What can a rower possibly learn from Legoland?

Last week our family traveled to Legoland in Southern California. We had a blast.

On the drive back to the hotel from the park I was trying to gather why I had such a great time. I’ve been to many different theme parks (a few of the top 10) and this was different. It was really enjoyable . . . fun . . . honest-to-goodness-fun. And typical me, I was trying to figure it out when it dawned on me that not only was Legoland a lot like rowing, but rowers could learn several things from the brick oriented theme park.

Now if you’ve never spent hours playing with the plastic bricks (or have stepped on one in the middle of the night) you might find that statement a stretch. And it might be—but the similarities between Legoland and rowing are striking. So with that thought thrown out here are a few things (secrets mind you) that a rower might possibly learn from Legoland.

Buck The Trend
Most theme parks today are built around one concept—making money. Nothing bad there but Legoland bucks that trend.  As I walked around, and watched the expression on the faces of kids and parents I saw time again the look of, “Man, I am here. This is THE PLACE.”

People weren’t flipping out over one hyped-up roller coaster, or some wild water slide. They were jazzed because they were at the LAND. The place of Legos. Yes, Mickey is cool, but there is something about the relationship a kid can have with Legos—hours of thoughtful pursuit of building something.

Another way they buck the trend is you allowing you to bring food into the park. What?

Yes, you bring your food in, and if you need more we have it. But we are not going to starve you and then make you spend an obscene amount to money just to eat.

This was really critical to us since our youngest has food allergies. Yup, bring that food right in. Unheard of at some of the major parks.

One other trend breaker was that they actually have rides that require people to work. Riders often had to pump or pedal or push to get a ride to move. We got done the Fire Academy race and I was huffing. I saw kids get off the Kid Power Races totally winded. And Splash Battle, where you can soak others, is cool, but you have to work really hard to get the water cannons to spray. No work, no spray.

• So What Secret Can A Rower Learn: Be different, buck the trend. It can be cool.

You Have Permission
When we walked (or run as our kids did) into Legoland there was an unspoken rule that just floated out there. It went like this,“You Have Our Permission To Be Passionate.”  Legos are a passion. They are not just a toy, to many they are the toy. The escape. The imagination fire-upper. I see that look so often in rowers. Ask 100 rowers why they row and a great number respond “I don’t know why, but I just love it” That is how so many kids are with Legos.

LegoLand is built around that passion. There are tables where anyone can sit down and build. At least half the builders I saw were adults. And they were not just fumbling, they were building.

I saw an American mom lean over and help an elderly Japanese tourist finish a car. They didn’t speak the same language, but they had the same passion. I saw parents who you could tell did not have the Lego Bug give their child all the time she wanted to hang out with the life size Lego stature of Darth Vader. In Legoland it was truly okay to be hog-wild crazy over something.

• So What Secret Can A Rower Learn: If you love rowing—love it. Be passionate. Others may not understand it, but many will respect it.

Watch What Happens When Like-Minded Brains Get Together
Opening in 1999, Legoland is not one of the most popular theme parks in the country (by pure attendance numbers) but it certainly is one of the most creative. Look no further that Miniland for proof. It includes reproductions of seven areas in the US, built with over 40 million bricks (in 1:20 scale). The cities come alive with moving boats and vehicles. The reproduction of San Francisco is crazy. And pre-Katrina New Orleans is great.

• So What Secret Can A Rower Learn: You have the power to make something really cool out of what you’ve got.

You Are Involved In Something Big

The lowdown—Disneyland is big. The surprise—Legoland is bigger. I’m taking acreage here.

• 128 acres for Legoland compared to 85 acres Disney

But still, bigger is bigger. What about your rowing? If you aren’t the fastest, is there something else you are the best at. Speed (like attendance) really isn’t everything.

Fun

Finally, Legoland is fun. Everywhere we turned people were having fun. And not just the tourist like us. The majority of the workers were meet were smiling, engaged, and really seem to be enjoying themselves. Not the typical burned-out theme park worker.

I talked to a few workers and they were very positive about what they were doing, and why. One gal even noted that she just loved seeing the glint in the kids eyes. It was hard work, but they were having fun.

• So What Secret Can A Rower Learn: Simple—Have fun. It makes it all worthwhile.

