WordNet
n. a very light narrow racing boat [syn: shell]
Wikipedia
In watercraft, a racing shell (also referred to as just a fine boat (UK) or just shell) is an extremely narrow, and often comparatively 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.
Usage examples of "racing shell".
It was a single-masted racing shell with twin daggerboards, fast and lovely as it skimmed across the lake, but if you didn't handle it just right, it could capsize in a breath of wind.
For all its length and wicked bronze-sheathed ram the galley was absurdly light, a racing shell of thin pine planking.
A fair portion of the thirty had been hugging Soga's barrel while the croc's great tail drove them through the waterlike a racing shell.
She looks as lovely as a good horse or as a racing shell, the Colonel thought.
Its lack of height in the water had not indicated a weight of freighting, buts its design, swift and terrible, like a mighty racing shell.
THE CHARLES RIVER reflects the fledgling green of spring along Bostons embankment, and Benton Wesley watches young men row a racing shell in perfect rhythm.