Numerous creatives were displaying some pretty cool stuff, and that in itself made the trip worth the investment.

Below are snaps of several things being displayed. [Drat, I don't have links. Apologies.]

Even though I had a chance to play with most, I’m withholding editorial until I actually get more hands on time.

More thoughts to come.

And you? What did you see?

Concept2 Dynamic Indoor Rower from www.Concept2.com

Shox-Box from www.shoxbox.biz

WaterRow pink version from WaterRower.com

Oartec Slider

Rowing Simulator

Matt Hopkins' CoxCase

Adjustable shoes from Active Tools

The Rowing Store (some great new ideas in rowing things)

Quick adjustable oarhandles from Durham

John Flynn with PowerView (flight recorder for your row!)

Rowing innovations from the Charles is a post from: Max Rigging

From those ancient Roman galleys to today’s technological wonders, a boat being rowed  needed someone to rig it.

Over time certain rigging techniques have proven themselves invaluable. These techniques make the job of rigging easier and more effective.

While the following list may seem very basic, these 11 strategies are used today because they really work.

Learn The Correct Way

As with most things in life there are correct methods and wrong methods to rig rowing equipment. To save time, effort, busted knuckles, and heartache—learn the correct ways.

Simple enough.

Of course, once you’ve learned the correct methods feel free to experiment and try shortcuts, but until you’ve got the correct ways down-pat you should . . .

Practice. Practice. Practice

If you want to become better at rigging you need to practice. You need to practice a lot!

Buying a workbook and reading it will NOT help you rig better. Getting a workbook, reading it, and then practicing what you’ve learned—will. And then . . .

1. Practice more.
2. Practice even more.
3. Practice even more than that.
4. Even when you don’t feel like it, practice.

Like learning a foreign language, or learning really anything—repetition is critical. Just make sure you’ve learned the correct methods first before you go too far down the repetition path.

Keep Things Clean

Keep your equipment clean. Why?

First and foremost you’ll feel better when you row in a tidy boat. Second, the better your equipment looks the better you will take care of it. Third, a good cleaning will greatly reduce the wear and tear on the moving parts, protect your hull, and save your money.

Finally, clean stuff is faster stuff.

Test

One of the most powerful words in the rowing world is testing.

Way too often rowers and coaches give in to the temptation to just copy what someone else is doing. They use the same rigging numbers, buy the same equipment, row the same way.

Why? You and your team are unique.

Using what someone else is doing is acceptable as long as you have tested it and found it to work for you. Blindly copying what another is doing will put you at a disadvantage in more ways than you might guess.

Use The Correct Tools

You can do about 90% of all rigging chores with these six tools:

1. wrenches
2. screwdrivers
3. height stick
4. pitch meter
5. tape measure
6. cleaning supplies

Tackling a rigging job using the correct tool just makes sense. It saves time and cuts down on injuries—to you and to the equipment.

Don’t use pliers to loosen a stuck fastener. Don’t use a hammer to adjust a track. And vise grips make lousy screwdrivers.

Use The Right Tight

The majority of a rowing shell is held together by epoxy. Yet, there are numerous fasteners throughout a boat that are meant to be loosened and tightened.

Despite our best attempts, sometimes, we coaches and rowers don’t get the tight quite right. And that is never a good thing.

Find out how tight a fastener should be, and then do the best you can to get it correct.

Put The Tools Away When You’re Done

You’ve just finished rigging an entire eight, now what do you do? You put the tools away—where they belong.

Too much hopeful thinking goes on by coaches and rowers when a job is done. Jeez, I hope these tools are around when I need them next. Jeez, I hope I don’t loose that wrench, it fit perfectly.

Taking a few minutes to clean up and stow things where they belong, and where you can find them, could save you hours later, and trim seconds off of your race times. The motto A Place For Everything And Everything In Its Place is a good one to repeat after your job is done.

Make Changes Slowly

Today the word slow exists in few people’s vocabulary. Everyone and everything is moving wicked fast. Yet there are times in rigging and rowing when you need to go slow.

Rowers become accustomed to how their equipment is set, and significant changes, especially in the leverage, can be tough on a rower. Giving an athlete a chance to grow into a change is often very prudent.

Treat Your Equipment With Respect

This is a technique that works well in every single aspect of our life. Find the equipment that you need. Next, treat it with respect. Then, it will be there when you need it.

That may sound all touchy-feely but it is a time-tested technique.

