How I decided which new sculls to purchase
- From: "Charles Carroll" <charles_carroll@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 14:34:33 -0700
Dear All -
Three weeks ago in my regrettable dispute with a Channel Marker in Richardson Bay I destroyed my starboard scull. As a consequence I was forced into ordering another set of sculls.
The first question I asked myself is should I replace my old Dreher High Modulus Apex-Rex sculls with identical sculls?
I liked the Apex-Rex sculls well enough. They went into the water cleanly and extracted cleanly. They also seemed to load very quickly, which I find an advantage when sculling in rough water.
The width of the Dreher Apex-Rex blades, however, was a bit of a detriment. They were roughly two centimeters wider than the conventional cleaver blades. This means that to be kept off the water at the catch, they need to be lifted a little higher than a scull with a cleaver blade.
Another consideration was the material out of which the Dreher Apex-Rex sculls are made. While High Modulus sculls are very stiff and lighter than sculls made of other materials, they are also less impact resistant. After my dispute with the Channel Marker I at least wanted to look at other sculls that might provide more impact resistance, not that I am intending to carry on any more disputes with Channel Markers.
I knew Concept 2s, and the other models of Dreher sculls, and have liked them all. I have developed no decided preference.
But the sculls I hadn't tried were Crokers, which I had been curious about for some time. It was really Dan Alexander who persuaded me to consider them seriously. He said that Croker Oars had been used at BIAC for some time now and rowers had only good things to report about them. Then he went to the other boathouse and found Walter Hallanan's set of Croker sculls in the other boathouse and brought them to me to study.
Walter's oars looked so well made that I immediately went to the Croker Websites to see what I could learn about them. I read everything I could on two websites, Croker USA and Croker Oars in Australia.
The decision to purchase Crokers came down to three deciding factors:
First, I liked what Croker had to say about water flow across the back of their blades. This is really Croker's explanation of how they came to decide on a design for their new slick blade. "The ridge line on the back of the Croker slick blade is not parallel with the shaft [but] instead runs parallel with the water."(1) Croker claims that as a result the ridge does not disrupt the flow the water flow across the back of the blade during the drive, and for this reason their blades produce less turbulence than other blade designs. I take this to mean that with the Croker slick blade there is less chance of producing air entrainment behind the blades. In other words, Croker slick blades are less inclined to slip.
Second, I also very much liked Croker's advice on choosing Handle Size. "A handle that is too small will cause trouble in the rough water and may turn in the rower's hand uncontrollably. A handle that is too big will fatigue the rower's forearms and also result in excessive wrist movement feathering the oar."(2)
And third, I was fascinated with Croker's advice on how to choose shaft stiffness. I am going to quote extensively:
"Combinations of . components can be designed appropriately for each rower. This is always a sore subject. Ego tends to confuse the situation. Let us first begin by explaining that terms like 'stiff', 'regular', 'soft', 'intermediate' are product labels for the sake of organization, nothing else. They indicate the hierarchy of rower physical criteria that groups of shafts appropriately match. They do not label the rower-they empower the rower. Olympic, world and national championships have been won with all types of our Full Carbon and Superlight racing shafts: stiff, regular, soft. They have been won with full blade and cutaway blade. What remains to be determined is which combination will be BEST for YOU. Horsepower and fitness are but one aspect of this determination. Technical style can also play a role.
"Starting from the horsepower and fitness angle, let's use the standard 2000m erg score.....
"1. For 2000m on the erg, 7:15 and faster, S2/M2 is fine, otherwise S2 Soft/M2 Soft.
"2. For those between 7:00 and 7:15 who opt for S2/M2, they should consider the cutaway slick instead of the full slick.
"3. For those with S2 Soft/M2 Softs and erg scores slower than 7:45, they should consider the cutaway slick instead of the full slick.
"If any history of back injuries, do not order the S2/M2; order the S2 Soft/M2 Soft.
"A word to the wise: Do NOT "order up" thinking you will learn to handle the heavier load and become a better rower. It rarely ever works that way. Order the oar that will help you go fast NOW."
I ended up ordering Croker S2 Soft Superlights with Slick blade, 285 +/- 3cm length, zero degree pitch, asymmetric sleeve, standard inboard, carbon adjustable 35mm Ø handle with blue grips, and also a second set of Replacement Sculling Grips (Blue).
I ordered a new set of sculls from Croker West (http://crokerwest.com/) on Wednesday, the 14th of May. Seventeen days later, Thursday morning, they were waiting for me when I arrived at the Club. I only had about twenty minutes on-water time. With Dan's inestimable help I spent ten minutes of this time setting up the new oars. So I did get ten minutes on the water-ten minutes with the new oars.
My first impression is that these are the best oars I have ever sculled with. They go into the water very cleanly, extract just as cleanly, catch water fast and solidly, and hold on to it tenaciously. Of course first impressions are always subject to change, and any comments anyone might wish to make would be most welcome.
Cordially,
Charles
(1) http://www.crokerusa.com/differences.html
(2) http://www.crokeroars.com/scullingoars.htm
(3) http://www.crokerusa.com/differences.html
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: How I decided which new sculls to purchase
- From: paul_v_smith
- Re: How I decided which new sculls to purchase
- From: Ted van de Weteringe
- Re: How I decided which new sculls to purchase
- Prev by Date: Re: Why cover it up?
- Next by Date: Re: Some questions from Lucerne
- Previous by thread: Re: Why cover it up?
- Next by thread: Re: How I decided which new sculls to purchase
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
