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The SR Coxmate Cox box - rate / time / backlight.
Fits all NK wiring looms.
Two units for sale.
One is ex-demonstration and has been used about 10 times. One is brand new.
£200 for ex demo unit and £230 for new unit.
Normal 2 year warranty applies.
The brochure detailing specification is below.
SR brochure Download
I found this interview with Martin McElroy taken just after the GB 8 that he coached with Harry Mahon won gold at Sydney.
This is an extract in which he discusses testing equipment.
As an engineer by training I never take the status quo for granted. In the past crews mainly used empacher boats and concept oars. Was this because they were the best or because everybody was scared to do anything different? I didn't know the answer to that question or even if it was the right question. What I did know was that I'd like to test the hypothesis. It also concerned me that athletes got so hung up about equipment. Very few, if any, crews are constrained by their equipment. The differences due to equipment are so small compared to the impact of how a crew rows or how fit they are. Of course if there's any potential for advantage from equipment then I'd rather have it than not…
So, in the right context I set out to see what I could find with regards to equipment. Boats tend to be evolutions of something earlier. Things get lost in the mists of time. Why is it a particular shape? Just because something else was or because some serious research has been done. If research has been done, then what tools and methodologies were used. Are they correct and up to date? When you start to ask these questions there aren't many who can answer through progressive levels of questions. With regard to boats, Vespoli can answer quite a few questions. Carl Scragg, the naval architect has taken a good look at boats. Overall, I'd be more inclined to go with this than with data that originated in the former GDR. Things have changed a lot since then. Much more powerful computational tools are available…
I've done practical testing before and found the results questionable. Quite often the faster boat is the more uncomfortable. But does there come a point where being uncomfortable inhibits the athlete? As it happens the Vespoli is very comfortable but then most heavyweight boats are. With regard to oars, we used concept smoothies in '97 and then Croker slicks after that. Although I like the idea of adjustable handles, I found the early concept version required a lot of maintenance. I spent two days at the world championships in '97 changing inserts and grips. I didn't think that was the most productive use of my time. The more we used the Crokers the more we liked them. They sat very positively in the water right from the entry. I'm not fixed in my views about oars. Athletes adapt to oar types just as they do to rigging within reason…
A winning athlete doesn't leave anything to chance…. test, select and keep an open mind.
There is an extremely good discussion on RSR about the natural buoyancy of oars and sculls and how deep they should be in the water during the power phase.
Paul Smith kicks off with
I've been having to fight my rowers on this the whole season, as they have been well ingrained in the "floating level", "30cm of shaft", etc… mantras that they have heard, and exaggerated dutifully to create great washy puddles that send a lot of water backward while not advancing the boat much.
Carl Douglas' view is that there are some limitations that are just for beginners
And that was exactly the point I'd hoped to make, Caroline. Novices need limits which more experienced folk should dispense with.
Kit makes a good point about why going deep may affect novices
1. Going deeper than the naturally buoyant level of the blade requires the rower to hold the blade deep during the stroke, adding the lifting effort from the shoulders to all the pulling effort they are already exerting. For fit athletes this may not be an issue (though even then it may), but for the inexperienced, I believe they will relax more then purely focusing their physical efforts on drawing the blade. In this case, ideally the naturally buoyant level of the blade should be deep enough (as already discussed).
2. If the draw of the blade includes a vertical component during the drive (as opposed to just at the catch and finish), I believe this will add to the vertical forces on the gates affecting balance. During the drive this may not have a great effect, but it will be very difficult for novices to keep these forces balanced between both sides of the boat towards the finish, where imbalance has worse consequences for the recovery. Again, an experienced crew may be able to feel the forces an adjust for any imbalance (though even then they may not).
I think my preference is for as little effort as possible for holding the blade at the correct height, and that blades should preferably float to the required depth when square. I'm sure it would be possible to attach small weights to the looms to achieve this.
And Paul Smith makes the observation about the dfference between Dreher and C2 oars and sculls. [I have obswerved this myself many times but few others seem to have noticed].
I've not seen a Dreher Sweep oar, the "floating level" might be about right for their Sculls, but it is far deeper than any C2 blade will float. I suspect that the Dreher blades, if not attached to a shaft would actually sink (even when feathered there is no part of the blade above the surface if they are left to their own buoyancy), whereas the C2's float very well.
Which brings us back to Kit's observation - that any effort spent holding an oar into the water at the 'correct' depth, is effort that could be translated into power to move the boat. And so in my view, an oar or scull that sits at the correct depth naturally and doesn't require effort to hold it covered with water during the power phase, is an asset to the crew who can expend their power on other things (like working harder) instead.
[We have asked Jim Dreher to comment on this].
James Chapman of Maidstone Invicta RC , just wrote to us with this "classic" anecdote from the Tideway Head of the River Race
Thanks for getting us the replacement MK1 gate in time for the HORR although the Post Office tried to impound it! The gates are still working well.
During HORR, we clashed with Keble just after Hammersmith Bridge causing my blade to bury deep, gate popped open saving blade, boat, rigger and me from any damage enabling me to put the oar back in quickly and continue the race… with a conventional gate I would probably had a broken rib or a swim, the rigger would have been broken and the crew would have limped home! So although a shock at the time, a good result in the end!
