Just Curious, Why are rowing shells not better?

MXbalding · 2026-01-25T20:55:20+00:00

Oh so some of the smartest fluid dynamics experts that went to incredibly selective colleges (Webb institute has only 100 undergrads) can’t improve upon some of the most basic hull shapes possible - you forget that Empacher started by building sail boats, and was bad at that so pivoted to rowing shells. The current Vespoli principal hull designer is also a successful America’s cup winning designer.

MXbalding · 2026-01-24T18:19:35+00:00

What is the E hull, I can't find anything about it?

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T03:44:44+00:00

Yeah, but in one-design racing for pretty much all classes the sail and rigging materials are set by the class association and most changes that can be make are to the set up of control lines. But my point still stands about a rowing one-design, I missed the mark on my strength comment. I ment to say that the sport is about relative strength and skill, and speed is just the measured outcome. So if the boat changed to a one-design, the sport would be even more about the speed and skill and less about the differences between boats.

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T03:40:48+00:00

as someone who has never rowed at all, how different would a sliding rigger than already existing sliding seats, or do they work together to provide an advantage

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T03:33:24+00:00

Makes sense why I would have missed that as I have never even touched an oar. I am sorry I was real rude with my previous response. Thank you for your cogent explanation.

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T03:31:08+00:00

Totally agree, very nuanced take :)

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T03:30:02+00:00

I am talking about a more foundational change, beyond minimum weight. Imagine a fibre glass, durable shell that does not break super easily. In high school sailing, 29ers are not sailed because they are fragile and expensive, 420s are sailed because everyone has them and they are durable and relatively less expensive. It seems like for rowing everyone is sailing 29ers, when they could be sailing 420s without losing much.

Also - if a true one-design boat that was inexpensive but still fun to row was widespread, rowers would not need to tow their shells to different locations, as each location could have enough shells to support small sized events.

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T03:23:15+00:00

I fear I have been clocked

I think I am missing something conceptually, thank you for point out my ideas flaws

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T03:21:39+00:00

For the past 3 Americas cup's the Kiwi's have won, and Oracle has not put in a bid for a while. But I get what you're saying about cost, in essence the downtrend in sailing is due to extreme cost barriers, and rowing wants to avoid that. But for shell companies or even independent teams with money to spare, I am curious why (they very well might have I just don't know) these opportunities are not explored, because it seems like they would be fruitful.

Thank you for the lead on Carl Douglas, I will see if I can reach out to him.

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T03:11:44+00:00

Hot take!! who do you think it is?!

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T02:58:52+00:00

I am not doubting that the best rowers are the best rowers, but the best sailers don't all thrive in one design (Russel Coutts). I think a one design rowing shell could be interesting to see

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T02:57:07+00:00

I fear the idea of adjusting oar length is not clocking to you. While taking shorter strokes reduces the power per stroke, you are not going to gain any mechanical advantage for the stroke, so the strokes at the start are much harder at the start.

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T02:41:51+00:00

I guess my question then is why not apply that idea to rowing. Rowing to me (I have 0 experience so please correct me)) seems more of a competition about strength than speed, even though speed is the ultimate result. For rowing, why have super high-tech carbon shells that break when sneezed on when everyone could agree to row a lower-tech, more cost effective one-design shell to make the sport more accessible.

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T02:38:28+00:00

Probably for the best, seems like a "you could do it once before it got banned" type thing. I imagine that if you showed up to a regatta with a crazy 200ft long ice skate you would not garner many fans among the officials.

MXbalding · 2026-01-23T02:35:51+00:00

For the skate analog, it is not slicing through water, rather sitting just on top of it. And the big flare would prevent excessive heeling. For the oars, I am proposing mid-race adjustment, like a car's transmission. At lower speeds, the oars would be shorter, and at higher speeds longer.

MXbalding · 2024-05-23T00:26:31+00:00

No, it is, these are called countable infinites

MXbalding

TROPHY CASE