What does the aligner do, and how are crews brought into line?

The aligner's duties (Rule 12.6):

• Aligns the boats using the correct procedure, once the umpire asks.
• Tells the umpire when the boats are correctly aligned.
• Alone decides whether the boats are aligned and whether any crew caused a false start, and tells the umpire immediately if a start was faulty.

Aligning procedure (Appendix E.3)

• The umpire first makes sure the aligner and the finish judge are ready, then holds the red flag in the ready position.
• The aligner identifies the crew being addressed and uses the commands "TOUCH", "BACK" and "HOLD", telling the crew how far to move.
• When satisfied, the aligner raises the white flag and says "HOLD IT ALL CREWS". The umpire then starts the race.

In a rolling start, the aligner keeps the crews level as they row towards the line, then raises the white flag and calls "PREPARE TO RACE" as they approach it.

False start: if a bow crosses the line after the white flag goes up and before the red flag drops, the aligner waves a red flag, calls "FALSE START", and identifies the crew or crews at fault.