You and your equipment are on the same team and understanding that is a critical step in eliminating many issues.

Write Stuff Down

Our brains are great at processing information, but not so great at storing stuff.

Give your brain a break and find a safe place to store important information about your equipment, such as

• rigging numbers
• serial numbers
• speeds

Write them down, and file them. Or be wishing that you did. Your choice.

Try and Fail

Don’t be afraid to rig wrong, and admit it when you do.

Don’t be afraid to fail, and learn from it when you do.

Don’t be afraid. Period!

This is not meant to be a complete list. What other rigging techniques are working for you?

11 Timeless Rigging Techniques is a post from: Max Rigging

A hull that is not properly trimmed is neither as effective nor as efficient as it could be. In essence, energy is being wasted.

Here are four solutions that you can use to trim your hull. Generally speaking, if the boat is out-of-trim it is better to have a hull slightly bow-heavy rather than stern-heavy. The key word there is slightly.

Not everyone will agree with this, but a stern-heavy boat is similar to a coach launch at half speed.  It makes a bigger wake as it pushes through the water—and that means the rowers are paying a price.

The following solutions progress from easier to more difficult. All focus on moving weight fore or aft, shifting it around the boat’s center of balance.

Just keep in mind these suggestions when making changes:

1. Determine you have a problem
2. Pick a solution
3. Measure your critical numbers before making any changes
4. Record those numbers
5. Make a change in small increments
6. Remeasure your critical numbers. Record.
7. Test
8. Repeat if needed.

Solution #1: Move Rowers

You know your boat is out-of-trim, right? So let’s try switching rower’s seats.

Quite often rowers are grouped together by size, and this can cause an uneven distribution of weight. If this is the case let’s see if any other combination of rowers might work better.

Can you see them in different seats?  If you are port stroked would a starboard stroked boat provide some weight shift?  Would a German rig (bucket rig) help?

Try changes, remeasure your trim, and see what happens to your speed.

Solution #2: Move The Footstretchers

Let’s be a little more specific, and try some subtle shifts of weight.

If you shift your team’s footstretchers to the bow, does it give you a better look in the water?  What does it do to the trim (try the Quick Trim Test). How about if they are moved to the stern?

As you move footstretchers, you have to keep in mind the impact on the catch angle, and that will be the topic of an upcoming secret weapon. But at this point let’s just keep our focus on the trim of the hull.

Stern-heavy? Try moving the feet towards the bow. One notch at a time. Then measure both trim and your speed.

Bow-heavy? One notch at a time to the stern.

See what happens, and test. Again, catch angle will be an issue, but we can fix that once the hull is trimmed.

Solution #3: Got A Wing?

In some boats wing-riggers will have additional holes with which to mount the wing—providing some adjustment for center of balance and trim.  Side-attached riggers usually do not have these holes.

If you are out-of-trim try moving the riggers in the opposite direction of the heavy end of the hull. Bow heavy? Try moving the riggers one notch to the stern, and then test by measuring and rowing.

Like it? Leave it?

Hate it? Readjust and try again.

Solution #4: Add Weight To The Boat.

I have only done this once to try to get the hull trimmed. It was at a World Championship and the coach was experimenting. We needed to add weight to the boat so it would make the minimum standard so we put it all in the bow, as the coach thought the boat was slightly stern-heavy. I cannot remember if he liked the final product but it did seem to make a difference.

However, I would not suggest this as a solution to use, except as a last resort.

So there you have four solutions to a boat that is not trimmed.

Have you tried any? Have other suggestions? Let us know in the comments below, and happy trimming.

Secret Rowing Weapon #4: How to trim your shell’s hull is a post from: Max Rigging

The trim of a shell is an interesting measurement. Interesting mainly because few rowers pay attention to it. Really interesting because it is a place where you can pick up some quick speed with very little effort.

The trim is how level the boat is when it is sitting in the water. The goal of properly trimmed shell is to have the boat as close to level as possible throughout the entire stroke cycle. All things equal, a properly trimmed boat will be faster than a shell that is not trimmed.

When people are added to a shell the trim will change. And with moving seats, and moving mass, the trim of your boat will even change during the stroke. And significant differences can slow you down.

Many rowers and coaches have placed little if any focus on a shell’s trim. And because of this the trim could be a secret weapon for you.

To utilize your new secret weapon, you should first determine if your hull’s trim is where you need it. Try these two methods to determine if your trim is right for you.

