Coastal rowers compete across numerous boat classes, whose compact codes distil a boat’s basic design into a few characters. In CW4x+, for example, every character has a specific meaning. At first this shorthand might look confusing but once these elements are separated the simplicity of the system is revealed.
The notation follows familiar flat-water conventions, adding C for a coastal boat. The numbers count rowers, x means sculling and + indicates a coxswain.
C1x is a coastal solo scull, C2x is a coastal double scull and C4x+ is a coastal coxed quad scull. All use sliding seats and belong to World Rowing’s regulated coastal system.
Here’s the Row360 guide to reading coastal rowing boat classes.
How the coastal boat-class code works
Each element of the shorthand has a fixed meaning:
Cmeans coastal.- The number gives the number of rowing athletes.
xmeans sculling, with two oars for each rower.+means a coxswain is aboard.MandWidentify men’s and women’s events.Mixidentifies a mixed crew.
The x does not signify multiplication. It separates sculling boats from sweep boats, in which each rower holds one oar with both hands. World Rowing’s standard coastal classes are all sculling boats.
There are seven standard World Rowing boat classes for men and women: the solo, the double sculls, the quadruple (or quad) sculls, and the mixed double sculls.
Readers already familiar with 1x, 2x or 4x will recognise most of the structure. Our guide to flat-water rowing boat classes covers that wider notation system.
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C1x: coastal solo scull
C1x means one sculler in a coastal boat, with two oars and no coxswain. It may also be called a coastal single, coastal solo or simply a solo. CM1x identifies the men’s event and CW1x the women’s event.
The athlete handles the stroke, steering, navigation and wave management alone. Under the 2026 World Rowing coastal rules, a C1x has a minimum width of 0.75 meters, may be no longer than 6.00 metres and must weigh at least 35kg.
The C1x appears in both coastal endurance racing and beach sprint. Men’s and women’s solos will be contested when coastal beach sprints make their Olympic debut at LA28.
An Olympic coastal solo remains different from the classic Olympic single 1x. Both contain one sculler, but the coastal hull is wider, heavier and built to negotiate waves, surf landings and tight buoy turns.
C2x: coastal double scull
C2x carries two rowers, each using two oars. There is no coxswain, so the crew must combine speed with shared responsibility for steering and course decisions.
The class becomes CM2x or CW2x in single-sex racing. CMix2x denotes a mixed double containing one athlete eligible for the women’s category and one who is not.
A coastal double has a maximum length of 7.50 metres, a minimum width of 1.00 metre, and a minimum weight of 60kg.
Across coastal endurance competition, men’s, women’s and mixed doubles are included, and doubles also race in beach sprint. For LA28, the Olympic beach sprint programme includes the mixed double alongside solo events for men and women. The single-sex double sculls events are not Olympic medal events.
The C2x should not be confused with a sleeker flat-water double or even a sweep pair. A pair is written 2-, and each athlete uses one oar. In a double, four oars are working across the crew.
C4x+: coastal coxed quad scull
C4x+ is the largest standard World Rowing coastal class. Four scullers provide the power, using eight oars between them, while a coxswain steers and directs the crew.
Unlike a classic flat-water 4x, which is coxless, a coastal C4x+ carries a coxswain sitting upright at the stern and facing the rowers. The class may appear as CM4x+ or CW4x+ on an entry list.
Its maximum permitted length is 10.70 metres, its minimum width is 1.30 metres, and its minimum weight is 130kg. The coxswain has a minimum racing weight of 55kg and may carry securely positioned deadweight if under that figure.
The C4x+ is established in World Rowing coastal endurance competition, including club and masters racing. It is not part of the LA28 Olympic beach sprint programme.
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Beach sprint and endurance use the codes differently
The same C1x designation applies to either a short beach sprint or a longer endurance course.
Beach sprint places the rowing leg between two running sprints on the sand, by one member of each crew. Athletes launch through the surf, row roughly 250 metres to a turning point, return to shore and race on foot to the finish. Time trials seed the competition before head-to-head knockout racing. Depending on the venue and conditions, races commonly last only a few minutes.
Coastal endurance usually covers 4km to 6km around several buoys, with multiple boats sharing the course. Heats and B-finals at the World Rowing Coastal Championships have used 4km courses, while A-finals have extended to 6km. Navigation, positioning and sustained boat speed carry greater weight than the explosive transitions required in beach sprint.
Beach sprint will join the Olympic programme in 2028, while coastal endurance will remain a World Rowing championship discipline outside the Games.
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Why coastal boats are wider and heavier
Modern regulated coastal hulls developed from designs originating in France during the late 1980s. The first official World Rowing Coastal Championships followed in Cannes in 2007. Beach sprint appeared at the Mediterranean Beach Games in 2015, before the first World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Shenzhen in 2019.
World Rowing controls maximum lengths, minimum weights and hull measurements so crews can compete in boats with comparable characteristics. The boats must also cope with water entering the cockpit and the possibility of assistance offshore.
Approved coastal hulls therefore include self-bailing construction and at least three watertight compartments. Endurance boats must carry prescribed towing equipment, while separate safety provisions cover personal flotation and coxswains. These requirements distinguish a C-class boat from a broad recreational shell marketed for open water.
The C code also separates World Rowing coastal sculling from regional sea-rowing traditions. Cornish pilot gigs, Irish yawls, currach-derived boats and Scottish St Ayles skiffs operate under their own designs and class rules. They are coastal rowing boats in the general sense, but they are not automatically C1x, C2x or C4x+ boats under the international system.
