Port or Starboard Stroke

One of the debates in rowing that's been around since perhaps the invention of rowing is to have a starboarded stroke or a port stroke.
In the US at least, the current general trend is to have port rigged strokes. My current crew does the same.

But I beg the question: why? What made port the preferred side for boat rigging the stroke seat? Of course rationally, there's no hard evidence for overall preference of this nature. For every great port stroke, there's definitely a good starboard that's stroke-seat material.
The necessary requirements of being a good stroke is great technique, great rhythm. So there shouldn't be a real reason for ports to be "better" than starboards.

Why's this question important? Well, if you've checked out my ROWING HUMOR section, from my experience, stroke seats normally see themselves as the leader (second-in-command after the coxswain). So logically, I'm pretty sure many starboards out there wish you could transfer your skills over to port for that stroke seat. Well, I say stick with whichever side you like and perfect it (being able to master both sides is even better!). Convince your chain-of-command that there's no logical reason to reserve stroke for ports.

Starboards can deserve it too!

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