Oars
|
Weymouth Rowing Club Oars - Andrew Goss - WRC Bosun - November 2025 The rowing club currently has 14 pairs of oars in use. In response to requests for information about them, I have put together the following summary. Lettering The letters have been applied in sequence over the years as new oars were purchased by the club. Those lettered A and B are no longer in use and have been gradually dispersed. They were made by Alan Hanger, the builder of our first two gigs, Sir Tristan and Penny. As we approached the launch of Sir Tristan in June 2001, we realised we needed oars. An enquiry to the only Cornish maker we knew revealed that a set could be made drectly—meaning six months or more. So Alan set to work and, using a broken oar (lent to us by a rower from Charleston Gig Club) to show the laminate construction, produced two sets with his usual impressive speed. He shaped his own plane from an old wooden one and ground the plane iron to the correct profile to create the required cupped blade. The C and D oars were bought in 2002/3 from Suttons Oars, then based under the walls of Windsor Castle on the Thames, and now located in Devon. Not long after came the E oars. These have a different blade shape, as some may have noticed. (The photo under Numbers and Lengths shows the difference between a C oar and a set of D oars. The C and D oars have what is sometimes called a needle blade: approximately 32 inches long and 6¾ inches wide. The E oars have a Macon blade, a shape developed for the European Championships in Macon, France in 1959. Their blades are about 22 inches long and 7¾ inches wide at the widest point. These oars are used mostly by beginners, although recently some winning crews have returned to needle blades or variations of them—so watch this space. All subsequent club purchases have used the Macon shape, though dimensions vary slightly depending on whether they are intended for men or women. The F and G oars were purchased around 2003/4 for the juniors, funded—if memory serves—by Awards for All, a Sport England funding stream. They are slightly shorter than adult oars, with reduced blade area (details below). The H oars are now designated for general use, like the E oars. The I and J oars are for competitive use only. Similarly, the K oars are for competition. They are noticeably heavier with larger blades and were designed for a particularly strong mens crew who finished (just) in the top 12 at the Scillies around 2009. The L oars are junior racing oars. The M oars are for competitive use only and are generally used by the men. The N oars were bought as intermediate oars for rowers transitioning from junior to senior rowing at age 16+. They are not robust enough for very strong rowers. The O oars are rather distinctive. Purchased in May 2015, they are the only oars the club owns that were made by Collars of Oxford. They are on the heavy side, and their originally large handles were carefully shaped into an oval profile by one of our rowers as an experiment, on the basis that they could be reshaped again if disliked. They are much loved by some—though not by others. One advantage is that they feather more easily. The P oars were the last set purchased by the club, around 2019/20. They were an attempt to replicate the J oars but werent entirely successful, so they were treated as recreational oars that some liked and others did not. In 2022/23, Fred Daborn reduced the shaft diameter to a more manageable size, and they have since become one of the most-used sets. Numbers and Lengths Numbers are necessary because oars vary in length. Broadly, 1 and 6 are the shortest; 2, 3, 4, and 5 are longer, as these positions sit in the wider part of the boat. (See the photo of the M oars below.) |
||
|
||
|
For those interested, the Suttons Oars website previously listed the following data: Junior Macon
Mens Needle Blade
Ladies Needle Oar
Other differences between ladies and mens oars include weight and the point along the blade at which it reaches its widest width. Structure The shafts of all oars are hollow except under the leather and, naturally, the blade. The wood is spruce with a thin ash backing, and the blades have an ash tip. The shape of the blade showcases the oar makers skill—for example, the point at which the blade reaches its greatest width and the amount of scoop. Storage
Care and Maintenance Ideally, the oars should have their leathers removed, be thoroughly abraded, and then varnished with four or five coats—annually, in a perfect world. Leathers eventually develop holes and must be replaced. |
||
holes in leather.pdf |
||
|
The current cost of a leather is approximately £20 from Suttons. Handles have for years been wrapped with hockey grips to improve comfort and reduce blisters. These cost around £10each. Jane Ward and a small team have worked for many years to keep up with repairs to handles, leathers, and blade edges, and would welcome help. These grips must be taped carefully at the ends to hold them in place; if not done properly, rowers will quickly develop blisters. An example of a self-help disaster is shown below. |
||
bad taping.pdf |
||
|
Revarnishing a full set of oars is best tackled by a working party of rowers—so watch for volunteer requests. The three gold-coloured crowns on our oars are taken from the coat of arms of Sir Tristan in the book belonging to Tristan Douglas Johnson. The club colours of green, red, and gold are all derived from this. Common Damage The most common area of damage is just below the leather: |
||
damage below leather.pdf |
||
|
Causes include:
|
||
blade damage.pdf |
||
|
Water ingress can lead to delamination and blackened wood. The current cost of a new oar from Suttons is £456. |
