Oar (sport rowing)
Encyclopedia
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
, oars are used to propel the boat. Oars differ from paddles in that they use a fixed fulcrum to transfer power from the handle to the blade, rather than using the athlete's shoulders or hands as the pivot-point as in canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
and kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
. Typical Sculling oars are around 284 cm - 290 cm in length, and rowing oars 370 cm - 376 cm long. The shaft of the oar ends with one flat end about 50 cm long and 25 cm wide, called the blade. The part of the oar the oarsman holds while rowing is called the handle. While rowing, the oars are supported by metal frames attached to the side of the boat called rigger
Outrigger
An outrigger is a part of a boat's rigging which is rigid and extends beyond the side or gunwale of a boat.In an outrigger canoe and in sailboats such as the proa, an outrigger is a thin, long, solid, hull used to stabilise an inherently unstable main hull. The outrigger is positioned rigidly and...
s.
The parts of an oar are (labelled from outside the boat first): spoon, loom (or shaft), 2/3 of the way up is the sleeve(including a wearplate) and button (or collar), and at the very end the handle and grip.
An oar is often referred to as a "blade" in the case of sweep oar rowing and as a "scull" in the case of sculling. A sculling oar is shorter and has a smaller blade area than the equivalent sweep oar.
There are hundreds of different variations of oars, but "Macon" or "Cleaver" blades of carbon-fiber are the most common in modern sport rowing. Classic oar
Oar
An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles are that paddles are held by the paddler, and are not connected with the vessel. Oars generally are connected to the vessel by...
s were made out of wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, but since the use of synthetic materials, the weight of an oar has come down from over 7 kg, to less than 2.5 kg.
Blade shapes
Modern blades come in two main shapes. The most common is the "cleaver" (also called "hatchet"), which is used almost universally. Some clubs use the older "maconMacon spoons
Macon spoons replaced the traditional 'pencil' spoons on rowing blades at the 1959 European Championship in Mâcon.The spoon shape is broader than a pencil, and is named after Mâcon, the venue of the event they debuted in, used by the West Germans. West Germany won all the male sweep oar events that...
" style blades (also called "spoons" or "tulips" or "shovels") for novice crews. A very small minority of coaches favor macons for their top crews, but it has been generally accepted since their introduction in 1992 that cleavers give a speed advantage over macons under most conditions.
Macon blades are symmetrical, with an elliptical shape and a ridgeline running down the center of the blade face. The blade is squared off at the end. Despite the blade being symmetrical, modern asymmetrical collars or aesthetic issues regarding decorative paint on the blade face may dictate which side of the boat the blade can be rowed on. Macon blades achieved prominence at the 1959 European Championship
European Rowing Championships
The European Rowing Championships is an international Rowing regatta organised by FISA .The first event was held in 1893 and as of 1962 was replaced by the World Rowing Championships, which then became an annual event from 1974...
in Mâcon
Mâcon
Mâcon is a small city in central France. It is prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department, in the region of Bourgogne, and the capital of the Mâconnais district. Mâcon is home to over 35,000 residents, called Mâconnais.-Geography:...
.
Cleaver blades are asymmetrical, with a somewhat rectangular shape resembling a meat cleaver, hence the name. The shaft of a cleaver blade connects to the spoon offset to the top edge of the blade. The shape of the face and the offset connection is designed to maximize the surface area of the blade in contact with the water during the rowing stroke, while also minimizing the amount and depth of the shaft that is submerged and contributing to drag. A cleaver blade may only be rowed on one side of the boat or the other. Cleaver blade designs were first developed by Dick
Dick Dreissigacker
Dick Dreissigacker was a U.S. Olympic rower and is a founder of Concept2 . While studying engineering at Brown University he took up rowing and went on to represent the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics....
and Pete Dreissigacker
Pete Dreissigacker
Pete Dreissigacker is a founder of Concept2 . He founded the company with his brother, Dick Dreissigacker, who was an Olympic rower. Pete was introduced to the sport of rowing by his brother whilst at Stanford University. He trained for the 1976 US Olympic team, but he failed to be...
in 1991 .
