I was burning with fever. Weak in the legs. Head pounding. We had been training flat out and our boat was finally moving. But I couldn’t get out of bed. I didn’t have the strength to go to practice. And the worst part—when I went to the doctor she told me “You have an infection. […]
rigging strategies
Repurposing An Old Rowing Shell
Repurposing: the process by which an object with one use is transformed or redeployed as an object with an alternative use Rowing equipment gets old. When repairs and rehab no longer work magic, what do you do with that old, old rowing shell? Here’s one answer… There are certainly other options, such as donating to […]
Make Rowing Practices More Effective (and Safer)
The world around us keeps getting more complex. That complexity means things can easily go wrong. And rowing practices are no different. Yet disasters are often avoid, and there’s one very-simple-tool that has helped people such as: passenger pilots, improve their safety record surgeons, increase success rate while reducing patient healing time construction engineers, communicate […]
The advantage of blended rowing
As I write this it is 29 degrees, snowing and just plain icky outside. But soon, it’ll be time to move from indoor rowing to outdoor rowing. Improved weather and warmer water signal a switch from one type of rowing equipment (indoor rowers — AKA “ergs”) to another (shells, sculls and oars). Exciting times. And […]
How to Select Rowing Rigging Numbers for Beginners
Rowing equipment has gone through a significant revolution the past ten years. There’s been new oar designs, wide acceptance of the Euro-style rigger, advancement in foot stretchers, and the continued development of new materials. These improvements have meant significant changes in the rigging numbers used for the leverage measurements (oar length, spread, span, etc), and foot […]
Rowing Shell Maintenance—A Plan For Success
How long should your rowing shell last? Three years? Five years? Longer? How long should your rowing shell last? Barring any unforeseen tragedies like fire, theft, or a major collision it is not unreasonable to expect a brand new rowing shell to last 10, 15, even 20 years—or more. That’s a lot of hard strokes […]
My 2017 “Best Of” Rigging Tips
If you haven’t had the chance to read (and use) the rowing equipment and rigging tips I’ve been writing about in 2017, no worries. It’s been a crazy crazy year. Below are 11 of the tips that resonated the loudest with people, and I thought they were worth sharing with you. Give one, or all, a try: […]
You Know You Suffer From “Obsessive Compulsive Rigging Disorder” When…
Yeah. That’s a made up name. There’s no such thing as Obsessive Compulsive Rigging Disorder. I mean, it’s not in any manual. And of all the things in the world to obsessive over, or be compulsive about, rigging wouldn’t be one of them. Would it? Nah. Wrong! Rigging and rowing equipment are EXACTLY the things […]
Rigging For Lousy Weather At The Head Of The Charles (or any head race)
“…pay attention to the weather, [at the Charles] that’s key. We’ve had all sorts of conditions here. One year it snowed. People can get hypothermia here very quickly.” – HOCR Emergency Services Co-Chair Jonathan Ellis This year is going to be your best Head of The Charles—ever! Your training was super. The team arrived safely. […]
What Gives With Rowing Shells?
A new rower wandered around the boathouse, looking at the rowing shells He looked half stunned and he came over and asked, “What gives with these boats?” He didn’t want to know about oars. Or slings. Or anything else. He just wanted to know about the rowing shells. They overwhelmed him. I get it. For a […]