Method #1: Quick Method

Put your boat in the water. Then put your rowers in. Take a 3-foot-long level and put it on the gunwale. Have the rowers come to the catch. Then have the rowers come to the finish, and then sit at the mid drive. Notice the reading of the level in all three positions.

How were the readings?

At the mid drive, was the level centered? At the catch was there a slight stern drop? At the finish, a slight bow drop? If any of those readings were off more than just slightly you might have an issue.

If from this quick test, you think you have a problem, then you should probably adjust your trim (and I’ll discuss that in the next post). If you want more specific information about how severe your trim-issue might be, try this . . .

Method #2: Advanced Method

Get some pinstriping tape, black in the case of a white boat, about 1/8” thick, and make three hash marks with the tape on the bow and stern of the boat just like you would see on a ship. This tape is wrapped around the bow, as well as the stern to show on both sides of the boat.

Make the top and bottom pinstripe 1cm above and below the middle stripe. Also make the middle stripe the longest, like 2” on each side and the upper and lower stripe shorter, like 1 ½ inches. You can set the marks from an empty boat in dead flat water, or with a crew loaded in the boat. The goal is to have the marks give you your indication of trim both bow and stern.

Now put your team in the boat, and have them row. What are you noticing on the trim markers? Significant drop to bow or stern? These markers will not only give you an idea of whether you have a problem, but how significant the issue might be.

In the next post I’ll go over two of the more popular ways to trim the hull in your shell.

Until then, let us know of any thoughts you have. Just leave a comment below.

Secret Rowing Weapon #3: Is your hull trimmed? is a post from: Max Rigging

I’m serious. A bow numbers can be a secret weapon, if you know how to make the most of them.

They (bow numbers) are one of the most forgotten and abused pieces of rowing equipment. That is, after a shell trailer. The life of a bow number basically sucks, stuck in a box or some nasty place only to be yanked out and called upon to get there (the finish line) first, and then thrown back in the box again.

If you’re in a big race and you lose your bow number—think you might have an issue? You betcha. More than one race outcome has been compromised due to a crew not having a bow number in the right place at the right time.

This video has a few tips to help you make your bow number a secret weapon. Just don’t tell your competitors.

Anything to add? Chime in below . . .

Secret Rowing Weapon #2: Your bow number is a post from: Max Rigging

Heck, I don’t break them—I kill them.

And I suspect a bunch of you do also.

In this 5 minute video post, I discuss the top four ways I kill megaphones, and steps we’ve taken to reduce the deaths.

What about you? Have a good megaphone story you would like to share in the comment section below?

[I've been asked what megaphones we use, and we typical use Radio Shack's 25 watt model. However, we have had a hard time getting those of late. Here is a similar model from Amazon, that seems to be the exact same make. 25 Watt Piezo Dynamic Megaphone with Detachable Coil Cord Mic (This is an affiliate link.)]

4 Sure Fire Ways To Kill A Power Megaphone, And How To Make Sure They Don’t Happen To You is a post from: Max Rigging

In this case the little doohicky on the end of the oarlock gate came off. It did not muck up the race but it certainly could have caused a problem. With only a little time before the next race I needed to do a quick repair.

Here is how that played out.

If you happen to know what that little knob is actually called, I would appreciate it if you would let me know. It’s been really bugging me . . .

Quick Fix For An Oarlock is a post from: Max Rigging

To get them *unstuck* sometimes you need more torque.

To get more torque sometimes you need more leverage.

To get more leverage sometimes it helps to have a bigger tool.

Remember, this is just *sometimes*.

Not always.

Sometimes things (in rowing) get stuck . . . is a post from: Max Rigging

Little things that were not quite right were taking away from practice time. I note here the three most common ones.

I know there are many more things that can (and WILL) go wrong.

Care to share some of your problem areas with us?

3 Problems Areas to Watch for In Your Rowing Shell is a post from: Max Rigging

What is the most important equipment thing you do before you launch your crew to race?

Here are their responses.

Notice any common themes?

Here is the list of those coaches:

• Ashleigh Genevich, Washington College
• Mike Hughes, United States Naval Academy
• Chris O’Brien, Philadelphia University
• Laura Ratz, University of Delaware
• Nicky Stimpson, United States Naval Academy
• Peter Wells, Williams College
• Dr. Gavin White, Temple University
• Steve Kish, Bucknell University

Classy group. Thanks coaches!

And what do you do? Let us know below . . .

The number one thing to do before you launch your crew to race. is a post from: Max Rigging