If you’re driving a van or car with a shell strapped to the roof the only change you need to make to your driving is to be a little more careful than normal. But driving a shell trailer is a completely different story.

At their best shell trailers—and shell trucks—are difficult to drive. A trailer loaded with un-sectioned eights is as long, if not longer than a tractor-trailer. At their worst they can be a hazard on the highway to yourself and others.

It’s crucial when driving a shell trailer you plan your route ahead before beginning your journey. There are many things to be concerned about. A few notable ones are:

• Rush-hour and construction traffic
• Dangerous turns
• Low overhead
• Bag weather
• Driving at night

The three most common causes of accidents involving shell trailers are poor driving skills, lack of good visibility, and improper tying of shells.

All of these items are important when transporting equipment, however, in this short post I wanted to touch quickly on a four items.

Overheads

To help avoid problems with low overheads measure the total height of the trailer, or vehicle, after the shells are loaded. Make your measurements from the ground to the tip of the rudder or skeg—most trailers with shells on the top rack will be around ten feet high. I usually add four inches to the number as a safety margin.

Then write this information down and tape it to the dash-board. This could save you a lot of embarrassment at such places as low bridges, gas stations, and drive-thrus.

Who Drives

When choosing who drives don’t put inexperienced people behind the wheel. In fact, most insurance companies demand that the driver of the vehicle be experienced and at least twenty-one years of age, which prohibits many students from driving. Drivers should carry their licenses, registration(s) and insurance information with them.

And I strongly suggest a minimum of two drivers in the vehicle. An extra “set of eyes” will make driving the shells safer, especially on long trips when one driver gets tired.

Being Vigilant

When you finally hit the road constantly be looking, listening and feeling for anything unusual with the vehicle or load. If you notice anything pull over as soon as it is safe and check for the cause. And speaking of checking, get in the habit of checking the trailer and load every time you stop—on long trips I suggest you stop every 100 miles. Check the tie downs, flags, equipment, lights, hitch and tires for any problems.

Many trailering accidents happen because people try to drive a shell trailer like a car. The acceleration of a trailer is much slower than a car and the stopping distance is much greater. You must allow more time for simple automobile tasks like pulling out into traffic, changing lanes and passing. Extra caution will especially be needed for backing up, cornering and pulling into service areas. Make absolutely sure that a lane is clear before changing, and use your turn signals.

Overhang

The two most difficult parts of driving a shell trailer are cornering and handling the overhang of the shells. Trailers turn inside the track of the tow vehicle meaning you need to take corners wider than normal. But the overhang is what gives most trailer drivers problems. Remember— you may be driving one of the longest vehicles on the highway, with thousands of dollars of shells just hanging out. If you’re not comfortable with this thought—or with your driving skills—load up the trailer one Sunday and go to a parking lot and practice. It’s a good investment of your time, especially considering the alternative may be waiting three months for a boat that’s in the repair shop.

When you finally arrive where you are going plan…Plan…PLAN…ahead where you will park. There’s nothing more annoying then getting blocked in at a regatta and having to wait hours to leave because you’re stuck.

If, after all your best preparations, you are unfortunate enough to have an accident there are several things you should do.

• Activate the emergency flashers and place emergency signals to warn approaching traffic.
• Give appropriate first aid if needed and make sure that everyone is in a safe place.
• Notify law enforcement and your supervisor promptly.
• When things get under control record as much information as possible: names, address, phone numbers, and driver’s license numbers.
• Get information from witnesses. Try to document the scene as well as possible and if you have your camera with you take pictures.

photo by rjseg1

Recently Susan submitted this question about oar length:

I just received your “Nuts & Bolts guide…” from Amazon.com I bought the book because I’m getting alot of conflicting feedback about my rigging.

When I learned to scull, it was in a VanDusen racing 1x with club rigging: 160 spread, 289/88 C II big blades. My technique is good, but I’m not very strong (hence the reason why I work technique). I now own a 2004 Hudson LWT 1x. I have not been able to use these same rigging settings on my Hudson. I cannot get to the pin to save my life.

I’ve been playing around with measurements. I still have a 160 spread, but had to shorten my oars to about 287 with an 87.5 inboard on C II smoothies. I’m almost at the pin, but the boat is feeling heavier.

