Please note that the content of this book mainly consists of articles that are available online from Wikipedia or other free sources. The eight-oared shell is the largest Olympic-recognized boat class in rowing. As the name suggests, an eight consists of eight rowers and one coxswain. For official races, such as championships, only sweep eights are rowed. The specifications set by FISA require a minimum weight of 96 kg for racing eights. This specification is intended to prevent any advantage for individual teams that could arise from lighter boats making them faster. Since a racing eight costs about 20,000 to 30,000 euros without oars and accessories and takes up a lot of storage space in the boathouse, most rowing clubs own at most one racing eight or have their athletes row in the eights of larger clubs.