SCRC SCULLERS
OAR SELECTION & OAR ETIQUETTE
Club Oars: Etiquette
Club sculling oars have been designated as either team boat blades or single scull blades to ensure that appropriate blades will be available to all scullers. For ease of reference, spreadsheets have been posted on the side of the sculling oar rack describing which blades go with which boats, blade length and inboard measurements, etc.
Please take care not to break up a set of quad oars when going out in a double or a single, and not break up a set of double oars when going out in a single or quad – the below instructions as to which oars go with which boats should help guide you in this endeavor.
Team blades (i.e., those for use with doubles and quads) are designated by colored tape on the blade handles. Team blades may be reserved when team boats are reserved, using the Club boat scheduling procedure. Fatties have more blade surface area than smoothies, thus the overall length of these blade types are set differently.
Those rowing single sculls should use the blades designated for single sculls. Overall length and inboard length of each set of blades have been provided to facilitate blade selection.
Oar Selection Preferences
Novice singles rowers (and many other Club members, for that matter) may wonder how to choose which blades to use. Think of the blade as a lever: the effort necessary to use a lever is affected by its overall length and the placement of the fulcrum. Thus, consider both the overall length of the blade you select and the inboard length (distance from the collar to the grip – or more pragmatically the portion of the oar in the boat that you are using to position the portion of the oar outside of the boat).
BLADES FOR SINGLE SCULLS (RIVER SIDE ON RACK) | |||||
ALPHA LABEL ON BLADES | LENGTH OF OAR IN CM | INBOARD LENGTH IN CM | SLEEVE COLOR | GRIP | COMMENTS |
D | 286 | 88 | GREEN | GREEN SMOOTH | Heavy |
H | 285 | 87 | BLACK | BLUE ARTICULATED | Lightweight |
I | 286 | 86 | GREEN | GREEN SMOOTH | Mid |
J | 284 | 87 | BLACK | GREEN SMOOTH | Lightweight |
K | 286 | 87 | GREEN | BLUE ARTICULATED | Heavy |
M | 285 | 88 | BLACK | BLUE ARTICULATED | |
N | 285 | 89 | GREEN | BLACK TEXTURED | Mid |
P | 281 | 87 | GREEN | GREEN SMOOTH | Bantam, very small |
R | 282 | 87 | GREEN | GREEN SMOOTH | Short |
X | 287.5 | 88 | GREEN | GREEN SMOOTH | Long, Mdwt |
BLADES FOR TEAM BOATS (ROAD SIDE ON RACK) | ||||||
BOAT | ALPHA LABEL ON BLADES | COLOR OF TAPE ON BLADES | BLADE TYPE | LENGTH OF OAR IN CM | INBOARD LENGTH IN CM | COMMENTS |
QUAD | G1-G4 | SMOOTHIE | 288 | 88 | Heavy | |
QUAD | A1-A4 | PURPLE | SMOOTHIE | 286 | 86 | Midweight |
DOUBLE | B1-B2 | ORANGE | FATTIE | 281 | 87 | MEDIUM SETTING |
DOUBLE or QUAD | C1- C2 | BLUE | 285 | 88 | Use w/ E set for Ltwt Quad | |
DOUBLE or QUAD | E1 – E2 | 285 | 88 | Use w/ C set for Ltwt Quad | ||
DOUBLE | F1-F2 | YELLOW | SMOOTHIE | 285 | 89 | MEDIUM BLADE SETTING |