Oars - how long?

[snowleopard]

I bought a pair of oars many years ago. They have had very little use up to now but I plan to use them a lot from now on. Having started in single sculls with blades 10 ft long and eights with 11.5 ft I thought I'd go for long ones so got 9 footers. In practice I find them a bit cumbersome.

What does the team think is an ideal length for a rigid dinghy?

 

[savageseadog]

Words of wisdom....................

It's much easier to shorten them than make them longer.

 

[Kelpie]

Measure the distance between the rowlocks. Each oar should be 1.5 times this dimension.

 

[Twister_Ken]

I had a choice of 6 foot or 5 foot oars. Bought six foot, then found I kept trapping a thumb between them when rowing the dinghy. Shortened them slightly, but I'd have been better off with the 5 footers in the first place. Critical measure is from the collar on the oar to the end of the handle. This wants to be half the beam of the boat at the rowlocks, less about three inches. Most dinghies are rowed with short stabbing strokes rather than long sweeping ones, so short oars are no handicap.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

How long's the dinghy? The oars should stow inside. Which admittedly has nothing to do with ease of use.

 

[VicS]

The standard oars for a Mirror Dinghy are 6ft
The oars for my 8ft tender are 5ft 6in

You are not likely to want less than 5'6".

I bought 2 part oars for the tender so that I could stow them easily on board.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

This company quotes a formula !

http://www.shawandtenney.com/wooden-rowing-oars.htm

 

[Ubergeekian]

What does the team think is an ideal length for a rigid dinghy?

The Jouster (no reasonable offer refused) has a 7'6" GRP stem dinghy and 6' oars, which are really too small. Jumblie has a 7'6" GRP pram dinghy and 7' oars which are just about right - though the handles overlap. I'm used to it, but other people find it awkward so I'll probably slip the collars in by 6" or so this year. My Hunter 490 has rowlocks and no engine. This year I borrowed the 6' oars for her and they were ludicrously short - mainly because the rowlocks are 18" above water level rather than 8" on the dinghies. I'm planning to go to at least 8' this year, and 9' if I can find 'em.

Sorry, bit rambling. Buy the longest oars you can stow in the dinghy.

 

[snowleopard]

I had a choice of 6 foot or 5 foot oars. Bought six foot, then found I kept trapping a thumb between them when rowing the dinghy. Shortened them slightly, but I'd have been better off with the 5 footers in the first place. Critical measure is from the collar on the oar to the end of the handle. This wants to be half the beam of the boat at the rowlocks, less about three inches. Most dinghies are rowed with short stabbing strokes rather than long sweeping ones, so short oars are no handicap.

When sculling it is normal to have the handles overlapping by around 5" and the outriggers are adjusted so the boat is level when one handle is above the other. The button (collar) is plastic and held in place by a couple of tacks so it can be moved either to give an overlap or a gap big enough to avoid trapping thumbs.

The short windmilling motion is fine for a rubber duck, indeed with 5 ft aluminium oars that's about all one can manage. I was hoping to achieve something like the longer straight stroke used when racing.

Incidentally we were supplied with a couple of pairs of oars with our Drascombe and they have only a leather sleeve so there is no way to position them in the crutches. Anyone had that problem?

 

[snowleopard]

This company quotes a formula !

http://www.shawandtenney.com/wooden-rowing-oars.htm

Interesting site. It suggests for my dinghy with 4'7" beam a length of 8'9" with a 4" overlap between the handles.

I'll try moving the buttons to give an overlap before I take a saw to them.

 

[Twister_Ken]

I was hoping to achieve something like the longer straight stroke used when racing.

So was I. Then I realised someone had done away with the sliding seat!

 

[Woodlouse]

I'd go for as long as you can stow in the dinghy. At least 7 foot I'd say, nothing worse that short stubby oars. For one thing your stroke is cut short and secondly the shorter the oar the higher you have to lift the onboard ends to get the blades in the water. I thought I had a newsletter from Collars that had a formula for working out oar length, but I can't find it at the moment.

You don't need buttons to tell you where the oar rests in the crutches. Thats for beginners. Just leather a good 9 inches of the oar about where it sits and that gives you room to get comfortable.

 

[snowleopard]

You don't need buttons to tell you where the oar rests in the crutches. Thats for beginners. Just leather a good 9 inches of the oar about where it sits and that gives you room to get comfortable.

Well every racing blade I ever used had buttons so I'm in good company. What you don't seem to be able to get in dinghy oars is the square gate and triangular loom that make feathering and squaring so easy in a racing boat.