Back in the day boardmen had several functions on the log canoe. First they tended their boards in a manly fashion giving little notice to the splinters accumulating in their posterior ends. This because boards back then were 2x12x14 planks purchased at the local lumber yard, wrapped in the middle with fiberglass used until they broke which they did frequently. Second, they were required to slow the boat down as it approached the starting line by dragging feet, legs, or anything else that would help this process. Third they were used to fend off other boats attempting to prevent them from barging at the line. But perhaps their most important function was to surround the skipper at any protest meeting insisting that he was in the right and the other boat was wrong. (Pre Island Lark days) The bigger the boardman the greater chance of prevailing at the protest meeting. And lastly to ba able to consume vast quantities of spirits