The Book of Rowing

by David Churbuck

A sport of lyrical grace, enigmatic appeal, and Herculean effort, rowing is a pastime and a passion that inspires its devotees to a lifetime of dedication. Although it was once perceived as a blue-blooded activity limited to a privileged few, more and more people--including Olympic athletes, students from public and private schools, and casual gym-goers looking for an effective new workout--are taking to the rivers, lakes, and harbors to experience the beauty and health benefits of rowing. Experienced rower and journalist D. C. Churbuck recounts the colorful history and lore of rowing from its beginnings on England's historic Thames to its modern incarnation. Churbuck covers shell design, sculling, collegiate rowing, training, international competition, and a history of the famous rowing clubs and their luminaries. A fully illustrated, step-by-step guide transforms the novice into a competent rower. Now completely updated, The Book of Rowing , which includes black-and-white photographs and line drawings throughout, is a practical tool for the experienced rower, a richly detailed history for the enthusiast, and an excellent resource for anyone interested in starting out at the sport.

Genres: Sports

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2008

About the author

David Churbuck first learned about the wreck and rescue of the crew of the whaling ship Phoenix as a child from his great-great-grandfather’s memoirs, The Reminiscences of Captain Thomas Chatfield. This early exposure sparked a lifelong interest in maritime history, which he pursued as an American History major at Yale, where he was selected as a Scholar of the House.

At Yale, he wrote an unpublished novel about solo circumnavigation under the mentorship of the late John Hersey and legendary fiction editor Gordon Lish. His undergraduate research into the evolution of the New Haven Sharpie skiff from indigenous dugout canoes to the fast working boats preferred by Long Island Sound oystermen is preserved in the collection of the New Haven Historical Society.

Churbuck is the author of The Book of Rowing (The Overlook Press, 1988, revised 2008), a comprehensive history of the sport of rowing and a practical guide to technique and training. In 2013, he was commissioned to write the privately published The Illustrated History of the Union Boat Club, chronicling one of the oldest rowing clubs in the United States.

Over the course of his journalism career Churbuck founded Forbes.com in 1995 and served as its first editor-in-chief, building it into one of the world's most successful business news websites. The 2003 film Shattered Glass tells the story of the Stephen Glass journalism fraud scandal, which was uncovered by Churbuck’s staff at Forbes.com in 1998.

As the Senior Technology Editor of Forbes Magazine, Churbuck won the National Association of Science Writers story of the year award for his prescient cover story about digital forgery, in which he learned how to forge his paycheck from the legendary conman Frank “Catch Me If You Can” Abagnale.

Following his journalism career, he served as McKinsey & Company’s first Chief Content Officer, and later as vice-president of digital marketing and social media at Lenovo, where he won accolades for developing the first athlete blogging/vlogging platform during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Churbuck has kept a blog at Churbuck.com since 2001, where he often publishes essays on the maritime history of Cape Cod. He is a longtime member and researcher at the Nantucket Historical Association, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and Mystic Seaport. He is also a frequent speaker and lecturer on the maritime history of Cape Cod.