rowers in the boat can hear you over the speaker system.
Pushing off
Before you push off, you must check a couple of things:
Standard practice is to ask the rowers to number off from bow seat when they are ready. After stroke seat confirms they are ready, confirm you are ready as well with ‘cox wearing a life jacket’.
Look behind you and check that no crews are approaching before deciding to push off.
When it is safe, tell your crew to lean out (lean towards the river) and push off from the raft with their hands. Then you can ask bow side to pull in their blades, and use the blades to firmly push off from the raft. Once you are clear of the raft, everyone should return to having blades feathered and flat on the water.
You may need to use bow seat or 2 seat to make small taps to adjust your direction before starting your warm-up.
KEY CHECK POINTS
Before an outing goes ahead, you need to check the flag colour and the weather.
Sunrise and sunset times: https://ourcs.co.uk/information/suntimes/
Flag: https://ourcs.co.uk/information/flags/
- Always check the flag before an outing!
- Less than 10 mph: all crews can go out with caution
- 12-15 mph: senior/strong novice 8+/4+ boats may go out with caution
- More than 15 mph: consider postponing the outing
- Can be affected by light, fog, rain etc
- Must be able to see 100 metres
- Boats will get very heavy in the snow
- If if starts to snow and doesn’t look like it will stop, return to land ASAP
- The 30/30 rule
Remember: as a cox you always have the last word on if an outing goes ahead on safety grounds. If you do not think it is safe, do not let a coach/rower/captain/another crew on the river persuade you otherwise. The captain of coxes will always back your decision to cancel an outing for the safety of your crew, based on the conditions, your ability, and the crew ability. It is better to be safe than sorry!
Things you need for an outing:** essential!
What to wear:
- BRING Weather-appropriate clothing **
- Remember you won’t be moving for a couple of hours, so you are going to be very exposed to the elements
- You also need to be comfortable for the whole outing without being able to take off your lifejacket
- Remember you won’t be moving for a couple of hours, so you are going to be very exposed to the elements
- BRING A hat
- In the winter, something to keep your head and ears warm
- In the summer, something to keep the sun out of your eyes
- In the winter, something to keep your head and ears warm
- BRING Sunglasses
- Less useful in winter, but the glare of the sun off the water is very bright!
- Polarised lenses if available
- Less useful in winter, but the glare of the sun off the water is very bright!
- BRING Appropriate shoes
- Very high-level coxes will be barefoot or in socks, but you can wear shoes!
- Footwell might be fairly small, so don’t wear shoes with a big sole
- Very high-level coxes will be barefoot or in socks, but you can wear shoes!
- FROM THE COXING CUPBOARD Life jacket **
- Wear it properly; it is there for your safety, not to look cool
- Failure to wear a life jacket for an outing will end with you being banned from coxing!
- Our life jackets have carabiners to attach things while getting the boat out; don’t leave anything heavy attached during outings
- Wear it properly; it is there for your safety, not to look cool
Equipment:
- BRING A watch **
- You will need to know the time so you know when to land
- Ideally you should also be able to time pieces using your watch
- Ideally splash proof, does not need to be fancy and expensive
- Yes you could use your phone for this, but the chances of it ending up in the Isis are non-zero! There are some phone holders in the coxing cupboard
- You will need to know the time so you know when to land
- FROM THE COXING CUPBOARD Cox orb and headset **
- SABC has four cox orbs: two Cobalt (red) and two Platinum (blue and orange/pink). Instruction guides for both of these are in the google drive folder
- The highest crew going out that session gets priority on the Platinums
- Platinum cox orb is the one with blue/pink rim around the screen
- Headset should be connected to the cox orb
- SABC has four cox orbs: two Cobalt (red) and two Platinum (blue and orange/pink). Instruction guides for both of these are in the google drive folder
- FROM THE COXING CUPBOARD Pair of radios
- Or just one, if your coach already has one
- Check the channel works before launching
- Check with the coach what channel to be in, make sure the volume is loud enough, make sure you know how it works
- Or just one, if your coach already has one
- FROM THE COXING CUPBOARD Set of lights
- ** if you are going to be on the water before one hour after sunrise, or after one hour before sunset
- ** if you are going to be on the water before one hour after sunrise, or after one hour before sunset
- FROM THE COXING CUPBOARD Rigger jigger (10/13)
- FROM THE COXING CUPBOARD Medical tape
Misc:
- Water (not a metal bottle)
- Sunscreen
- Snacks
For the rowers:
- Stroke coach
- Heelies
- Water
- Layers
- Sunscreen
- Snacks
- No phones
Your job coxing starts before you get in the boat! One of the important jobs is getting the boat out. This involves giving your rowers clear instructions. Make sure they know only to do the instruction when you say ‘go’!
