Repeat: There are many people interested in open water adventure rowing, but few available resources and great logistical challenges.
Rowing clubs are a great resource to those fortunate enough to live in an area that has a large body of protected (i.e. no waves or appreciable currents). In general rowing clubs are focused on one thing, and that is racing on protected water. The large number of folks who are interested in so-called "open water" sliding-seat sculling (2 oars per person) or rowing (1 oar per person) are not even on the radar screens of most rowing clubs, except perhaps in the Northwest of the U.S., such as the San Francisco Bay area.
If one is a serious open water sculler (sliding seat
rowing with two oars on rough water), they are generally limited by the great
difficulty of transporting high performance recreational rowing shells, such as
the Alden Single or Double Ocean Shells, the Maas 19, Maas 24, etc. Anyone who
has tried to transport one of these boats on the top of a car or SUV knows that
it is a real pain. Furthermore, the boats are often damaged by the wind. Sometimes, the roof racks themselves are damaged or, worse still, pulled from the vehicle...the results of a 16 - 24 foot boat flying off of a vehicle room at highway speed are NEVER good!
There has been at least one attempt to adapt an inflatable kayak to sculling. The boat is quite expensive and we are not sure how well it performs. Inflatable boats, even really good ones, tend to be far more flexible than is desirable for rowing--rowing craft need to be quite stiff in order to perform well. In terms of basic physics, much energy is lost in the constant bending of the boat as the rower slides from stern to bow on the wheeled seat.
We have found a way to adapt a Piantidosi 'Scout' rig
(www.rowingrigs.com/) to a standard inflatable self-bailing ocean kayak,
such as a Sevylor 18' ocean boat shown in the pictures. More importantly, we
have found a way to stiffen the boat without adding more than 10 lbs or so to
the craft. The photos are taken from a sea trial of an early prototype. We have
not recorded the performance data in quantitative terms yet; however, all who
have rowed it are amazed at its speed and performance in calm or rough water
conditions--look carefully at the beautiful wake in the photos. The photos
reveal almost no mid-ship flexing, even with a 220 lb rower (Dr. Don). adventure, Alden Double, Alden Single, Maas 19, Maas 24, Ocean Shells, open water, rowing, sculling
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