This is the shell I repaired last summer; see the year-ago link below. Today wasn't as pretty a day as yesterday, but flat water is a sculler's delight regardless of the color of the sky! If you're curious, this shell is about 26' long and as you see it here it weighs about 30 pounds.
Retired economics professor (“dismal scientist”). Married 40+ years to the love of my life; we have two grown daughters, both married, two granddaughters and a...
Your scull looks so slim and almost fragile. How do you actually steer?, Is there a mechanism you use with your feet. We haven't used our kayaks for a long time, but I remember there was quite a paddle technique that I would find frustrating. Now, I think there are kayaks with onboard foot steering.
@joannakate Modern kayaks have movable rudders; "single" rowing shells do not. One steers by applying differential pressure with the legs. If you want to push the boat to the right, you push off harder with the right leg. Remember scullers are facing backwards in the boat!
@joannakate Fragile? Yes and no. Ramming into a sharp object like a tree stump or rock will certainly have a Titanic-like result. But the speed comes from the hull being fairly rigid and stiff. If you watch collegiate or Olympic eights, there are 8 strong people applying a whole lot of force at once, so the frame must be rigid. In the case of this shell, it has a fiberglass hull and a Kevlar lining inside the fiberglass!
@rhoing I like the idea of these, all-over exercise, speed, but do you always need flat water and what about looking behind you for direction, would you lose your momentum/ balance. I guess you would become more adept after some time. This sort of silent "boating" has great appeal for me, thanks Thom
@joannakate Flat water is great and even if it's breezy, one can usually find protected bays and inlets where the water is calmer. (Totally the story of today's row.) Learning to row in "chop" is a good skill to have, though. I have been caught in pop-up storms 2 or 3 times and there may be a bit of anxiety, but everything floats! The boat and oars are quite buoyant and when I row this "tender" craft, everything *in* the boat either floats by itself or is tied-or-clipped to some part of the boat! (Keys and cell phone are in water-tight containers.)
Facing backwards encourages awareness of other craft and the shoreline, but yes, in open water you do lose some speed and momentum when you do so. In some competitions, crews row in lanes. Of course, if they have a coxswain, then the coxswain is responsible for traffic- and shore-awareness and steering! It's a fascinating sport!! I will include some more posts with sculling "details"!
![Sigh. [Travel-day]](https://media.365project.org/1/9428160_bfilmqru48_sq.jpg "Sigh. [Travel-day]")
![The Tinkerer [SOOC]](https://media.365project.org/1/9428628_ceghprwx59_sq.jpg "The Tinkerer [SOOC]")
![ER selfie [Travel day]](https://media.365project.org/1/9429058_cfhjkrwx05_sq.jpg "ER selfie [Travel day]")
Facing backwards encourages awareness of other craft and the shoreline, but yes, in open water you do lose some speed and momentum when you do so. In some competitions, crews row in lanes. Of course, if they have a coxswain, then the coxswain is responsible for traffic- and shore-awareness and steering! It's a fascinating sport!! I will include some more posts with sculling "details"!