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They feature four products that are 'essentials' and theDreher fixed length scull has been selected by the editor in his wisdom as an essentila piece of equipment for the sport.
We couldn't agree more!
Thanks to Adam Hearn from the picture desk
We get a question in quite regularly about whether it's possible to retro-fit the MKIV machine mounted monitor to an old Rowperfect rowing machine.
Here is the answer!
You first have to run two checks on your flywheel.
Take a look at it vertically from above on the flat side (where there aren't any fins). If there are large bolts in the fly wheel on the flat side you will need a new fly wheel (this is pricey).
The second check is to look vertically as before at the side of the cage adjacent to the flat side of the fly wheel. There are bolts that mount it to the main frame. If they are sticking out (proud) then it is possible to fit the MKIV rowing machine monitor but they will need to be counter-sunk in order to fit it. (Not pricey - just a bit of time and some new bolts).
To explain why ….. the MKIV has its own winding coil and magnet to generate the power (it has no batteries) and these two things mount on the fly wheel flat side and the side of the cage facing each other. If there these surfaces are not flat, we can't mount the magnet / coil.
With grateful thanks to Michael Hawkins who was the most recent person to ask this question!
Here is the information sheet specification about the MKIV rowing machine monitor.
MKIV monitor information sheet
The boys and girls who write great stuff for the UK rowing press have got together with Rachel Quarrell of New Rowing Information fame to create a new rowing newspaper - Rowing Voice.
The opportunity to write for a non-ARA funded vehicle and to take
non-party-line stances on matters has been long bemoaned by veteran
rowing observers. This could be your chance.
Issue 1 is available for pdf download. It is 7mb.
What do you think?
The Rowperfect Seminar will be on the Friday night before the Eights Head - 30th March, 2007
And if you email me , I'll send you a sneak preview of the first three slides (not counting the title slide - that would be cheating… a bit like getting marks for writing your name on the top of an exam paper!)
Rowers World is a great US discussion board for our sport. A thread was started on the theme "Should I raise my heels at the catch" . And as it meandered along… as these things do…. this interesting comment was made by 'old timer' who describes himself as an engineer.
Well yes, the glutes may be the strongest muscle group but that is only
a small component of the point in question. Take a look at http://www.rowperfect.co.uk/news/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/Rowperfect%20Cas%20Rekers%20paper%201993.pdf to see force vs time graphs for the rowing stroke. NoteFirstly, the maximum force is in the region of 1000N, which is in the
region of the same as the weight of the rower. This is not a BIG force,
and considerations of which muscle groups are strongest are not
necessarily of primary importance.
Secondly, Newton tells us that the impulse, the area under the
chart is proportional to the change in momentum, i.e. we can increase the
change in momentum not only by making the peak higher, but also by
broadening the peak of the force time graph. Thus any work done is good
work, it does not have to be performed at peak force to count. - like
Swiss says, it's a concerto of all the muscle groups.
Thirdly, peak force does not occur at the beginning of the stroke, thus
using the strongest muscle group to initiate the stroke may not be good
'conducting' of that 'concerto'.
Having agreed wtih his comments, I would add that in coaching I find it very hard to teach athletes how to activate their glutes.
Any suggestions?
We have news from Australia that the new Rowperfect has 5 pre-production models in preparation for exhaustive testing.
This is the final step before a full manufacturing run.
Watch this space…
The Cambridge Vetera Women tried out some new Dreher Apex sweeps for the Womens Eights Head last Saturday.
Here's what they said….
Susanna (4) "I normally scull and so sweep oar blades always seem too big to me this first time I pick them up. But these were fine and they felt comfortable, familiar yet powerful right away. And although my first encounter with them was at WeHORR, I did not come away with new blisters on my hands."
Maria (Bow) I thought they were superb, very well balanced and positive all the way through the water. I felt I got hold of the water quickly and held on to it all the way through to the finish - a lovely feeling! My only reservation is the handles, particularly the lack of grip for the outside hand. A few times during the race I was aware that my outside hand was starting to slide down the handle slightly - easy enough to move back to the right position but it's one extra thing to have to think about.
Otherwise, the handles are comfortable - and I had no new blisters, which is almost unheard of after racing with new blades, so I'm not complaining too much.
What a brilliant idea. As you row on your ergo, why not watch the world go by….. in real time?
There are some wonderful crazy rowing guys and girls around the world.
Fancy sculling the Zambezi, rowing Rodeo Drive, causing havoc in
China? it's all possible thanks to a fun little plug-in and some help
from Google Earth !
Here's how to do it ….
Here's what the Google Earth Blog said.
Why not hook up your rowing machine and practice rowing your
favorite river from the comfort of your exercise room? That's what these guys did. They wrote an application to interface between a Concept II PM3 using a USB cable and Google Earth so you can then row yourself down the river.This is a great concept, but could use some more innovation to make
it more practical. Right now it apparently just shows a view of the
river as you row yourself along. You could show a boat icon with your
position, show your track, put up your current speed and distance to
finish, etc. In fact, you could use the new time features in GE 4 to
show animations of your previous runs. This tool enables you to do
familiarization with a new river before you even get there in person
(the same way I use GE or a flight simulator for familiarization before
I fly to a new airport). Of course, you could also do fun things like
row the Grand Canyon, go down 5th avenue in NYC, or do the Pacific
Ocean!via OgleEarth.
Would someone out there write a version for Rowperfect? Justus is the king of the software and would happily collaborate with you, I'm sure.
his site is www.row-ware.com
Cheers!
Rebecca Caroe
I love the photos taken by arch photography duo, Eliot George . They take images that are unusual, clearly lit and create interest even when the shot is 'traditional'.
Here is a photo they took of the Cambridge veteran ladies racing this weekend at the Womens Eights Head of the River RaceThe crew was using Carbon Adjustable Apex sweeps with medium handles and half grip-wrap inboard. These are a demo set and are available for any club to borrow and try out.
The Crew are going to send us some views on what they thought of the blades.
Dover Rowing Club has just won funding for their junior programme from Kent County Council and chosen Dreher sculls for their purchase.
Chris Price from DRC has been using Dreher Apex carbon adjustable sculls since October 2006 and has been instrumental in getting the decision approved. He said
"since I got the sculls I ahve been lending them out to people at the club. In fact, they were lent before I even got to use them myself for the first time. Everyone loves them. They are really easy to use and seem to make you scull better. I used them at the Medway Head and came third - so I was pleased!"
Rowperfect (UK) Ltd, Sales: Rebecca Caroe +44 (0) 7970 734 330, Service: Grant Craies +44 (0) 7970 266 180
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