I was rowing an Echo and found myself struggling with not only the oar blade under water during the drive, but much of the oar under water. It turned out that the oar lock was set way too low for my body size. I corrected the problem by loosening the nut on top of the oar lock and put three of the plastic shims from the top of the oar lock to the bottom. This only raised the oarlock by 3/4 inch, but made all the difference in how the boat rowed. ( I am not a specialist in this subject so I will let the old timers pipe in).
The tool needed for the oar lock nut on the Echo is an Allen Wrench and I have put one in the locker. That was the easy part. The hard part was to put up a camera that will capture the face of the person that decides not to put it back after they have used it!
To adjust the oar lock height only takes one minute each side, and it is time well spent.
Happy rowing in the "zone"!
Jon
THANKS JON FOR THAT INSIGHTFUL PIECE OF KNOWLEDGE. GREAT PICTURE OF THE OAR LOCK. DARE I SAY YOU HAVE A JOB AS THE CLUB'S PHOTOGRAPHER
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ReplyDeleteOarlock adjustment can make a huge difference!
ReplyDeleteA helpful hint for those that may not know...
To determine the correct oarlock height for you:
Sit at your finish with your blades buried (this is important). If your rigger(oarlock) height is correct your thumbs will be at about your second or third rib up from the bottom (a little below where you would wear a heart rate monitor- or ladies, right below the bottom of a sports bra).
If your thumbs are up higher than this, spacers need to be moved from the bottom to the top. And vice versa if your hands are lower.
I'd be happy to contribute some adjustable spacers to the club. They are "c" shaped and can be easily adjusted without having to take rigging apart. Does anyone happen to know the pin size in the oarlock?
I also want to mention that when adjusting you oarlock heights to take care to keep the starboard oarlock a spacer or two higher than the port to accommodate for your left-over-right hand position. (Assuming ocean shell and racing shell general rigging is similar.) Happy rowing!!
Thank you Emily for clarifying this grey area for me.
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