In rowing terms what does " leads by half a canvas " mean in other words how long is a canvas?

Question

In rowing terms what does " leads by half a canvas " mean in other words how long is a canvas?

Answer 1

Glad you asked, this is new to me too. I searched 'rowing canvas' and came up with a site that explained rowing terms. The 'canvas' on a rowing boat is the last little pointed part of the bow or stern of the boat, forward of or behind the first or last person in the boat. It's called that because it was at one time covered with canvas, presumably to keep water out. So 'leads by half a canvas' would mean leading but not by much. It can't be very precise because different boats would have a different lengths in the part of the boat that could be called a canvas.