I looked at the chart in Chapter 15 of your book and I have to say that I’m even more confused. I’ve never seen scull lengths over 290. In fact, when I looked at Volker Nolte’s charts (Rowing Faster) and at the recommendations given for Fluidesign, they had me moving the oars shorter, citing a difference between the CII smoothie and big blade sculls.

What’s a good length and does the particular blade type make a difference?

Susan:

A great question. There certainly is a relationship between blade type and oar length. The physics of why can be tedious, but if you would like some insight into how blade shape, design, and length all work together you may want to check out this page.

Back to your question . . . as blade shapes have morphed into new shapes, blade lengths typically have shortened. In your case, going from a CII Big Blade to a CII Smoothie, you should shorten your blade only about 1 cm or so. Now this is based on CII’s testing, and is just a guideline. It looks like that is what you did. Please refer to the chart below for some guidance.

Here is the secret of selecting the correct rigging adjustments for you—testing. Slow, methodical testing can get you where you want to go. I would suggest that where you are now with your lengths might fine, and your inboard seems okay. I would not go any wider with your span (you are at 160 now). I would suggest that you might try testing your work-through.

I have noticed that scullers seem to have difficulty finding the right work-through measurement for them. (This is the distance from a perpendicular through the pin to a perpendicular across the front stops.) Scullers tend to need negative work-through with their hips at or behind the pin.You can make this adjustment on the water by moving the footstretchers. (Please refer to the book for more into on this).

Here is what I would do (on a no- or low- wind day).

1. Set up a SpeedCoach for average pace (the average is taken from the moment you hit “Start” until you hit “Stop”. You can use GPS. More on that in a later post.
2. Row 300-500 meters
3. Take average speed of piece
4. Make slight adjustment to footstrechters
5. Row and average piece again
6. Repeat a few times with small adjustments
7. Compare averages of each piece, noting footstretcher placement

This information should give you some insight into your hip placement against the pin. Also, record how you “feel” after each piece. These subjective evaluations are also important for someone who has rowed as long as you.

Try this and let us know what you come up with.

Readers, anyone want to pipe in for suggestions for Susan?

More about when bad things go wrong at the big race.

A post yesterday on Row2k got me thinking about this. Rowing equipment can go wrong at any race, and it certainly can at the BIG races, such as the World Championships or the Olympics.

Sometimes the results of those equipment failures can be small, such as a short equipment delay or a restart of a race.

Other times they can be devastating, such as this example. A high-tech, wonderful shell can certainly be stopped dead by a 49 cent fastener.

If you have a chance, check out a rowing coach while her race is coming down the course. It might look like she is holding her breath.

Now you know one reason why.

That is a question I just got in response to my recent posts on the Olympics.

My response, without hesitation was a “Heck Yeah. The Best.”

The question came from a reader, who wanted to know if the info from Row2K  is credible and unbiased.

Fair question.

In one of the college courses I teach we go deeply into the topic of bias. It is everywhere, and the best we can do is to reasonable try to control it when we present information to others.

Read their posts. Especially the daily ones from Ed Hewitt. Biased? No way. Full of American info—certainly. Read closely and you will find info about all other countries teams. Big and small. Fast and slow.

They dig. They work hard.  It is good stuff.

• Newsworthy
• Interesting
• Entertaining
• Unbiased (as best as possible)

Row2k rocks. The popular press should met their standards.

(photo by clevercupcakes)

With the Olympics blazing away it is an exciting time for rowing. And if you’re lucky you may just be able to view racing in person, on the web, or on TV. And possibly you can read about the training, selection, and coaching from a number of sources.

A word of caution—be careful what you learn.

The Olympics represent four years of a nation trying to make a boat go fast. It is our Indy 500. Our  Super-Bowl. To generate the hull speed needed to compete at that level the envelop is pushed—really pushed. Technological breakthroughs, advance training regimens, innovative equipment, and radical strategies and techniques are just a few of the outcomes of a country trying to get a boat to win a medal. However, many of those advances are not applicable to what us mere mortals can do with our rowing.