Just have to remember our coaches mantra of a firm outside hand!
Here are some photos I took of Olivia Cook of Thames RC who won a Coxmate SCT in the Coxing Competition earlier in the month. We installed the new Coxmate ito the Womens First 8…. how long before the men decide they want one too?!
Olivia has kindly agreed to write a review of the Coxmate later on.
While fitting it we put in adhesive tie mounts because Olivia wanted the GPS fitted permanently to the stern canvas.
We had a question from Charlie Fisher who has just bought some second hand Apex R Sculls
I realise that this is a bit outside your remit but I have just bought a 2nd hand set of Apex-R sculls and was wondering if you had any guidance available for their set up. I am currently using CII smoothies and was wondering whether the inboard, outboard, overall length and span should be changed from the stock CII setting to take best advantage of the Dreher\'s characteristics.
Many thanks. Charlie Fisher
This is exactly why we have customer support to help people like you. We are always delighted to help out in this way.
Can you write a reply saying what your current boat span is, your height, weight and age
Then we'll be able to give you the best possible advice.
Grant Craies
Background - here is a photo of the Apex R scull [taken next to a cloud!]. More information in the Dreher brochure Demo sculls are available if you want to try them for yourself.
Dreher Apex R Scull Spoon
We are running a competition open to anyone resident in the UK to win a Coxmate SCT with GPS.
"Look after your Cox" will run until Sunday March 9th, 2008.
All you have to do is tell us the BEST and WORST things a coxswain has ever said to you and your crew or, if you are a cox, the BEST and WORST things you've said to a crew.
The 'Look after your Cox' Competition is open to everyone with an interest in Rowing, whether Coxes, Rowers, or Coaches. All we want to know is the best and worst thing a Cox has ever been heard to say. Inspiring or de-motivating comments, funny anecdotes or bad tempered rants would be great!
Enter the Rowperfect Prize Draw and you could win a Coxmate SCT Cox Box kit with a GPS sensor worth £600.
The top 3 entries with the most votes will win.
First prize: Coxmate SCT with GPS
Second prize: Rock The Boat coxswain hoodie (in your choice of size and colour)
Third prize: The Down and Dirty Guide to Coxing by George Kirschbaum
Click here to go to the competition page
We have just received these photos of the new Rowperfect Indoor Sculler Cage. Named the Lamiflow Cage, it has symmetrical intake and variably restricted outlet for air resistance.
From the photos you can see the lever that draws around the circumfrence to change the resistance, the six numerical settings for resistance levels and the lower positioning on the main frame.
The first units are now being produced and a full production run has been commissioned which should reach us in 6-8 weeks. Pricing to follow.
Enjoy, it's been worth the wait!
Received this morning from Mark Campbell
Current Situation
We have finally taken delivery of the first complete main frame, and the first cage will be fitted next week as soon as the back cover template is finished. This should have been completed before Christmas, but thanks to the petty actions of a clerk at a transport depot, the parcel sent on 18 December was held up until I drove over an hour to pick it up on Tuesday.There is some good news however – the appearance is excellent, with final artwork and the plastic & perforated metal cage added it will look very neat. The side rollers function beautifully, indistinguishable from the original and in fact it probably slides on the bar more smoothly with the flywheel positioned lower. So despite the setbacks we have made good progress and I hope to have some photographs to send out in about ten days.
Had a fantastic conference call last night with Jim Dreher and Coleen Fuerst of Durham Boat. Discussing the importance of Aspect Ratio in oar spoon design.
They have measured each of the 7 spoon shapes they make and are using this to plot the progression an athlete can take through the various designs as they mature physically and in rowing/sculling skill. Aspect Ratio contributes significantly to hydrodynamic lift.
I really like this - Jim's idea that you can draw a plot-line for an athlete taking them from a novice to extremely skilled and how their strength and skills adapt and change.
Jim is particularly interested in teaching his athletes how to take very quick catches from their first sculling and rowing lessons. He has been measuring the guys he was coaching last summer (USA 4x and pan-American Games 4x and 2x) and looking at the angle of the oar at full reach compared to the angle when the spoon is in the water and engaged/loaded. He found that for the top men, they "lose" about 1 - 2 degrees on the catch angle. Compared to some other athletes coached in the national team program who were losing over 5 degrees.
Note:this is the physical movement of the oar/scull shaft PLUS the slip in the water from the point of insertion of the spoon to when it engages with the water and the athlete starts to accelerate the boat.
He found that his athletes could cope well with shorter shafts and the Apex Round and Apex REX spoon shapes whereas the others just went loads slower using these.
Jim's thesis is that coaches need to consider BOTH technique and equipment and how they coach both how to use the equipment and the technical adaptations needed. In this weay they can adapt an athlete into a crew so that the crew can optimise their efforts.
And that resonates for me.
Rowperfect (UK) Ltd, Sales: Rebecca Caroe +44 (0) 7970 734 330, Service: Grant Craies +44 (0) 7970 266 180
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