To satisfy any enquiries you may have had, Polar transmitters are compatible with Rowperfect Polar Receivers.

The following Polar chest straps have been tested and proven to be compatible with the 2009 Rowperfect Polar Receiver:

• Polar T61 transmitter (coded en non-coded)
• Polar T31 transmitter (coded en non-coded)
• Polar Wearlink transmitter (coded)

Since we know you love a bargain (really, who doesn’t?), we’ve mapped out that the cheapest solution for those of you who don’t yet have a Polar product, is to purchase one of the following:

• T31 non-coded transmitter as a separate product (30 EURO)
• T31 coded transmitter as a separate product (40 EURO)
• FT1, which comes with a T31 coded transmitter (50 EURO)

You can now make an informed Polar purchase, knowing that it will go hand in hand with Rowperfect technology (like bread goes with butter).  Happy shopping!

PS these same chest straps also work with the Coxmate HC coxless boat speed measurement unit.  Want to see heart rate while in the boat?  Easy!

Here’s your weekly opportunity to enjoy tales from others who also love rowing.  This weekly round-up is for a short list of interesting, in-depth articles for you to read over the weekend.

And of course, if you have news that you think other readers would enjoy – send it to us via our contact page. Each day we tweet and retweet short rowing news links that our followers are sharing – to get these follow @rowperfect on Twitter.

This week in the rowing online news several stories caught our eye:

• Take a look at this notice about a rowing association meeting – does it make you want to go if you know you’re not going to be hit in the pocket and you get a free lunch as well?
• Rowing and flashmobs - a way to inspire society to do better.  Now that’s an association we hadn’t thought about!

Sampson also utilizes one of his major life passions, rowing, to work for a larger cause. It is, as he calls it, a way of using his own talents to serve the community. As a participant in the Texas Rowing Coach program and longtime rowing enthusiast, Sampson wanted to introduce the sport to underserved urban youth who might not otherwise have the chance to participate in such an activity. Besides learning a new skill and getting physically fit, he believes that other benefits are just as important: self-awareness, respect, team spirit, joy and optimism.

• And lastly, not strictly about rowing but some participatory fun in central London.  There’s a mass Haka being organised in Parliament Square to celebrate Waitangi Day. Get there by 3.30 pm on Saturday 4th February.  Anyone who can go and send us photos, we’ll publish them next week.  There are some funnies in the list of 21 Things to Do for Waitangi Day – enjoy!

Image via Wikipedia

We wrote a contentious post about British Rowing authorising the use of a photo of ‘less than ideal’ erg technique.  The comments have been busy with lots of great points from our readers.

Graham Middleton, who runs the Ball Cup rowing website, wrote a longer response detailing helpful information about ergo use for junior rowers.  The original article is here, but we reproduce it below for you.

February 2012 Forum

A quick perusal of the rowing websites tells us that ergo machines are in the news. Siemens, the British Rowing sponsor, has put out a photograph of a female athlete ( no prizes for guessing who ) on a Concept ergo.

This has been flayed regarding posture and application by Rebecca Caroe, who hosts her own Rowperfect site. Mailed responses have been entertaining and varied !

It is thus incumbent of this site to make comment which is helpful to juniors who have probably not had a great deal of technical expertise and coaching applied in the ergo field.

Ergo is a colloquially shortened version of ergometer. Avid students of these columns will know from previous pages that the source of the title came from the pre-MKS system of units known as SI ( Systeme Internationale ) . The erg was a very small unit of energy, or work. Its value was defined by lifting about a thousandth of a gramme through a distance of one centimetre – a ridiculously small amount. Hence, all practical measurements involved huge powers of ten, well into millions upwards.

Anyway, the name stuck , so let us initially examine the machine, of which the Concept version is the most common. We must say initially that the Concept machine in its basic form does not mimic the rowing stroke well, and to that end, contact Rebecca Caroe and RowPerfect !

The user moves up and down a conventional slide, with feet anchored in shoe plates not dissimilar to a boat. The oar / scull is a single handle mounted on a chain which passes over a gear wheel in a housing. The gear is on a free-wheel and attached to a wheel which has the property of Inertia. This means that there is resistance to starting to revolve or further, angular acceleration, and an ‘unwillingness’ to stop revolving.

As the wheel revolves, air is driven out from the housing from louvres, or spaces, whose size can be adjusted on a common scale of 1-10. When the louvres are closed, air flow is restricted, and a greater resistance to rotation is experienced. The wheel, if left, will slow under friction and eventually stop.

