This week, the team at Rowperfect had a chance to catch up with the founder and director of Space Saver Rowing Systems (SSRS), Douglas Lumsden. He shared with us what has been happening recently with SSRS, as well as reflecting back on where the company has come from and what the future holds for rowing boat racking and oar storage products.

An interview with Douglas Lumsden from SSRS

Douglas, for those who have just discovered SSRS, what does the company do?

SSRS provides off the shelf rowing storage equipment and consultancy services to get the best use from your rowing shed boathouse space. We are based in Canberra, Australia, but are well established in the USA, Australia and the UK. Geography has not yet been an obstacle!

What led to you founding SSRS?

I like helping people and decided to develop some rowing storage racks for my own rowing club in Canberra, the smiles that people gave me for the final result convinced me that others would enjoy the product as well: who would have thought I’d end up selling my products all around the world!

Can you remember your first project?

The first sale which got us started was to The Kings School in Sydney. It was for the Hanging Oar Brackets. They are definitely still our most popular products. You’ll be pleased to know that those same oar brackets are still working well 12 years later!

What is the largest project you have undertaken?

There have been a few. Mosman Rowing Club in Sydney was a great job, providing the storage solutions for their brand new state-of-the-art Boathouse. The most recent large scale project would be University of Technology Sydney’s new Haberfield rowing shed. To meet the demands of this great club, 10 bays of boat racks (for anything from an 8+ to a single scull) and a series of oar hanging racks (11 sculling, 1 sweep) were needed!

 What exciting projects are coming up?

There is a number of Dragon Boat Mechanical Hoist Stackers to be installed for the City of Melbourne’s new community centre in the Docklands area, along with a new Rowing shed in Hong Kong. I’m very excited to be moving into new territories and expanding the global profile of SSRS. New projects in the United States have also got some exciting prospects too.

Why should clubs choose SSRS?

Innovation, experience and a passion to provide the right answer. We go to great lengths (literally!) to ensure our customers are completely satisfied with our products, including travelling all around the world to oversee the installation and operation of our more complex products.

What is in store for SSRS in the future? Any exciting new ideas?

As I mentioned earlier, we have some exciting projects getting under way in the USA, so a key focus for now is in building SSRS’s presence there. Aside from that, I never stop pondering new ideas; I just have to decide what ideas might be worth pursuing! We are working on something exciting on the education front – but you’ll have to wait and see for that one!

If you need storage solutions for YOUR Rowing Club or Boathouse, check out our store or contact SSRS now!