We know from riding a bicycle that things go better if you are in the right gear. The same is true for rowing. The length of the oar, along with other variables like spread (distance from the centerline of the boat to the oarlock), blade size, blade type, inboard (distance from the handle end to the collar), catch angle, and so on, determines the gearing of the boat.

A long oar will give you a higher gear (heavier load) than a shorter oar. But this is really true only if the other parameters such as spread and inboard are the same, and the extra length of oar is outboard of the oarlock. Oar length is not the only way to change the gear. Moving the collar toward the blade will shorten the outboard lever and lengthen the inboard lever which will change your leverage and lower your gearing. Also, widening the spread will give you a lower gearing without changing the oar length.

We have seen that blade type affects selection of oar length. A Big Blade '87 required that the oar be 10 cm shorter than a comparable oar with a Macon Blade.

If you are currently familiar with the loading of the Big Blade from the '87 mold (the original Big Blade), then we recommend the SMOOTHIE oar be ordered slightly shorter to achieve a similar load with your rigging. Our recommendation is that sculls be 1 cm shorter.

For the "Fat" SMOOTHIE Blade, our testing has shown good results with lengths 5 cm to 6 cm shorter than with the standard SMOOTHIE.

General Guidelines

Although one can make do with any reasonable length oar, it will be easier to get a comfortable rig if you follow a few general guidelines:

• The slower the boat you are rowing, the shorter your oars should be.
• The narrower the spread of your oarlocks, the shorter your oars should be.
• The longer your reach, or more specifically, the greater the angle of your oar at the catch, the shorter your oar should be.
• For sculls, rowing with less overlap of your handles, the shorter your oars should be.

Standard Length Options

Adjustable Sculls