Regarding technique, we must initially state that many users of ergos are not rowers and use the machine for general exercise, recreation, or at a higher level for competition. At the latter level, high scores at national level can be obtained without recourse to technique associated with sculling or rowing – Straight up and down the slide, no thoughts of boat run or the space limitations imposed by blades / sculls in the confines of a boat.

Good luck to the latter, but we are coaching for boat work, and this has to be a major criterion in ergo use. So, let us get down to technique. Most clubs will have posters from British Rowing on the walls of their gyms. These are valuable, but if we refer back to a previous forum article, correct back / slide coordination is a natural sequence of familiarity with the feel of a resistance load. I know of nothing better than the isometric ( no movement ) anchoring of a body in the sculling boat on land.

( Take the trouble to research this – it could be the answer to the bum-shovers’ prayer ! ) .

The handle shape is worthy of discussion. The original handles were simple straight wooden cylinders, attached to the chain. Disadvantage here is that they do not mimic the angles of a scull / blade handle at beginning or finish. Concept ‘evolved’ a handle that is bent in the middle, each end angled towards the athlete. Fine at the beginning, but useless at the finish, where a powerful finish causes the hands to slip off the handle. I throw the latter away, and return to the original wooden handle.

( An assumption here is that we juniors cannot afford or are allowed access to the evolution of the sculling ergo, complete with handles – the lot ! For many years to come most athletes will still use the original Concept machines )

Grip ! This is a really onomatopoeic word ( Sounds like it is ! ) Try to forget it !

Draw the handle with four fingers on top and thumb underneath. Many athletes put their thumbs over the top with the fingers, or place them flat along the handle. NO ! As a test try to do a pull-up on a bar with thumbs under or over. The ‘unders’ have it by a mile!

Regard the fingers as hooks. You will never dislocate the joints in a month of Sundays. Neither will you cramp your forearms. You do not have to feather or square, so all is very simple. Let’s take a few gentle strokes…..

The end of the stroke is as in a correctly adjusted boat. The handle draws to a point in the region of the lowest rib. It travels in a straight line to that point from a start about half way up the slit from which the chain emerges. Mark this point with white tape ! Many hapless users run the handle through a maze ranging from the ceiling to their legs, ending at chin, eye level or groin ! ( see the Siemens pic ) Think about the above as you gently try a few strokes.

At the end of the draw, imagine that you are in a sculling boat. You have to remove the sculls from the water, so on the ergo, handle down to just hover over the thighs. Come forward by aiming the handle in a straight line again at the white tape.

Why are you running the handle down your shins to the ankles, and thence vertically to the beginning position !!! ? Straight lines rule all !

As we are not gripping the handle, the anomalies of the beginning and finish per the straight handle do not cause problems. The hand simply swivels at the base of the middle finger to accommodate for the straight handle problem.

Elbow position at the finish causes heated discussion. No argument. Physics again to the rescue ! In a sculling boat, the finish is such that the forearms are at ninety degrees to the handle ( think again about opening a door – previous ), and the forearms are in the same plane as the line of draw. ( A plane is an imaginary surface, like a table top ). So, in the ergo, the former is impossible, but the latter, with elbows at handle height, is correct. Many very experienced athletes lower their elbows below the efficiency plane at the finish ( Again, sorry, Siemens )

Now we can ‘row’ the ergo, what can we do with it ? There will be an electronic display, whose complexity is often to the detriment of the user. Basically, it can be adjusted for distance and time; ie how long it takes to row a given distance, or how far you row in a given time. It gives ratings, ie how many strokes per minute ( ~20 – 40 ). It gives ‘splits’, how you are doing at intermediate points. And more !

I split ergo use into three categories. 1) General fitness – low level work at extended distance and time, eg 5-10 k metres 2) Medium to high intensity work aiming at a distance / time relevant to competition. Eg 2000 m for lightweight women in approx 8 min. This is where ‘interval work’ comes in. Divide your target distance and time into, say eight. For the above, this will be 250m / 1 min. Can you achieve this ? Probably. Do it, or set a lower target. Wait for your pulse to reduce to about 120 and do it again… and again… Stop when discomfort becomes distress, and an observing coach instructs you. 3) Power work – strength. This is a personal option to weights work. Set the display on ‘Watts’ ( Power ) How high a reading can you obtain in a single stroke ? 300-350 W ? Take a breath and do it again and again, only stopping when the reading reduces to 80% of your maximum. Failure to row within this range aborts the attempt. Start again ! You will probably do about 6-7 strokes. Rest to 120 pulse and repeat twice more.

Different clubs and coaches will have various and more complex versions of the above, and I place readers in their hands. The above will iron out many of the misuses practised on the ergo, and will surely not be other than approved of in the general debate.

