Development of an innovative single scull for the recreational rower

Rowing is a sport which requires a proper technique, strong core balance, physical strength and endurance. Rowing boats designed for competition are built of epoxy laminate with glass or carbon reinforcement; they are lightweight, stiff, long, and narrow to achieve minimal water resistance. However, this makes them extremely unstable and difficult to handle for less experienced rowers. Current boats designed for recreational users are generally made of polyethylene; they are more stable, heavier, but are difficult to handle individually and generally do not provide the same ‘rowing experience’ that users desire. To bridge this gap an innovative recreational single scull rowing boat has been designed and built as prototype. Focus for the design was the hydrodynamics of the hull, use of light weight materials and incorporation of subsystems for better performance. A design for a better stability mainly depends on a combination of the width of the hull, the shape of the cut section of the hull and the displacement of the mass. An important aspect of the change in stability is the resistance of the boat; all changes to the existing shape of the fast competition hull are likely to result an increase in resistance. Therefore a number of existing and new hull shapes were modelled and hydrodynamic properties were analysed in order to achieve a design with optimal balance in speed and stability. With the programme DELFTship TM the frictional resistances of the hull models were calculated at different speeds.To increase the stiffness and to save weight attention was paid to the choice of materials and construction method, taking into account the requirement of affordability for private ownership. With the implementation of sliding riggers an increase in speed can be attained due to the increased power. Also stability is increased due to elimination of pitching from weight transfer in the boat. The new boat design incorporates the sliding rigger system; this had a huge effect on the other subsystems of the boat and on the design (mainly the length) of the hull.This paper reports the development from a perspective of ‘embodiment design’ to achieve the required performance. Analyses of hydrodynamics, materials and production technique and section of subsystems finally resulted in the design of rowing boat with a completely new hull shape, matching the requirements of stability and speed. A first prototype of the innovative single scull rowing boat for the recreational user was built. User tests have shown that this boat provides the stability of current recreational boats, with the addition of a good ‘rowing experience,’ and faster feeling of competition boats.