Do Big Advances Happen
No doubt—great advances happen in Olympic efforts. Obviously not all are good (doping) but some of the advances can be brilliant. As a recent Fast Company article details no holds are barred reaching for Olympics medals. Here are a few advances for the Beijing Olympics:

• a swim suit that constricts to makes athletes smaller—therefore faster
• a running shoe so light the runners do not know that it is on
• track shoes that list to port to help with speed when the track turns
• javelins made of aluminum wrapped in carbon, like a giant toothpick swaddled in a carbon-fiber fishnet stocking

At the 1996 Olympics, where I was boatman for the US team, I witnessed some incredible advances. From explosive reduction of erg scores, to blazing speeds, to wickedly high ratings, to new equipment designs—it was almost like being part of a science-fiction movie. The image below is a past example of one such innovation. It is a sliding rigger developed in 1956. (It was banned from racing by FISA after Kolbe won the World Championships in the single in 1981. Bad break for  all of those who had bought one.)

(photo from Friends of Rowing History)

We Are Mortal

Often those advances are viewed as what colleges, high schools, and juniors programs should be doing. And this is where problems, sometimes big problems can occur. Olympic innovation is big—scratch that—huge. And big budgets, big athletes, and nearly unlimited resources (for some teams) are dedicated to being faster, higher, stronger.

But that does not describe most rowing programs in the US.  Our athletes are not Oympic athletes. Our training schedules do not allow for Olympic efforts. Our rowers do not row as well as Olympians. And our equipment is not like theirs. It does not mean that the aspirations of the rowers are different, but the  materials and resources are.

Yet I see many coaches, rowers, and supporters believing that what Olympians can do, others can do.

As you tune in and watch Olympic rowing I suggest there are 6 things you ignore when it comes to trying them with your own rowing or coaching.

Ignore This—Speeds. Aw, come on. They are faster than us. They are WICKEDLY faster than us. Heck, some of them are faster than my car. Hardly any crews can come anywhere near close to those speeds. So don’t ask to go that fast. Don’t ask your teams to go that fast. (Don’t ask your car to go that fast.)

Ignore This—Training. Those folks train like the type of athletes they are—amazing. The work volume, scheduling, and consumption is incredible. (At one camp I saw a sculler eat a 32 egg omelette after practice, and complain about still being hungry.) They train hard, and if anyone but those athletes were to try to train at that level the consequences could be drastic and crushing. Training plans need to be methodically designed for the level of athlete you are (or have). Don’t try to do Olympic training.

Ignore This—Strategy. Granted this is one area where you might be able to draw some wisdom, but keep in mind that Olympic racing strategy is designed to work against Olympic competition and with Olympic athletes.  And to implement an Olympic rowing strategy you  have to be able to do the tactics. Tactics such as racing the first 700 meters at 45 spm is probably well beyond all but the best rowers in the world.

Ignore This—Stroke Rating. See above. Their hull speed allows for higher ratings. Speed and stroke rating go hand-in-hand.

Ignore This—Rigging Numbers. This is my pet peeve. The only rowers who should be rigged like national team rowers are national team rowers. Yet I get emails from coaches who use those rigging numbers and wonder why their kids are hurting their backs. In my rigging clinics I no longer use national team rigging numbers as examples. Get the appropriate numbers for your rowing. Don’t use theirs.

Ignore This—Equipment. All that shiny new equipment, flying down the course. Don’t you just want to buy some? Of course you do, but is it right for you? For your team? There is some wiggle room here, but you might not get the bang from the buck you want.

So what should a rowing spectator do? Turn on the Olympics. Watch. Cheer. Enjoy.

But just be careful what knowledge you bring home.

(Here is an article I wrote for USRowing, published in 2000. I thought you might find some of the info applicable this week).

Let’s talk information.

If you haven’t been dozing at the rudder these last few years then you are probably astutely aware that this is the Information Age. A grand time to live, where you can find out which presidential candidate bad mouthed which governmental policy seconds after it happened. Where millions and millions of the most trivial facts are as close as your nearest CD player. And where Dr. Rowing can send you the recipe for his holiday Spam surprise from his Australian mountain top hideaway by just hitting a few keys on his solar powered computer.