Remember, ‘Simple is Best !’

We bumped into Rob McCarthy who paints the beautiful miniature oars for our shop.  He told us that on his long car journeys to go to regattas, he entertains himself composing limericks on rowing themes…. read on

Coach Diks

For training, our coach Dik Schnocks

Gives erg tests and sprints on the lochs

He needs to think data

To coach so much smarter

So we’ll buy him a Coxmate Cox Box

Another One Bites the Dust

A talented rower arrived from Nantucket
Missed the RPC cut and said F^%kit
These noddies are clever
I’m now out forever
To tackle that list in my bucket

Note: RPC = regional performance centre – the NZ equivalent of State Institute Rowing in Australia or the UK World Class Start programme.

Bucket List = things to do before you die!

Each month subscribers to the Rowperfect newsletter are included in a free prize draw to win one of our products.

This month the prize is a model single scull – made of mdf, it’s a press-out kit for self-assembly.  Fun to paint with your club colours or give as a thank you gift to your coach.

The winner is “O Beadle” and we’ve emailed to ask you to get in touch and let us know your address to post.

And the Winner is “O Beadle” we have emailed you.  Get in touch, please to tell us your address and claim your prize.

Get Yourself signed up and become eligible to WIN click on the “Join Us” box below, add your email address and you’ll be in for next month!

New in the Rowperfect shop, an e-book designed for every club who has been off the water during the Christmas holidays and needs to get ready for spring time rowing. 43 Things to Do before the new Rowing Season. 

Written by Mike Davenport, the expert behind the Nuts and Bolts Guide to Rigging, he shares his wisdom about the maintenance and pre-season preparation that every club should do before heading out onto the water.

Written as an easy check-list of 43 separate items (and a couple of subsidiary ones), he sets out everything you should check, service, repair, upgrade and maintain.   His list starts with boats through oars, vehicles, coach boats, spare parts, straps, shoes to insurances – this is an invaluable resource for every rowing club.

Get a Discount on all Mike Davenport’s books

We’re offering you a discount of 20% off any ebook written by Mike and offered for sale in the Rowperfect shop – valid for one week the code is 43THINGS – use it at step 2 of the checkout.   And don’t forget to take a look at his free ebook downloads as well.

Mike has authored these books

• 43 Things to Do
• Absolutely Maximise your Rigging Numbers
• Buy it Right
• Last Almost Forever
• Nuts and Bolts Guide to Rigging
• Rowing Slow: the secret to going fast

1. Make the rowers cook!

It goes like this: tickets are purchased for a “strictly dinner” event where the athletes both cook for and serve to the guests.  There will need to be culinary standards, of course.  A hoard of people would love to be served seafood chowder by an Olympic athlete, (especially when they can give their compliments to the chef in person!).

This fundraiser works equally well for under 23s – friends and parents would love to have little Tim hand pick a wine to go with the Linguine Alfredo that he so carefully created from scratch!

This is a great fundraiser to bring the rowers out of the water and into an entirely new setting (for better or worse, you be the judge).

Inspired by: Olympic Athletes competing in the kitchen

2. Bring the people to New York, and then take New York to the people

Pick a theme, such as New York, or Paris, Vegas, Delhi ……and then decorate your club room to resemble the city you choose.  Here’s how one school transformed its common room to resemble NYC

The commons on St. Joe campus will transform to look like Central Park in New York City. Twinkle lights will dangle from the ceiling to look like stars. Students will perform like New York City street performers and Occupy Wall Street will occupy the commons. The red carpet will welcome guests as the paparazzi snaps a few photos. A bar made to look like Sardi’s in New York will be the place to go for a cocktail. Ask for a cosmopolitan, it’s their signature drink.

Encourage fancy dress and funny accents – it’s easy to research the history of cities using Wikipedia which should give you some ideas of fun themes and famous venues.

3. Dinner, dancing, and free child care

We all know about the classy fundraising dinner idea: open bar, raffle, dancing and entertainment is all purchased for a $35 to $50 ticket.  But what the Orcas Island Junior Rowing Club added to its ‘Pure Pleasure Dinner‘ is an inspiration.  Their event is a night of  feasting, regaling and dancing in a historic lodge around a roaring fire.  It starts early – 5pm with live music, free appetizers, a no-host bar, and free child care available.  Parents need have no reservations about frequenting the bar and purchasing too many raffle tickets or even getting home early to relieve their baby sitters at the designated hour.  Their children are cared for, for free, just in the next room.  An excellent addition to the classic dinner and dancing fundraiser.

