Step #5 In Your Personal Speed System: Rock-solid Equipment

Today’s post is going to be a little different. I’m going to share some of my rigging book with you.

Five years of working on this site, writing books and articles, presenting clinics, doing videos has helped me realize that this is one-heck-of-an-equipment-intensive sport. Maybe too intensive.

Buying, transporting, cleaning, adjusting, etc. . . . sometimes it seems like having rowing equipment is more responsibility than having a child. As one of my friends likes to put it,

Having a rowing shell is like being pecked to death by a chicken.

A perspective

Ok . . . now on to speed.

When it comes to speed the first 4 pillars are more important than the equipment. Let me repeat that: There are 4 pillars more important to speed than rowing equipment. (Okay, I am kind of yelling that because it really does need to be yelled.) Those pillars are: fierce mindset, rock-star athletes, mindful training, and freak your technique. Yes, lightning bolts may be coming my way from New Haven or Seattle or Morrisville but that’s my version of the truth.

For instance, a rock-star athlete rowing old equipment will beat a lacksidazical athlete rowing brand new stuff 99% of the time. Scratch that . . 99.9% of the time.

Yet, this fifth pillar of rock-solid equipment is important. Why? Because the equipment serves a critical function—it allows the propulsion to happen. The key word there is allows. Equipment doesn’t make propulsion happen, it allows it.

We have a tendency to place the equipment on a pedestal, especially when it comes to speed. You’ve heard the comments, I’m sure (fill in the *blanks* below):

• Hey, how could I possibly be fast? My boat is *blank* years older than theirs.
• My athletes can’t row well unless they have the latest *blank*
• The winning crew was in a *blank*, I need to buy one of those.

That is a lot of pressure on the equipment, and it is blown out of proportion. I truly believe that you just need rock-solid equipment and you will be okay.

The three keys of rock-solid equipment.

There are three critical characteristics that make a piece of equipment rock-solid. I’ve written a lot about them, (maybe too much) so I’ll get to the point, and if you want more details just hit the old search button. I am going to place the focus on the hull, because that is the really big-bang place. Here are the three characteristics:

#1 Stiffness of the hull: Simply put, the stiffer the boat the better the boat responds to the effort put forth by the rower. The boat is more responsive. It makes a difference.

A boat that wiggles, sags, and twists is not as effective. It is not rock-solid. (The stiffness does not necessarily apply to oars, as they come in different stiffnesses, with great successes across the board.)

Want to know how stiff the hull of your boat is? Here’s part of the chapter from Nuts and Bolts Guide to Rigging that deals with that topic. I hope it helps a little:

JOB 13.4: MEASURING SHELL STIFFNESS.

Problem: Trying to find out how much wiggle you’ve got in your shell.

Needed: The boat in question, preferably slinged, seats-up.

What we’re interested in finding out is how tight, or un-tight, your shell is. We are going to check in two directions: side to side, and bow to stern. I use a reliable, but a fairly unscientific method. Definitely check the stiffness if it’s a used shell you’re thinking of buying.

Step 1. Setup: It’s best to try checking stiffness when the boat is in slings. For an eight, place the slings under the two and seven seats. If you can’t sling it, you can still check the bow to stern stiffness in the rack.

Step 2. Side To Side: Make sure your rigger nuts are tight. Go to the fore-most rigger and press down with a gentle motion. Notice what happens to your aft-most rigger on the opposite side. When you press down the other rigger should go up the same amount, and at the same time. Now gently rock the bow rigger up and down and see what happens. There should be little or no time delay between the two riggers moving, or any swaying occurring in the boat. The more sway you have, the less stiff the boat.

Step 3. Bow To Stern: Now we’re going to find out if the boat is tight from end to end. Go to the bow, about two feet from the bow ball. Cradle the hull in both hands and wiggle the shell up and down. Nothing drastic—just a subtle motion. Careful of the soft decking if you’ve got it. Look at the stern and see what’s happening. Are things tight, or does the boat wiggle like a bowl of strawberry Jell-O? (See figure 13.2.)

You can check your shell's stiffness in two different directions.

If the boat is in the racks, there’s another test you can do. Go to the bow, about halfway between the bow ball and wash box. Cradle the sides of the boat and gently lift up. Watch your back; grab a friend to help if you need it. When you lift, look at the racks and notice if the shell moves as one unit or if it sags in the middle. If it sags, it’s not stiff—the more the sag, the less the stiffness.

Step 4. Now What? You’ve looked at sag and sway so now you know something about how stiff your boat is. What do you do with the info? Your choices are fairly simple. If the shell is tight and solid, keep rowing it. If the boat wiggled, it may be time to either do a major repair JOB, such as tightening up the bracing, or take the boat off of your competitive racing-boat list and start using it as a training shell. If it’s a used shell you’re thinking about buying, lack of stiffness is a warning there might be problems.

#2 Size of the hull: When the shoes you have on fit well they are safer, look better, and function better than ones too small or too big. Same with a shell. Get the right fit to be faster. How do you know if you have the right fit? This might help:

JOB 13.3: DETERMINING WEIGHT CLASSIFICATION OF SHELL.

Problem: You need to know your shell’s weight classification (the average weight of rowers it’s designed to hold).

Needed: Rigging stick, tape measure, rigging card.

Most boats used to come in basically three different weight classifications (sizes): heavyweight (for 185–210 pound average crew weight), midweight (160–185 average) and lightweight (130–160 average). That was in the olden days, oh . . . say in the 1990s.

Today, there are more choices, and with more choices you have the need to make more decisions and you have more chances to make mistakes. What you are interested in with weight classification is pretty simple: trying to get the correct size crew in the correct size boat (see Chapter Seven, JOB 7.2, for more info on this).

