The bow pair is your boat's stabilizer, and a really good bow pair can guide the boat's path just like the bow planes on a submarine, so that the rest of the hull naturally follows. more
There are many styles, the quick pitch off the end of the dock, the one-two-three heave, and the no-warning up-and-out which sends the flailing coxswain -- usually face-first -- into the briny deep. more