You could add to this further by offering a ‘chauffeur drive home’, by getting older students to drive the parents and children home after the evening in their own car so they could drink as well!  This plan requires you to have a ‘collection’ driver who then visits each home collecting the driver afterwards.

4.  A row-a-thon with a twist

It’s not exactly the Montagues and Capulets, but the Humboldt Bay Rowing Association’s junior rowing team has started a faux family feud to raise some money.

The club held a “Sunrise to Sunset” row-a-thon fundraiser that featured teams inspired by two local families that are involved in the sport: the Carlsons and the Daughertys.

Ezra Carlson, 17, said it keeps things competitive while also raising money for the team.

So go on, think about it, which families would you choose for your rowing club’s rivals?  The Redgraves versus the Pinsents….

Rowperfect writes each quarter with fund raising ideas for your rowing club.  This is the second article we’ve published.  If you want more ideas, why not get the e-book from our store Fund Raising Tips and Ideas for your Rowing Club.

Read our previous Quarterly Fundraising Idea posts and see other Rowing Club Management articles in the archive using the categories list on the right side of the page.

Here’s your weekly opportunity to enjoy tales from others who also love rowing.  This weekly round-up is for a short list of interesting, in-depth articles for you to read over the weekend.

And of course, if you have news that you think other readers would enjoy – send it to us via our contact page. Each day we tweet and retweet short rowing news links that our followers are sharing – to get these follow @rowperfect on Twitter.

This week in the rowing online news several stories caught our eye:

• GB Coxswain Rowley Douglas is giving a talk about his Sydney and London Olympic experience [he's trialling for the GB 8 coxswain seat] from January 24th, 7.30 pm at Chiswick Pier, London W4 and also doing fund raising for the NSPCC charity, aiming to raise £20,000 by trying every Olympic sport before end of 2012.
• Melodie, a novice coxswain in USA, writing about an awesome morning outing when she and the stroke were ‘at one’ and had a good thing going.
• Carl Douglas has created his first video “how to measure your boat for AeroWing riggers”.  Clear, instructional and without sound it sets out the correct boat terminology for the rigger (fore, main and top stays) – which I didn’t know.
• British Rowing runs marketing workshops for clubs to learn how to attract new members
• The art of ocean rowing – some helpful tips – take shin guards and learn to surf!
• Oxford rowing culture gets a work-out in a murder mystery book by Deborah Crombie about local cop, Becca Meredith.  though why you’d choose to train in Oxford for the Olympics is beyond me….

She raises the question “how far is too far?” How focused is too focused? Where does it turn to obsession? Many of the characters have obsessions of one kind or another. She adds to the scenario by folding in the story of a serial rapist, which also, of course, is about power and control.

Are you thinking of replacing an aging cox box and considering Coxmate?  Maybe you’re nervous that nobody else has one and you don’t want to make a mistake in your purchasing decision?

Is budget an issue and you need to make sure your money gets the best possible equipment?  Or maybe you desperately want that Coxmate SX with GPS speed measurement but need reassurance that it works for top racing crews.

Let us reassure you

Clubs across the UK already use Coxmate

Here’s our quick list of 10 clubs who have recently bought Coxmate equipment

1. GB Rowing Womens 8+ (Coxmate SX)
2. Eton College RC (Coxmate SCT)
3. Sir William Borlase School RC (Coxmate SCT)
4. Magdalene College Cambridge (wiring loom for 4)
5. Aberdeen Rowing Club (they only use Coxmate SRT+)
6. Dundee University RC (Coxmate AA)
7. Robinson College Cambridge (Coxmate SRT+)
8. Durham University (wiring loom for
9. Tyne United Boat Club (wiring looms for 8 and 4s)
10. Ross Rowing Club (Coxmate SRT+)

Why choose Coxmate?

Easy reasons to choose a Coxmate

• Great functionality and innovative design for novices up to Olympic crews
• Value pricing – go compare
• Fully compatible with NK equipment you’ve already got
• and awesome customer support, advice and repairs service
• Coxswain Resources page for coaching tips and advice

If you’d like to try a Coxmate today – just get in touch.  We’ll loan you any of our products to try for a fortnight.  Don’t like it?  Your only financial cost is to post it back to us.

If you aren’t in the UK, ask your local international distributor.

We very much regret that due to a change in the UK VAT rules, electronic or e-books are now subject to 20% sales tax.

This has taken place immediately on the Rowperfect shop.

From HMRC website – paragraph 3

The supply of text by electronic transmission (including e-books), via the internet, or similar means is also standard-rated. Such supplies are of services, not of goods, and different VAT rules will apply to them (such as those on the place of supply of services – see Notice 741A Place of supply of services.