With Christmas fast approaching it may be too late to add any big ticket items to your Christmas list, but it’s not too late to get your hands on a low-cost, free-speed innovation.
If you have some spare coins at the bottom of your bag you can afford a revolutionary innovation backed by proven scientific research.
Aero-dots
Don’t laugh, this is no April-fool joke but an innovation that was banned in elite cycling but free to be exploited in rowing. TeamSky developed the concept to create turbulence in the shadow of the rider’s arms so the passing air will not stick and create drag. Aerodynamics are the low-hanging fruit in potential innovations in rowing. Very little of our equipment considers air flow with boats and rigging designed with harsh edges and open pockets which create air traps not to mention overhanging bolts interrupting the smooth lines of hulls. In cycling, it has been many decades since bicycles were made using circular profiled tubes, yet our oar shafts continue to be left as round un-aerodynamic logs. . . and that is where Aero-dots come in.
But first, let me offer this little warning. It is one thing to want to go faster but quite another to be one of the first to adopt an innovation that will set you apart from every other competitor. We all assume that as rowing is an Olympic sport it is governed by the principles of “Citius” and that our primary concern is for boat speed. Yet the history of rowing and the experience of contemporary innovators, has shown that innovation continues to be not celebrated.
Consider the first adopters of the “sliding” and the utter ridicule the innovation received. You would know that before “sliding” rowers sat on fixed seats and only the upper body and arms were used to draw the oar. Sliding was an attempt to engage the muscles of the legs, yet the first attempts were met with ridicule. It is commonly cited that the American sculler John C. Babcock first used the sliding seat in 1857 but the idea of “sliding” predates this when scullers installed a greased board and began to wear leather padded pants to slide upon. The concept is still used today by Australian surf lifesaving rowing boats.
As the new innovation had no established technique, sliding rowers would drag their oars along the water for balance on the recovery and looked like complete novices. It took years before rowers had a better understanding of how to engage the legs with the body. The first innovation adopters were those who have the most degree of agency in our sport, single scullers. This continues to be the nature of first adopters in rowing today. The sliding seat is now standard equipment and its troubled adoption has been long forgotten.
The first crew use of the sliding seats was London Rowing Club in 1872 in their boat that won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley. But the win was described as a hollow victory as they led by an excessive six lengths and their rowing style was ridiculed. It was said that even the crew needed to be “persuaded” to use what was described by one crew member as a “novelty.” Most telling was that the boat was kept hidden till the hour before the race. There seemed to be a great deal of shame and reluctance to adopt the sliding seat by the crew, for I believe that they knew what they were soon to face. Their victory was by a massive six length but the race was reported … ““If that is sliding, it is not rowing according to recognised rules. You may be gaining in pace, but you are abandoning style, and ruining rowing as an art of elegance.” So, winning by innovation may be celebrated in F1 or in the Americas Cup, but it takes courage in rowing to adopt an innovation. Even today, those who are first to adopt an innovation face a great deal of ridicule. To show what it takes to try something new, all on your own you look no further than Martino Goretti. When Goretti first used my design to gain national selection, they all laughed at him and called him “crazy”
Now back to the dots … as I was saying, it has long been understood that the shape of an oar shaft could be tear dropped to provide an aerodynamic performance advantage on the recovery. However, as oars are partially buried during the stroke this optimal shaping has not been considered possible. In the absence of this design change, the application of aero-dots to the oar shaft will provide the desired simulated aerodynamic effect in reducing air drag on the oar. This design innovation will give you immediate boat speed increases which is also backed by a scientific study completed in 2016 by C.B. Kuyt and presented at the conference of the International Sports Engineering Association. The results of the paper conclude that the application of aerodynamic elements can provide a speed increase of 2-seconds over 2000m, and increases with headwinds or longer races.
I have now been rowing with these for two months and the immediate thing that you notice is that you cannot feel the wind on the recovery, especially if you are in a gusty headwind, the aero-dots work … but you get comments. If you want speed and are looking for innovation … you’ll need to toughen up!
Here are my three tips:
– Apply dots with diminishing intervals towards the blade. Use this guide for measuring in Millimetres:
– With the oar in the feathered position, apply dots to the trailing or non leading edge only.
– Be careful when taking the oar in and out of the gate.
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