When the start and finish positions of the Old Course had become established, the distance between them was found to be 1 mile 570 yds (2131 metres). However, boats were aligned by their sterns at the start and judged by their bows at the finish. This meant that the course was slightly longer for shorter boats (such as single sculls) than for longer boats (such as eights). The length of an eight was assumed to be twenty yards and as such the course came to be described as ‘about 1 mile and 550 yards (2112 metres)’, which was the distance covered by an eight.