Well, speaking of Australia, you probably have heard that there is this little event happening down there that is going to be of interest to most rowers. I’m talking about the Olympics, and in less time than it takes you to adjust your foot stretchers, the Games of the 27th Olympics will be underway. That means that U.S. crews will be sitting on the starting line, waiting for the “Attention, Go!” command. And that also means that you will be somewhere this fine September, looking for information about how the races turned out. So that brings us to the question of the day — have you figured out how are you going to get the results from this summer’s Olympics?

Haven’t thought about it yet? No worries mate, it is not too late. There are plenty of ways to get the results. The way that’s right for you will depend on a couple of things, mostly how fast you need to know who did what. Since our theme this article is information, let me give you some about the ways you can find out this summer’s Olympic rowing results. Let’s start with you folks who aren’t in a hurry and are thinking that . . .
I Don’t Need To Know Until The End Of September
If you are in no special rush to find out who was blazing fast, or glacier slow, then look no further than USRowing (the official publication of USRowing) for your Olympic regatta info. On October 20th the post-Olympic issue will be out with a 12 page spread of results and pictures, and an in-depth look at the U.S. rowing effort. And what better place to get rowing information than a rowing magazine.

And of course, don’t forget the old standby of rowing information, the Independent Rowing News (www.rowingnews.com). They plan on having their paper issue out with the latest Olympic rowing results on Thursday, October 5th.
I Need Them By The Very Next Day
Want the results a little quicker, do you? If opening up the morning paper and finding out what happened at the race course with your cup of cocoa is what you are after, then go get the paper. However, which paper you get will make a difference. Don’t expect your local weekly Garage Sale Gazette to have much of a spread on Don Smith’s rowing style. Grab yourself a newspaper that will focus on rowing.

The USA Today will carry rowing info, but because of the enormous amount of Olympic information out there, you most likely won’t see a lot of in-depth coverage on rowing. A better bet might be papers from rowing towns, like the Boston Globe or the Philadelphia Inquirer. They are bound to have quite a bit of rowing coverage, especially if any of the home-town folks are doing well in the competitions

I Need To Know By The End Of The Day
Are you the type that wants to know what happened by the end of the day? Then one of the quickest (and most comfortable) ways to get your Olympic info is to watch the races on the ol’ TV. Imagine relaxing in your own living room, sipping the chocolate milkshake that your butler has just brought you, watching the games. Problem with this scenario, besides spilling the milkshake when you doze off, is that you probably won’t see too much rowing on TV. NBC will be broadcasting hundreds of hours of Olympic coverage. However, of that wealth of coverage don’t expect to see more than a few minutes of rowing.

How much rowing actually makes it to someone’s TV screen depends on two things: how well the U.S. rowing team does, and how exciting the competitions are of the other sports that are going on at the same time as rowing.

For example, at the same time that the mens’ and womens’ rowing finals take place there are a bunch of competitions happening at other sites like: Beach Volleyball, Field Hockey, Softball, Athletics, Baseball, Table Tennis, Diving, and Weightlifting. If the U.S. rowers do really well, and Table Tennis, Softball, and Beach Volleyball are pretty boring, then you may see some TV coverage of rowing. However, if there are some really heated battles on the softball diamond, and the U.S. rowers aren’t performing well (which we know won’t happen) then expect to see more catches on the land than catches on the water.
I Want To Be The Very First In My Neighborhood To Know
Same day info not quick enough? Well then, how about real-time results? NBC is poised to offer some great info electronically on the sport that is dear to our hearts. Go to their web site (www.nbcolympics.com)  for immediate results, links to a wealth of other information about events there, and stories by some people who know what it takes to go fast. NBC.com also has a web page dedicated specifically to rowing (www.nbcolympics.com/?/basics/ro/index) with some background info and other tidbits.

There are several other web sites you can access to try to find results. FISA (www.fisa.org)., the international rowing federation, has their own official site. Chances are you can find what you are looking for there. Another site is the official English language web site for the Sydney games (www.olympics.com/eng/). Tons of stuff here, although there was not a clear link to results at the time of this writing Then, of course, there are your standard sources of rowing information on the web such as: irow.com (www.irow.com), row2k (www.row2k.com), rower’s world (www.rower’sworld.com), and USRowing’s own site (www.USRowing.org).

