Oar (sport rowing)
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When the rower uses one oar on one side, it is called sweep rowing that the single oar is called a "sweep" oar.[1] When the rower uses two oars at the same time, one on each side, it is called sculling, and the two oars are called a pair of "sculls". Typical sculls are around 284 cm - 290 cm in length — sweep oars are 370 cm - 376 cm. A scull has a smaller blade area, as each rower wields a pair of them at any one time, operating each with one hand. Since the 1980s many oars have been adjustable in length.
The shaft of the oar ends with a thin flat surface 40 to 50 cm long and 25 cm wide, variously called the blade or spoon. Further along are the loom (or shaft), 2⁄3 of the way up which is the sleeve (including a wearplate) and button (or collar), and at the very end the handle. The handle may revert to wooden or, particularly in the case of sculls and some 21st century models of sweep-oar blades have rubber, cellular foam, suede or for example wood veneer grips over glass fiber.
The part of the oar the rower holds while rowing is the handle which is longer for sweep blades as each is held using both hands, than for sculls which are held with one hand.
There are hundreds of different variations of oars in terms of size and manufacturer specifications. "Macon" or "Cleaver" blade shapes of
Blade shapes
Cleaver
The most common shape now seen is the "cleaver" (also called "hatchet"), which is used almost universally. Cleaver blades are
Cleaver blade designs were first developed by
Macon
Some clubs use the older "macon" style blades (also called "spoons" or "tulips" or "shovels") for novice crews, usually to develop the basic technique of the rower without the extra complexity of a cleaver blade. A minority of coaches favor macons, but it has been generally accepted since their introduction in 1992 that cleavers give a speed advantage over macons under most conditions.[citation needed]
Macon blades are
Macon blades achieved prominence at the 1959
Square
Before macons a longer, thinner shape was used, known as "square" or "standard" blades. Some rowers of traditional skiffs use them but macons or wider oars dominate in dinghy rowing. A few racing shell clubs/coaches keep some for training for technique in their learner boats.
At any given moment a propelling blade seen stationary, outboard of that point shifts water providing guaranteed drive (linear velocity), and inboard of it relative drag (radial velocity). Shorter, wider blades concentrate the former yet must be in a design not liable to snap. Thus the development from standard to macon to cleaver is a progression from long, thin blades to shorter, wider ones and more durable material. Each stage is a reduction in the solid-2D-profile, current and eddies that, at typical speeds, may work the wrong way and chiefly in a purely radial way in favour of pure lineal velocity.
See also
- List of rowing blades
- F Collar, supplier of oars to every Olympic game from 1952 to 1984
References
- ^ "Croker USA". Archived from the original on August 27, 2002.
- ^ "Oars and Sculls" (PDF). Concept 2. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
- ^ "Sculling Oars". Croker Oars. Archived from the original on November 9, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
- ^ Miller, Bill. "The Development of Rowing Equipment". Friends of Rowing History. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.