For getting boats from one of our boat bays, generally follow this pattern:
- Check you have eight rowers
- Ask them to line up along the boat, one per rigger
- Hands on the runners, not the boat, and pull them out together
- Half of the rowers around/under (NOT OVER) the boat so everyone is opposite a rigger, trying to keep taller rowers at the ends
- Hands on the boat
- Ask them to lift the boat to heads/shoulders/waists, whatever is appropriate for lifting the boat without hitting any other boats or runners
- Move to the centre of the boat bay if necessary, then ask everyone to lift to shoulders - this is the most comfortable way to carry a boat
- Now they can steadily walk straight out of the boat bay, keeping an eye on the riggers to make sure they don’t hit anything, and making sure they don’t hit any pedestrians on the path
- You should be watching the bow ball, which is the furthest in-house. When the bow ball is out of the door, you can call ‘bow ball clear’ which indicates they can start spinning the boat as they go onto the raft
- The stern of the boat (at the front) should be pointing downstream (left)
- Before people step onto the raft, call ‘heads on the raft’
- Once everyone is on the raft, instruct them to find the edge of the raft, and make sure everyone has one foot on the edge of the raft
- Then instruct them to roll the boat into the water, reminding them to lean out slightly to make sure the boat lands in the water and not on the raft
- Ensure the boat shell is not leaning on the raft in any place, then make sure one person is holding the boat while the others get the blades
Checking the boat
There are several important things to check before you get in the boat and push off.
- Have the rowers put in the blades on the correct sides? (If the blades have red/green tape, then it is useful to remember that red goes to the river and green goes to the grass)
- Are all the gates closed and tight? (picture)
- Are all the hatches shut? (picture)
- Is your bow ball attached and safe? (picture)
- Are all the footplates adjusted to the appropriate places for the rowers and secured? (picture)
- Are the heel restraints sufficient? (picture)
Getting into the boat
Once all of the blades are in the gates, and everyone has everything they need, the boathouse and boat bay can be locked up and you can start getting people in the boat.
Get bow-side to hold the boat steady and stroke-side to get in. For novices, remind them to only step on the black tape (they might need to move their seat back) and not on the bottom of the boat, and make sure that the blade handle is in front of them. Stroke-siders should then push their blades out so the oar lock (blue doughnut) is against the gate. This helps balance the boat.
Now ask the stroke-siders to hold onto the raft while the bow-siders get in, with the same reminders as necessary.
Once the rowers are in, ask for the whole crew to hold the raft while you get in! Place the cox box in the round holder and attach the wire of the boat speaker system to the cox orb, in the same place the charging cable goes (you might have to check which way up the cable is). Then turn on the cox box.
Check that all the rowers in the boat can hear you over the speaker system.
Pushing off
Before you push off, you must check a couple of things:
- Are all the rowers ready?
- Can you see your coach/bankrider?
Standard practice is to ask the rowers to number off from bow seat when they are ready. After stroke seat confirms they are ready, confirm you are ready as well with ‘cox wearing a life jacket’.
Look behind you and check that no crews are approaching before deciding to push off.
When it is safe, tell your crew to lean out (lean towards the river) and push off from the raft with their hands. Then you can ask bow side to pull in their blades, and use the blades to firmly push off from the raft. Once you are clear of the raft, everyone should return to having blades feathered and flat on the water.
You may need to use bow seat or 2 seat to make small taps to adjust your direction before starting your warm-up.
KEY CHECK POINTS
- Do you have your cox box?
- Do you have your life jacket on?
- Do you have a coach or bankrider who you can communicate with?
- Have you locked up the boathouse and the boat bay?
- Is the weather safe for an outing?
During an outing
Most important coxing calls
Steering the boat
Steering wire:
Your steering wire controls the angle of the rudder, which is at the back (your end) of the boat. This means the boat will not turn immediately when you move the wire! You have to think ahead. The distance you have to think ahead will depend on the boat shell and how fast the boat is moving. The bigger the boat (8+ vs 4+), the more you will have to think ahead. The better the shell (e.g. Vera vs QAR), the more you will have to think ahead as they are built to go in straight lines very quickly, not to wiggle down the Isis. The faster the boat is moving, the more you will have to think ahead.
To turn right, push your right hand forwards. To turn left, push your left hand forwards. It is best practice to keep both hands on the steering wire, so you can tell just by feel when the rudder is in neutral. Try and steer as little as possible, by moving your hands only a small amount. This will avoid having to overcorrect. As you get used to steering each shell, you will find out how much you need to move your hands to get around various bends on the river.
Importance of boat speed:
At low speeds, such as when you are warming up or rowing gently in pairs/fours, the boat may not be moving fast enough for the rudder to be effective. In this case, you will need to use pressure steering.
