• 20 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Rowing Boat

A wooden rowboat from above and from the side, one oar enlarged, then a racing shell.

Parts of a Rowing Boat

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Stem
  2. Breasthook
  3. Gunwale
  4. Oarlock
  5. Thwart
  6. Ribs
  7. Stern sheets
  8. Knee
  9. Transom
  10. Planking
  11. Keel
  12. Skeg
  13. Painter
  14. Handle
  15. Button
  16. Loom
  17. Blade
  18. Rigger
  19. Sliding seat
  20. Stretcher

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

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All 20 parts on the diagram

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The wooden rowboat 13

  1. Stem The most forward part of the bow. It carries on from the keel.
  2. Breasthook It fits between the two gunwales, just behind the stem.
  3. Gunwale Generally said gunnel. It covers the tops of the ribs. The oarlocks are fixed to it. Also called the inwale.
  4. Oarlock A U-shaped metal fitting with a pin that turns in a socket. It is the pivot the oar works against. In Britain it is a rowlock.
  5. Thwart A thwart is the rower's seat, and it also stiffens the hull.
  6. Ribs The planking is fastened to the ribs. Boatbuilders also call them timbers or frames.
  7. Stern sheets The benches that make the seating at an open boat's stern.
  8. Knee At the after corners, knees join the transom to the sides.
  9. Transom It closes the back of the hull. The planking ends on it.
  10. Planking Each line of planking from stem to transom is a strake.
  11. Keel The keel runs the length of the bottom on the centerline.
  12. Skeg A sternward extension of the keel, fixed exactly on the centerline.
  13. Painter Used to tie the boat up. A hitching strap ties up a horse the same way.

The oar 4

  1. Handle The rower pulls on it and the blade moves the other way.
  2. Button The button, or collar, stops the oar slipping out through the oarlock.
  3. Loom The loom runs from the handle to the blade.
  4. Blade The rower's hands are nearer the oarlock than the blade is.

Racing shell 3

  1. Rigger Riggers, short for outriggers, let a very narrow boat use long oars.
  2. Sliding seat It lets the rower use the legs and take much longer strokes. Rowers call it the slide.
  3. Stretcher In a racing boat the shoes are fixed to the stretcher. In a working boat it may be a plain wooden bar.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 against two independent sources, a name kept only where both use it. (1) W. P. Stephens, Canoe and Boat Building: A Complete Manual for Amateurs (1889), the rowboat chapter, full text at https://archive.org/details/canoeboatbuildin00stepiala (stem, keel, ribs or timbers, planking in streaks, gunwales or inwales, breasthook, transom knees, thwarts, sternsheets, rowlocks, painter); with D. C. Beard, Boat-Building and Boating (1911), https://archive.org/details/boatbuildingboat00bear (skeg, painter, rowlocks), and for the oar and the racing boat R. C. Lehmann, The Complete Oarsman (1908), https://archive.org/details/completeoarsman00lehmrich, and W. B. Woodgate, Rowing and Sculling (1890), https://archive.org/details/rowingandsculli00woodgoog (loom, button, blade, handle, outriggers, sliding seat, stretcher). (2) Wikipedia, text only: Rowing, Oar, Rowlock, Thwart, Racing shell, Strake, Stem (ship), Skeg, Transom (nautical), Gunwale, Rib (nautical) and the Glossary of nautical terms (breast hook, knee, painter, sternsheets, stretcher). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's boat, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a rowing boat, shown on a wooden rowboat from above and from the side, with one oar enlarged and a racing shell last. Most are also the parts of a wooden boat of any kind.

Read the full guide

From the bow aft

The two sides meet at the stem, tied together inside by the breasthook. A gunwale runs along the top of each side and carries an oarlock. Thwarts are the seats that cross the boat; the stern sheets are the benches at the stern, in front of the transom. Ribs cross the bottom under the planking, and knees brace the corners.

The oar and the racing shell

An oar has a handle, a long loom and a blade, and its button rests against the oarlock. A racing shell is too narrow to carry oarlocks on its sides, so riggers hold them out, and the seat slides so the rower can push with the legs against the stretcher.

  • Oarlock is the American word; in Britain the same fitting is a rowlock.
  • Gunwale is generally said gunnel.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a rowboat called?

From the front: the stem and breasthook at the bow, a gunwale along each side with an oarlock on it, the thwarts you sit on, then the stern sheets and the transom. Underneath are the keel and the skeg.

What is the seat in a rowing boat called?

A thwart. It spans the hull from side to side and also stiffens the boat. The benches round the stern are the stern sheets. In a racing shell the rower sits on a sliding seat.

What holds the oar on a rowing boat?

The oarlock: a U-shaped metal fitting with a pin that turns in a socket on the gunwale. The oar's button rests against it. On a racing shell the oarlocks sit at the ends of the riggers.

What is the rope on the front of a rowboat called?

The painter. It is made fast at the bow and is used to tie the boat to a dock, or to tow it behind a bigger boat.

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