How long should my oars be

To determine the correct length oar for your boat measure the distance between the port and starboard oar sockets. Then apply the Shaw and Tenney oar length formula to determine the oar length that will provide the correct leverage ratio. It is the ideal ratio to row almost all boats. Sized correctly, when rowing your hands will be 1 to 3 inches apart and you will be pulling directly towards your abdomen. If you are popping out of your oarlocks when rowing your oars are far too short.

If you have more than one rowing station in your boat, measure both. As always feel free to call us and were happy to help you select the correct oar length and blade style for your boat. Achieving a comfortable, effective rig is the key to keeping the load reasonable. In general, we recommend setting your oars or sculls shorter when rowing:. The following tables outline our typical oar length options for sweep and scull, all of which are adjustable.

Additional options, including fixed length, are available. Contact customer service for more information. We offer our sweeps and sculls in adjustable and fixed length. Adjustable oars feature a composite handle with a Length Adjustment System that allows for 5 cm of adjustment. They actually look much more complicated than they are. You will calculate the distance between the port oarlock and the starboard oarlock. Make sure this measurement is taken in inches.

So, using the above formula, in step 2, you divide that number by 2 and then add 2 onto it as follows:. Next we take the final measurement number and multiply it by 25 to get the actual ideal length of oar we need. As oars are sold in feet rather than inches all we need do now is convert our ideal oar length from inches to feet.

However, the measurement is in inches so you will want to convert it to feet as most oars are measured in feet. Of course you could just use an online inches to feet converter. In our example we will take our oar length measurement, which is Unfortunately they don;t sell oars in quarter sizes so we need to get the closest oar length to our ideal oar length.

To do this simply roundup the number to the nearest foot. Although the table at the beginning of this post can help you make a quick buying decision when it comes to oar length, the formula given above will give you a much more accurate ideal length for the oars you use in a drift boat.

You should always feel comfortable when rowing. When rowing your hands should be about 10 to 12 inches apart. This space offers you the most efficient position for generating power from both your arms and your shoulders.

The rope warps on the oars should be positioned near the middle of the oarlocks though about a third either way is fine. Having oars the wrong length can not only lead to inefficient rowing but it can also lead to unnecessary muscle strains. Although the above information will go a long way to helping you choose the correct oar length there is no substitute for experience.