If you happen to be on the internet and want to do more than just get the results and, say, cheer your favorite rower on, you can send fan mail (www.fanmail.olympic.ibm.com). There you can send email to the Olympic Surf Shack (hopeful not an indication of the water conditions at the race course) where the athletes get a chance to hang out in a cyber pavilion and do a lot of electronic stuff. Chances are the athletes are going to be pretty darn busy, so don’t expect replies, but words of encouragement tend to be appreciated.

I Need To Know Now . . . Right Now!
And that brings us to you folks who can’t wait and need to know now! The absolute quickest way for you to get the Olympic rowing results is to actually be there, sitting at the finish line at the Penrith International Regatta Centre. By watching the score board you’ll know the leaders and 500 meter splits during the race, and as soon as the boats go zipping across the line you’ll know who won, and who did not.

Two little problems with this. First problem — getting the seats. Unless you already have your tickets in hand you might be out of luck. Seats for rowing usually go faster than Teti’s eight with a tail wind, and those tickets that are still available probably are going for about the price of a new boat.

Second problem  — you’ve got to get to Australia. That means a lot of traveling, about half way around the world to be exact. And that can be a long flight (an even longer drive) especially if you are sitting next to the grunge music group We-Ain’t-Bathed-For-Twenty-Years. No problem you say, smell doesn’t bother you and besides, you’ve got a lot of rowing books to read on the plane. Okay then, but  before you pull out the old Visa make sure you’ve got the cash to cover the trip. A round trip to Sydney is running about $2000. Not cheap, but look at it this way, at least you’ll be one of the first to know who won.

There you have it. A little planning, a little money, and you can find out what happened at the Olympics when you want to know it. Life in the information age is wonderful. Now if we can just use some of this technology to figure out how to get information from the coxswain to the bow-seat, we will really be getting somewhere fast.

Sports that count on timing, such as rowing, need watches. One of the leaders in making reliable and useful timing tools for rowing has been Nielsen Kellerman (NK). Their watch, the Cadence T1 Wristrate was first released in 2005 and since then it has been a steady seller for NK.

The Cadence is basically meant to do two things: allow the user to get stroke ratings, and act as a convenient timer. It also fills the role as a wrist watch. Here is a sampling of some of the features of the Cadence T1:

• takes stroke ratings on the wrist
• takes ratings when attached to an oar
• timing, with memory
• dual lap/split chronograph
• alarm
• water resistant

I’ve been testing a Cadence T1 for almost a year, as of this posting, and I wanted share my impressions of the product.

What Sets It Apart
Up until it’s release there were few options for coaches and rowers for taking stroke ratings and times. One of those options is NKs Interval 2000 Split/Rate Watch, the one frequently seen around coach’s necks at regattas. The Cadence T1 is about 1/2 the price of the Interval and as you might expect does have significantly less features.

Another option is to use a stroke counter that is in a shell, such as NK’s Cox-Box or Speed Coach. Also, more experienced coaches can often tell ratings by counting or by using a standard timing watch. I’ve found that the Cadence T1 sets itself apart from these other methods because it can:

• tell ratings without the use of wires by use of tilt-switch technology
• be easily switched between boats or positions in a boat
• be comfortably worn on the wrist, acting as a standard wrist watch
• stylish and competitively priced

The Pluses
Over the year I’ve found the Cadence to be extremely easy to wear. As a matter of fact I’ve never forgotten it. I put it on in the morning and not only do I have a stroke watch at practice, I also have one watch at staff meetings,  weddings, and picking the kids up at school. To me, this was a big plus. I found with my other watch, the Interval, I did not have it at about 1/3 of my practices because I would leave it somewhere and forget it.

The Cadence has proven itself to be tough and well made. It has survived through two kids, a full year of practices, and a summer of swimming, boating and yard work. It has large buttons that are easy for small and large hands to press, and the screen is easy to read. I found it very simple and almost intuitive to switch between settings.

One important plus for me is the customer service of NK. When I did have a problem, which I will discuss in a moment they were top notch.

The Minuses
When I bought the watch, it did not work out of the box. Either the watch or battery was defective. A quick call to NK solved the problem, and the tech folks were knowledgeable and helpful. Another problem I had showed up about 6 months after having the watch. The end of the band separated making it almost impossible to put the watch band through the slot in the watch. Again, customer service came through and a new band was quickly on its way.

