Grow Your Rowing Club
Our sport needs to be more inclusive, to enable more types of participation from more people of more age groups. Oar Board® is the perfect solution to grow your rowing club and serve your community better!
The Oar Board® Rower adds a new dimension…
Oar Board® One year payback period… (Assuming $4,500 per Oar Board® Combo)
The Revenue Positive Rowing Club!
The success of your rowing program depends on how you attract and bring new athletes into your club. Single sculling is repeatedly shown to be the best way to bring new members into the sport and into your club.
Case Studies
Once upon a time, there was a cash-strapped rowing club concerned about how difficult it was for new people to start the sport. One day, they purchased a few Oar Boards for their boathouse. Because of that new members joined at any time of the year, and fell in love with the sport – not just during scheduled learn-to-row programming. They chose adventure, and built a new pathway into the sport and built fun, easy-to-access programs to serve their communities. Then, interest in their club increased, they attracted a more diverse membership, and financial stability increased. Until finally, they built a strong community of people united by rowing, which other clubs around the world used as a model to grow the sport.
FEATURE STUDY
Argonaut Rowing Club, Lake Ontario, Toronto, Canada
In spring 2021, the Argos club purchased six Oar Boards using a Rowing Canada grant incentive program. They were able to pay for the costs of this equipment with increased summer camp enrollment.
Club managers noticed increased retainment in new members exposed to this equipment.
OTHER CASE STUDIES
Weybridge Rowing Club, Thames River, England, UK
Weybridge Rowing Club bought two Oar Board® strap-on units in 2020 to introduce new rowers to the sport, when learn-to-row programming was not offered.
Oklahoma City Boat Club, Lake Hefner, Oklahoma, USA
OKC Boat Club purchased ten Oar Board®s in 2020 to be part of their community rental fleet and used the equipment to increase engagement in their Junior rowing program.
Hong Kong China Rowing Association, Shing Mun River, Hong Kong, China
The Hong Kong Rowing Association purchased its first batch of Oar Boards in 2019 to complement its fleet of coastal and flat water boat rentals. The club continues to purchase Oar Boards, and has integrated the equipment into their rowing skill-development pathway.
Is the Oar Board® right for your club?
Here’s how the Oar Board® will ensure boathouse program success:
A pathway to bringing new rowers!
Growth Possibilities
Fits in a cupboard! The Oar Board® unit and paddle board can be left inflated and stacked together on a rack. Alternatively, the Oar Board® rower can be detached, disassembled and stored in its wheelie bag. An inflatable paddle board can be quickly deflated, rolled up compactly and also stored in its own wheelie bag perfect for transport or travel.
Extend your rowing season! Row in colder weather – cold water, waves, or boat wakes are no longer a problem. The chance of capsize is virtually eliminated. Should it occur, self-rescue is very easy. The paddle board is totally buoyant, virtually unsinkable and it’s easy to climb back aboard.
The Oar Board® is ideal for use as a fitness trainer for novices, competitors, masters, or anyone who loves to row and wants to stay fit and in top form.
The Oar Board® unit by itself is easily attached to almost any stand up paddleboard over 10’ long. However we strongly recommend the custom designed inflatable paddle boards we supply that are specifically designed for sculling and equipped with special deck rings that make setting up simple with no strap drag while rowing.
Testimonials
Elite Rowing Coach & Olympic Gold Medal Rower Xeno Muller says:
“This is an amazing coaching tool as the sliding rigger makes it feel totally natural to drive with the legs before engaging the upper body. New rowers experience less difficulty understanding and learning a proper row stroke.”
Olympic Gold Medal Rower Adam Kreek says:
“Every rowing club needs some Oar Boards®. They are a lightweight, compact, stable sculling platform. Perfect for novice rowers to learn the row stroke or for afternoon fitness sessions even in wind and waves. Imagine a rowing-camping adventure launched from your boathouse.”
Interested in Growing Your Rowing Club Now?
Our sport needs to be more inclusive, to enable more types of participation from more people of more age groups. Oar Board® is the perfect solution to grow your rowing club and serve your community better!
Use this form to contact our rowing club representatives for more information. Provide us with details of your rowing club requirements and potential needs, or share your wish list.
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The History of the Oar Board®
The sliding rigger rowing system is not a recent invention. An early patent was filed for a similar rowing unit way back in 1905 however the German Olympic rowing challenge of 1985 saw a revival of the technology. Thorough development and testing was conducted by the German Olympic challenger team.
When it was found that the sliding rigger system was substantially faster when used on a racing shell, the Olympic governing body banned the German sliding rigger technology from being used in the 1988 Olympic challenge on the grounds of an unfair speed advantage. Sliding rigger rowing systems disappeared from the rowing scene until now, with the development of the Oar Board®.
Why the Oar Board® Rows So Well
On a sliding seat, the rower’s full body weight moving back and forth on the tracks causes a boat to slow down on the glide or recovery part of the row stroke. This does not occur with the Oar Board® with its fixed seat and sliding rigger. Maintaining steady trim as the hull passes through the complete duration of the row stroke is also what makes it possible to smoothly row with the much shorter paddle board type of hull.
Rowing at Clubs and Elsewhere
A paddle board with an Oar Board® Rower unit is not as fast as a sleek light racing shell so competition rowing is simply not relevant. What is relevant are the points mentioned above plus helping the sport of rowing to expand not only at clubs but also out onto lakes, rivers and oceans, at cottages, cabins, yachts, to benefit existing rowers and newcomers to the sport.
Contact Us
For further information regarding ordering the Oar Board® Rower, the custom designed paddle boards, or the unique two-part carbon fiber sculling oars, please contact: