Coxswain equipment

In the past the equipment available to a coxswain was minimal, but since then electronics have become an important component of modern rowing since they support the desire to quantify rowing performance.  Prior to the CoxBox unit coxswains yelled to their crews through cardboard megaphones strapped to their heads and sometimes used a handheld watch to time the stroke rate, in addition to steering and directing the crew.  Paul Nielsen and Richard Kellerman established NK in 1978 which has grown to become the worldwide leader in rowing electronics.  Kellerman “was working as a physical chemist at Xerox Inc., when Coach Ted Nash recruited him to devise a product that would simplify the coxswain's many jobs on the river.  With the collaboration of Nielsen, an associate from Xerox Inc., Nielsen and Kellerman created a unit to combine the tasks of a voice amplifier, stroke meter and timer to simplify the coxswain's job.”[1]  No longer were coxswains meant to steer a perfect course, yell out of a cardboard megaphone, count strokes per minute, and motivate the crew.  Now, the coxswain could concentrate on the unity of the crew by seeing the data on a screen with the ability to broadcast his or her voice through an amplification system wired throughout the boat. NK later developed a device called a SpeedCoach unit that included a seat sensor magnet and a magnet that attached inside the hull that operated with a magnetic impeller mounted on the exterior of the hull that would display hull speed and distance traveled.  With further advances the SpeedCoach GPS, the CoxBox GPS, and similar units by other manufacturers, are able to also display and recall hull speed, distance and downloadable tracking without magnets and impellers.

[1] Nielsen-Kellerman, web, “Nielsen-Kellerman Company History”.