Each size boat will have different dimensions. There are two dimensions that change the most between the different sizes: depth and beam. But there is variety as far as these dimensions are concerned, and two heavyweight shells from the same builder may have different depths and beams.

One reason is that customers may want different options that change the dimension of the boat, and models change from year to year as the builders experiment to come up with better and faster shells. Also, the building processes change over time with new methods and new technology, and that may mean different dimensions, too.

So how do you tell what shell size a boat is? First, you need the depth and the beam dimensions. Get your tape measure and go to the midships of the shell. This is where the hull should be the deepest. Set your rigging stick or straight edge across the gunwales. Now measure down from the bottom of the straight edge to the bottom of the inside of the hull. That’s your hull depth. At the same point—which should also be the widest part of the boat—measure from the inside of one gunwale to inside of the other for the beam. These numbers will be a guideline to help you find the shell size. Second, you may need your serial number for info on locating different serial. Armed with this information, you’ve got three ways to tell the shell size:

Good method: Eyeball comparison. If you’ve been around this sport long enough you’ll be able to tell a shell’s size just by looking. If you’re in a boathouse, and need a little help, take a few steps back and compare shapes with another boat you know the size of. If this doesn’t help,

try . . .

Better method: The best way to tell a shell size, with the least amount of hassles, is to already have the measurements (beam and depth) of a boat whose size you know and then compare the boat in question to those numbers. There are two ways to get these numbers. One, of course, is to call the builder and get the beam and depth for a size and category (eight, four, pair) of boat. The other way is just to measure a boat. Either way, make sure the numbers are from the same manufacturer.

Don’t try to compare a Dirigo’s measurements to a Pocock’s—the measurements vary drastically between different makes of shells.  Generally, heavyweight shells will have larger depths and beams than midweights, and midweights will be larger than lightweights. But don’t be surprised if there is not a lot of difference in dimensions between sizes. In fact, different classes might have the same beam or depth. If this won’t work,

try . . .

Best method: Take your measurements and the serial number and head to a phone. You need to call the builder. This may cost you a few pennies, but you’ll find out positively what size shell you’ve got.

I know all this may sound like a lot of hassle, but for good rigging you need to know what class a boat is.

#3 Integrity of the hull: There are two critical aspects here: the smoothness of the hull, and the cleanliness. Both go directly to the drag. A smooth, clean hull, free of anything that will increase drag will be faster than a hull that is not. How do you get it clean and smooth? Well here is an article I published a while back:

Last month we discussed the benefits of waxing the hull of your rowing shells. And, yes, there are benefits, like protecting the hull from damage from the sun and from pollutants. (And, of course, there are also down sides, like messing up a nice pair of pants).

However, one of the benefits of waxing is NOT speed. A good wax job will actually slow your hull down. So what is the best treatment for a hull when you’re looking for speed?

The answer is, “Nothing!” A naked hull is usually the fastest.

You see, when a hull is gliding through the water, you want to have the smoothest possible surface that you can. Smooth is fast. The smoother the hull, the less friction . . . and that is good.

If your hull has a good paint job and is free of dings and checks, then its maximum speed will come from being clean. Think of it in these terms: “Clean is fast.”

So how do you clean a hull? In my opinion, it’s a two-step process.

My first step is to use a rubbing compound. I usually treat the hull one or twice a year with the compound to remove the gunk that attaches to the hull over time. This is critical if you do wax your hull, or if you row in water that has pollution in it (and, unfortunately, today most water does have it).

Rubbing compound is an abrasive, usually in a liquid or almost-liquid form, and it comes in different levels of “grit.” I just think of it as liquid sandpaper.

There are two critical components of successfully using rubbing compound. One is selecting the correct grit (I use 1500). The other is to follow the directions, and I mean follow.

Using compound can be a mindless job, but that doesn’t mean that YOU should be mindless. Care needs to be taken that you only “clean” the hull, and not damage the paint. Gentle strokes, usually in a circular pattern, work fine. Some people profess that using a bow-to-stern motion is best. This does have its merits, but usually only if you are using a heavier grit, or sandpaper.

My second step is to wash the hull prior to each race. I try to do this the day of the race, when the boat is ready to go. That means if we’ve transported the boat, I’ll wash it right at the race course.

That’s not usually a hardship. A bucket, a sponge, a little soap (I use dishwashing detergent), a little water (which tends to be available at race courses . . . hint, the river or lake), a little scrubbing, and in ten minutes the hull is clean. I then just rinse off the soap and let the boat drip-dry.

(For what it’s worth, one thing that I’ve noticed is that people love, I mean LOVE, to help wash a racing hull. There must be something sensual to it. Almost, without fail, every time I wash a hull people flock to help.)

So . . . if you’re racing, clean off your hull.

And remember, naked is fast!

Is it that simple?

Maybe. No. Yes. Sorta.

Yup, there are many more subities to equipment, but notice one thing—age is not one of the top characteristics. Remember, a proper fitting, stiff hull, with a smooth, clean hull can be fast. Very fast. So if you can get these three specifics taken care of you will be well down the road to finding speed.

Take action now!

Why don’t you chime in and let’s me know how it is going, and what you think of this post.

• Post 1: A Hunt For Speed
• Post 2:  A Cheater’s Guide To Making A Boat Go Fast
• Post 3: Coxswain’s Head Explodes. Too Much Speed The Cause
• Post 4: Step 1 of Your Personal Speed System: Fierce Mindset
• Post 5: Step 2 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-star Athlete(s)
• Post 6: Step 3 of Your Personal Speed System: Mindful Training
• Post 7: Step 4 of Your Personal Speed System: Freak Your Technique
• Rowing Slow: The Secret For Going Fast And Getting What You Really Want From Rowing