News

Archive for March, 2009

The Livingstone brothers’ book now for sale

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

The 2003 University Boat Race was historic because it contained two brothers, one racing for Oxford; one for Cambridge.  James and David Livingstone wrote a book about the experience and it's available for sale in the Rowperfect shop £17.99. 

We have a review copy available for a reader who is prepared to write a review for our web shop page. Please contact us by email with your mailing address if you are interested.

And the Press blurb has some nice quotes from both brothers. Blood over water PR

Livingstone book cover 2

Great8 Trivia Quiz - the Answers and the Winners

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Thanks to everyone who entered the Great8 Trivia Quiz… apart from a shockingly knowledgable man called "Monkey TSS" from Tideway Scullers, the best results had 7 correct answers. 

The tie break question did get used and Chris Dodsworth of Nottingham University Boat Club guessed a time of 17:30 which was closer to the crew's actual time of 17:25.21 than the runner up, Rory Copus of Abingdon School Boat Club.  Rory wins a Cadence stroke rate watch and Chris wins the Coxmate HC.  Congratulations to both of you!

The correct answers to the questions were 

After who / what was Alexander Mahe Owens Drysdale named?
Mahe the island in the Seychelles

Tim Maeyens' single he used in Athens 2004 was called “Plons”
Why did he choose this name?

It reminds him of his first row in the boat.
The boat I raced with in Athens was called “Plons” (The sound of something falling in the water). This is the story:
 
In March 2004 I got a brand new Empacher single scull. I went for my first training on a Canal in Brugge, my hometown. I was doing a long session and I enjoyed it a lot. It was very cold but sunny and no wind so I was really focused on my technique. The last 300 m of the session hit a working pontoon on the canal. The top of the boat cracked  and I fell (The sound of me falling in the water). It was really cold but luckily there was a pair on the water that helped me. After the boat was repaired, I baptised it Plons.  And I had good races in it in Athens and in 2005.

Which two of these statements about Olaf Tufte are correct? [give two answers]
He trained with the Royal Ballet to help his technique
He chops wood by hand instead of a chain saw because it's quicker

What was Alan Campbell's first racing single called?
Sunnymount

Which members of the crew have spent time in the army?
Iztok Čop
Ondřej Synek
Olaf Tufte
Alan Campbell


Which two sports did Marcel Hacker do before he started rowing?

Judo
Swimming

What is Ali Williams' favourite bit of kit?
JL leggings from Imperial College

Prices change from time to time

Monday, March 16th, 2009

The international exchange rate of the US dollar and the Pound, and the Euro have changed a lot since the end of 2008.  The British pound has suffered and buys 'less' from both America and Europe.  By comparison, the Australian dollar has stayed broadly comparable in exchange rates.

Rowperfect UK buys Coxmates from Australia.  And so the prices have not changed.  Take a look at how we compared in 2008 .  and then look at the table below showing 2009 price comparisons.

Coxmate and NK features & prices compared 2009

Dreher oars and sculls do come from US.  In order to maintain our competitiveness, we have introduced the new "Club" sculls which are adjustable and come with Big Blade or Little Big Blade spoons as a high quality and competitively priced product for UK and Irish clubs.  The carbon adjustable sculls remain good value compared to the competitors equivalent products.  

But don't take our word for it - try some for yourself.

Oar and scull comparisons 2009

 

HC advert coming up in Regatta mag

Monday, March 9th, 2009

We have placed an advert for the coxmate HC coxless boat speed / time / rating measurement system in the April UK Rowing and Regatta magazine.

Here's a preview

 Coxmate HC advert

I hope we get loads of calls from people asking what "master and slave" configurations are…. Laughing

But seriously, have a look at the features comparison between HC and the Neilson Kellerman comparable products the Speedcoach Gold and the XL2.  We hope you'll agree that the battery life, backlight time, data storage volume and price stack up to a strong offer from Coxmate.  Let us know if you want to try one out.

 

Coxmate HC and NK products compared

Compare great male athletes’ force curves

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Just found this whie trawling the database for something completely different.

Stroke Data athletes compared

Vaclav Chalupa

Henk Jan Zwolle

Greg Searle

Frans Goebel

Niels van der Zwan

Note Meliesie is a Lwt woman and daughter of Rekers is Casper Rekers the inventor of RP; a veteran man.

Getting started on Rowperfect for coaches

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

We recently got contacted by a University rowing club with an enquiry about how a Coach can get started using Rowperfect.

I have recently been hired as the head coach for a University; this
program has 4 rowperfects and I have never used them before.  I'm not
sure how old they are and if they are "set up correctly".  I was not
able to find a user's guide or set up guide on your website so thought
you might be able to forward on any helpful information.

Here's our reply:

We are sure you will find the Rowperfect a great asset to your program. There is a full RP manual for owners [email us for your copy].  This should be a really helpful starting point.

Also read this page About Rowperfect And this page about under/overtraining.  There are a lot of links off the first page - read them all. 

There's a lot about how to use your Rowperfects to improve the power alignment of your athletes and their technique.

Further Rowperfect FAQs

I also suggest you find out whether you have the interface and computer software for the Rowperfect.  The old software was written in DOS and there is a new version written for Windows (RPW).  Here is information about the RPW software

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