A large minus I’ve found it that it is difficult to get accurate ratings by hand. This is where the Interval watch excels and the Cadence falls down. I’ve also noticed that it is often difficult to keep the watch on an oarhandle from slipping so that is is hard to read while rowing.

MaxRigging Buying Advice
If you are looking for an inexpensive and simple way to take ratings, do some timing, and have a watch that is often handy, the Cadence T1 would be a good bet. After 28 years of coaching I find it handy and it does fill many of the needs I have, and the purchase was a good way to save money when I needed, as a coach, to be frugal. When time comes to replace it, for general use, I will buy another.

However, if you want more precise measurements, where accurate ratings are crucial, then you will probably be happier with one of NK’s Interval Split/Rate Watches.

Have an opinion about this product? Share it with our readers.

Recently James, from New Zealand, submitted this question:

I am interested in finding out the best way to set a crew up in the boat. I have for a long time measured back from the line of work a set distance and had all the crew set their back axel to this - to help with different length of legs etc. But now I am reading more and more about the need for a large catch angle. So, what is the best way to set the archs so everyone is rowing the same? Should I set an angle at the catch, but will this mean different finish lengths? Set it at the back and coach the catch length? What effect does Cord Length have?

First, thanks James for your question. It is a good one, that certainly should be of interest to anyone who wants to generate maximum hull speed for their boat, regardless of sweep or sculling.

Second, it would probably help to define some of terms, to make sure that we are talking about the same things (as you know, terms in rowing can be rather, er, strange.) You can find more rowing terms here.

The catch angle is the angle of the oar, at the catch, to a perpendicular line that runs down the middle of the shell. Catch length is a simple way to measure the catch angle, and is often used to really describe the same thing, from a non-angular perspective. The arch, or arc that you mentioned describes the theoretical track that the oar makes through the water. (I say theoretical because the blade really doesn’t move more than a small distance through the water, unlike the butt of the oarhandle which does make an arc.

The last term, cord length, is one seldom used here in the US. Basically it is the distance from the end of one point of the arc to another. It is not relevant to outside arc (how the blade travels through the water—because it doesn’t). Instead it is more relevant to the inside arc—specifically the distance of the inside arc. You might find this post on Oarsport helpful.

Why Should You Care

For beginners coaches and Riggers (first and second Dimensional) this may all seem like hoopla. What difference does this make? A reasonable question. And a reasonable answer would be . . .”Speed.” It is all about speed.

Beginners, don’t worry about all the technically stuff here. It really boils down to this—where should I set my footstretchers? With that noted, zip to the end, and I’ll cover it there.

For you folks with more rigging under your belt, the reason you should care is still speed, but knowing how this works and all fits together will give you the tools to get more speed. The old ‘Teach a person to fish” saying applies here.

So how is all this information going to help you become a better Rigger? My rigging greatly improved when I realized most of the major adjustments I did when I rigged had an effect on the arcs. As soon as I grasped this concept, everything about rigging seemed to fall into place and I made the step from Second-Dimensional to Third-Dimensional Rigger.

Things Have Changed

There is not much change that has happened in rowing, or rigging, over the years but one place of some change has been track length. Used to be that rowers were concerned about running out of track, and hitting one or both ends. No more, in the last few years boat builders have been putting longer tracks into the boats, much longer than most rowers would ever use.
Another change I’ve noticed in the US is that the focus seems to be placed on the catch, and not as much on the finish. I know most of my peers rig to empahsize the catch, and the finish is a secondary thought. Don’t know if it is better or not, but that is what we seem to be doing.

So What Should I Do?

If the focus is all about speed what to do? I suggest:

• focus on the catch angle
• measure the catch angle by using catch length‚Äîor footstretcher placement
• pay attention to the inside arc
• pay no attention to the outside arc
• accept a compromise between catch length vs finish length

How Do You Measure Catch Length/Angle
In a future post I will show how to measure the catch length and angle. Or you can read about  it in my book, Nuts and Bolts Guide to Rigging. In the meantime, if you are looking for a solution, you can get number suggestions here. Then set your tracks. And then set your footstretchers so that the seat wheels almost touch the front stops at the catch.

I hope that this is a productive start. Readers, send your thoughts along for James.