Pressure steering:
This involves calling for changes in the pressure the rowers are putting through their blades to affect the direction of the boat. You can ask rowers to increase the pressure or decrease the pressure. To turn right, you need to increase the pressure from strokeside and/or decrease the pressure from bowside. To turn left, you need to increase the pressure from bowside and/or decrease the pressure from strokeside. Doing both an increase and a decrease will lead to a sharper turn. Calling for ‘ghost’ pressure is the biggest decrease you can call for, short of asking one side to miss a stroke, and should only be used in emergencies! If you are doing a piece or racing, it may be easier for the crew to decrease pressure on one side than increase pressure - they may not have anything more to give you. It can be helpful to tell the crew how many strokes you need at this modified pressure. Remember to then call ‘even pressure’ to let them know they can go back to normal.
Maneuvering while stationary:
There are many situations where you may need to call individual strokes from individual rowers to manoeuvre the boat while you are otherwise stationary. For example:
Most maneuvering is done with either bow pair (strokes) or stern pair (back downs). A stroke from bow seat or a back down from stroke seat will point the bow to the left. A stroke from 2 seat or a back down from 7 seat will point the bow to the right. To make smaller adjustments, you can ask the strokes to be ‘arms only’ or ‘gentle’. To make larger adjustments, you can also add in other rowers. To spin more on the spot rather than moving forwards or backwards, you can ask rowers on the other side to ‘hold it up’ and act as a pivot point.
(diagrams)
Scratching on:
If you need to move sideways, such as for landing if you are slightly far from the raft (parallel to it), you can ask a rower to ‘scratch on’. This involves the rower passing their handle to the person in front, and then that person taking small strokes with the oar parallel to the boat. Alternatively, a rower can mimic this by coming to front stops and taking very small catches.
- Easy there (rowers stop rowing at arms away)
- Hold it hard (SHOUTED; rowers put blades square in the water to bring the boat to a fast halt)
- Take the run (rowers put blades at 45 degrees against the water to slow down the boat)
Steering the boat
Steering wire:
Your steering wire controls the angle of the rudder, which is at the back (your end) of the boat. This means the boat will not turn immediately when you move the wire! You have to think ahead. The distance you have to think ahead will depend on the boat shell and how fast the boat is moving. The bigger the boat (8+ vs 4+), the more you will have to think ahead. The better the shell (e.g. Vera vs QAR), the more you will have to think ahead as they are built to go in straight lines very quickly, not to wiggle down the Isis. The faster the boat is moving, the more you will have to think ahead.
To turn right, push your right hand forwards. To turn left, push your left hand forwards. It is best practice to keep both hands on the steering wire, so you can tell just by feel when the rudder is in neutral. Try and steer as little as possible, by moving your hands only a small amount. This will avoid having to overcorrect. As you get used to steering each shell, you will find out how much you need to move your hands to get around various bends on the river.
Importance of boat speed:
At low speeds, such as when you are warming up or rowing gently in pairs/fours, the boat may not be moving fast enough for the rudder to be effective. In this case, you will need to use pressure steering.
Pressure steering:
This involves calling for changes in the pressure the rowers are putting through their blades to affect the direction of the boat. You can ask rowers to increase the pressure or decrease the pressure. To turn right, you need to increase the pressure from strokeside and/or decrease the pressure from bowside. To turn left, you need to increase the pressure from bowside and/or decrease the pressure from strokeside. Doing both an increase and a decrease will lead to a sharper turn. Calling for ‘ghost’ pressure is the biggest decrease you can call for, short of asking one side to miss a stroke, and should only be used in emergencies! If you are doing a piece or racing, it may be easier for the crew to decrease pressure on one side than increase pressure - they may not have anything more to give you. It can be helpful to tell the crew how many strokes you need at this modified pressure. Remember to then call ‘even pressure’ to let them know they can go back to normal.
Maneuvering while stationary:
There are many situations where you may need to call individual strokes from individual rowers to manoeuvre the boat while you are otherwise stationary. For example:
- Often after pushing off from the raft, the bow of the boat is pointed towards the Wadham launches, so calling for a stroke from your bow seat directs you away from them
- If it is windy or the river current is strong, you may start drifting and need to call for adjustments from your crew to remain near your coach, or avoid a tree/houseboat
- After being stationary for drills, you may not be pointing in the right direction for paddling off, and you need to fix it
Most maneuvering is done with either bow pair (strokes) or stern pair (back downs). A stroke from bow seat or a back down from stroke seat will point the bow to the left. A stroke from 2 seat or a back down from 7 seat will point the bow to the right. To make smaller adjustments, you can ask the strokes to be ‘arms only’ or ‘gentle’. To make larger adjustments, you can also add in other rowers. To spin more on the spot rather than moving forwards or backwards, you can ask rowers on the other side to ‘hold it up’ and act as a pivot point.
(diagrams)
Scratching on:
If you need to move sideways, such as for landing if you are slightly far from the raft (parallel to it), you can ask a rower to ‘scratch on’. This involves the rower passing their handle to the person in front, and then that person taking small strokes with the oar parallel to the boat. Alternatively, a rower can mimic this by coming to front stops and taking very small catches.
