First time in single

[G-dub]

I need a circular course that goes clockwise! No matter what I did I had a hard time keeping it straight. My portside puddles are far superior to starboard. And I’m probably deep on starboard. Fun though. Makes it easier to work on your own issues nice and slowly.

[Edward4492]

Did they put you right into a racing shell or something a little less aggressive? It took me a long time to learn to row a straight line, eventually it just seemed to sort itself out. If you spend a lot of time in a single the quad and double will feel super-stable when you jump back in. Do you have any other events planned? I'm done with OTW comps for the year.

[G-dub]

I put myself in a tub - stability was no problem. No one to row with this afternoon and it was a beautiful calm day. I can tell that spending more time in it will help my sculling big time and plan on sneaking out in it or more challenging boats all winter. I have one last race experience next weekend. Another mixed quad and mixed 8 with my group. I am really glad to have ventured onto the water. It has challenged me more than I would have expected both technically and personally from the standpoint of being able to interact with boatmates appropriately through the ups and downs. Ed - are you ready to take the big dip back into the lonely work needed to meet your erging expectations?! I am going to ask myself that question November 15th.

[Edward4492]

Funny you should mention the erg. Going to start hitting it hard next week. Up here the boat house goes to winter hours (8:00 to 4:00) on 11/19. We also will have a "four oar" rule soon as the water gets dangerously cold. So, weekends only; the odd quad or double until the chill sets in. I run the winter erg program for our club (surprise, surprise). We run 10-12 weeks from Jan through Mar. There's a small group of us doing a transitional erg for the next 6-8 weeks, of course I'll be going hard core to get ready for the comps. I did a 2k, fairly conservative, at 7:27 two week ago. Felt surprisingly good. Looking to get back down around 7:12; see how it goes. I've developed something of a reputation around here for pulling decent ergs; I have to train to keep the legend (myth?) alive! The team saw how much fitter they were after last years erg training and seem excited to do it again. But I must admit, the water has pushed the erg to the back burner. You know exactly what I mean.

[jamesg]

I had a hard time keeping it straight

Not necessarily your fault, skeg and rigging can be way off.

[G-dub]

James - I've noticed it when rowing in a double too, when I'm the only one rowing. I'm sure it's me! What's challenging about it is I really don't feel like I'm pulling with my port side hand that much. But the water bubble in front of the port oar always has more volume than the starboard one. I wonder if slips when I am crossing over on the drive. Oh well, one more thing to add to the list.

Ed, the lake our club rows on is made of heated process water from a power plant. I think someone said it's like 90-100 degrees! Only issue is the end of daylight savings time. So it will be weekends for a bit and the odd day I sneak away from work early, which now that I think about it....

[jackarabit]

My thought is dominant hand and arm simply develop better fine motor skills. Are you right dominant, Glenn? I am and I also tend to gravitate to stbd. Also the majority row left over right overlap and that's a bit of of a challenge to the off hand that sweeping doesn't present. So the right is squaring, dropping in and pulling like old Topsy while the left misses water at the catch, or digs in and crabs, hesitantly "times" the wrist overlap, and may even feather early to yield right of way to the privileged hand.

My instructor taught holding course by keeping eyes on objects on and near the backsite, say two trees. If the apparent separation between the objects either opens or closes, that's the tell that you're moving off course. Easier said than done. The sad fact is that nothing short of a dead calm and no current will allow you to pull with equal force both sides every stroke and maintain course. Steering that defeats windage and drift and is accomplished without a rudder demands a central governor which acts as a differential for the two stirsticks.

[G-dub]

Not too many things I do with the left hand Jack. I find when I deliberately roll up with the left, almost before the right (which probably puts it at the same time) I can get a better catch. What's tricky is giving the left more oomph, as that causes it to accelerate in front of the right, which doesn't work with a nested style. I agree with you, I think I am not as dextrous with the hand that needs a bit more when sculling. Rowing port sweep may also be orienting my mind / body toward a side too. What a devilish activity sculling is.

[bisqeet]

Different clubs rig in different ways.
Took a single out as a loaner. The sculls didn't fully feather back due to the collar position and the port dolly was about 10cm higher. ..

[jackarabit]

Never heard of rigging 4' higher on stbd rigger and lock. That's not just a spacer washer adjustment! Or does "dolly" reference the collar and the port oar has less inbd than stbd. If the port lock is rigged higher, that should indicate an oddball rigging for right over left, should it not?

There is no worse pitching difficulty than Macon blades switched sde to side.