When introducing rowing to a bunch of new kids all at once, the more seats you have, the better -- so if you don't have a tank or barge, you might want to use this week's Rowing Hack: The Land Eight.

This hack, which we first saw in the wild at the Viking Rowing Club Chicken Dippers program last summer, really just needs 3 things: some specialized, extra low slings; a set of oars that can get banged around on the ground; and the key ingredient--a shell old enough to make all the coaches at your place feel okay about trying this trick.

As you can see, down the (Jersey) Shore, they have all three: low slings, old blades, and a real beater boat. In fact, expert eyes would date this shell to at least the late 90's. That means that any Learn-to-Row mishaps are not about to hurt a race-ready shell--and you might even be able to use newer blades if you set up your Land Eight on some soft grass.

The build-bit of this Hack is the special slings: make them low enough that kids can step--or even climb--into the boat, and just high enough to keep the hull off the ground. Heck, if the boat is really a retired shell, you could even take the fin and rudder off entirely and really low-ride.

Ray D'Amico told us a bit about how they use this Hack at Viking RC:

"We first came up with the idea using the leftover beams from the construction of new boathouse in 2000. Joe Magee came up with the design. He's been building them every few years."

With a sling at every other station--four in total--you will have plenty of support, especially if your novice rowers are middle-schoolers or high school freshmen.

The benefit of the Land Eight: getting 8 kids at a time to get their hands on an oar, so they can feel how different it is from any erging they might have started with. Added bonus? Now they have been IN a boat, even without carrying one to the water.

"We can teach and get hundreds of 10 to 14 year olds to row," says D'Amico.

For kids who might be a little apprehensive about boats-on-water, having already been in a Land Eight might just help relax them that crucial little bit. Plus, after this step, any dock rowing and even going out in a boat with a few experienced athletes will all seem a bit more familiar, and that will help your new recruits get to the fun part--real rowing--just a bit quicker.

Do you have a Learn-to-Row trick that gets folks rowing at your place? If so, share your tips--and hacks--in the comments below.

If you have a great rowing hack to suggest for future inclusion, then please send it to us, and we will feature your idea in a future column.

The inevitable last step: 16+ kids to carry one boat down to the dock