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Rowlock

 
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A rowlock (British, ) or oarlock (US) is a brace
Brace

Brace may refer to:Medical* Brace , a device used to restrict or assist body movement* Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine...
 that attaches an oar
Oar

An oar is an implement used for water-borne Marine propulsion. Oars have a flat Blade at one end. The oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end....
 to a boat. When a boat is rowed, the rowlock acts as a fulcrum
Fulcrum

Fulcrum may refer to one of the following.*Fulcrum, the pivot on which a lever moves*Fulcrum Wheels, a bicycle wheel manufacturer, based in Italy...
, and, in doing so, the propulsive force that the rower exerts on the water with the oar is transferred to the boat by the thrust force exerted on the rowlock.

On ordinary rowing craft, the rowlocks are attached to the gunwale
Gunwale

The gunwale is a Glossary of nautical terms describing the top edge of the side of a boat.Wale is the same word as the skin injury, a wheal, which, too, forms a ridge....
s.






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Rowing Sport Oarlock
A rowlock (British, ) or oarlock (US) is a brace
Brace

Brace may refer to:Medical* Brace , a device used to restrict or assist body movement* Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine...
 that attaches an oar
Oar

An oar is an implement used for water-borne Marine propulsion. Oars have a flat Blade at one end. The oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end....
 to a boat. When a boat is rowed, the rowlock acts as a fulcrum
Fulcrum

Fulcrum may refer to one of the following.*Fulcrum, the pivot on which a lever moves*Fulcrum Wheels, a bicycle wheel manufacturer, based in Italy...
, and, in doing so, the propulsive force that the rower exerts on the water with the oar is transferred to the boat by the thrust force exerted on the rowlock.

On ordinary rowing craft, the rowlocks are attached to the gunwale
Gunwale

The gunwale is a Glossary of nautical terms describing the top edge of the side of a boat.Wale is the same word as the skin injury, a wheal, which, too, forms a ridge....
s. In the sport of rowing, the rowlocks are attached to outrigger
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 or bangka and in sailboats such as the proa, an outrigger is a thin, long, solid, hull used to stabilise an inherently unstable main hull....
s (often just called "riggers"), which project from the boat and provide better leverage. In sport rowing, the rowlocks are normally U-shaped and attached to a vertical pin which allows the rowlock to pivot around the pin during the rowing stroke. They additionally have a locking mechanism across the top of the "U" to prevent the oar from unintentionally popping out of the rowlock.

Originally rowlocks were two wooden posts that the shaft of the oar nestled between.

Trivia

The Norwegian municipalities of Fosnes
Fosnes

Fosnes is a Municipalities of Norway in Nord-Tr?ndelag Counties of Norway, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of J?a....
, Radøy
Radøy

Rad?y is an island municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Rad?y was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964, after the merger of large parts of Hordab?, Manger, Norway, and S?b?, and smaller parts of Austrheim and Lind?s....
 and Tjøme
Tjøme

Tj?me is a Municipalities of Norway in Vestfold Counties of Norway, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tj?me....
 have rowlocks in their coats-of-arms.