

I don’t believe he was referring to a kayak though. He mentioned his coxswain, which is a term from crew rowing. A boat of 8 or 4 will typically have one acting as an almost conductor and driver of the boat. Regardless, those oars are much heftier than a plastic kayak oar usually being made of wood and plastics but could definitely do some damage to someone’s head in the water.
I used to row 8s too but our oars weren’t that fancy. Wooden handle with plastic blades.