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college crews to use new shell
Rowing shell developed by U. W. professor Sleek and long, the rowing shell looks so flimsy and non-utilitarian you would think it could not even carry Twenty pounds. The reality is that it is capable of carrying someone who weighs Ten times that. It also packs 2 innovations into its needle-like form.
This "heavy weight" rowing shell is the brain-wave of architecture Prof. Mike Elmitt and is just Ten inches wide, Twenty-six feet long and Thirty-two pounds in weight. The addition of a wing rigger adds another 4 pounds. Elmitt, who refers to the boat as "essentially a balance beam" that allows rowers "to feel the world through their fingers," started the design process some years ago. An dedicated rower, he wanted to develop a boat that would suit his own physique. Always the inventor -- he worked on inventions for Pirelli before coming to Canada and now teaches design to architecture students -- Elmitt found it challenging but easy to design what he wanted. He not only incorporated elements to suit his height, reach and weight but he came up with a system that makes it easier for most rowers to use his redesigned boat. |
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Rowing shells traditionally have flat decks upon which rowers stand when entering or exiting the boat, making it tricky and awkward to get into, Elmitt says. His design makes this task a lot easier. Elmitt describes this new detail as "basically a channel that runs down the centre of the boat." That means more of the flat deck is cut away so athletes can now step into the boat and this biomechanical effort benefits from a lower centre of gravity, he adds. Elmitt's rowing shell has a wood veneer skin that is combined with carbon fiber and Kevlar. The wood veneer provides longitudinal strength along the hull and this gives the craft greater structural stability, he says. |
As the design changed, the strength across the centre of the boat became suspect. That had to be taken into consideration so it took Elmitt almost 2 years before he finished building the 1st prototype. Eventually he approached Levator Boat Works from London, Ontario to make the final changes.
But changing the boat's inner hull configuration, has created its own problems, such as insufficient strength in that part of the hull that traditionally supports the riggers, Elmitt says. This problem makes the development of the wing rigger possible, logical and necessary, he adds. Together Elmitt and Levator developed the new wing rigger system.
Although not new, wing riggers in this case are because of style and carbon fibre content as they are no longer made from metal. This represents some significant advances, such as being "aerodynamic," Elmitt says. As well, the wing riggers don't impede the flow of water past the hulls in rough water," he adds.
After more development and research the latest prototype finally arrived in the environmental studies workshop in December.
Now some competitors going to the world master's championships in 1999 will use boats incorporating Elmitt's innovations. However, the shells, at this time, cant be massed produced. Instead they will be custom made to suit the physiques of individual athletes.
Boat clubs were introduced in America in the 1800's. Philadelphia's Schuylkill Navy, began in 1858, was the first rowing association and the first amateur sports organization.
Early amateur scullers and oarsmen were also often boxers, with some rowing clubs also including boxing sections. Rowing was introduced at Oxford University in the late 1700s and in 1806 the sport of rowing was also introduced at Eton College.
The game of Kayak Polo is an officially recognized sport of USA Canoe/Kayak (USACK) and efforts are underway to have the sport included in the Olympic Games.
The box kite was invented by an Australian, Lawrence Hargrane, in the 1890's. Box kites are very popular though more difficult to construct than plane surface kites.
If you need to improve your individual technical skills or lower your erg score then a college rowing or crew camp could be the way to go.
Rowing. Colby College graduate crews for USA
Women's rowing is a college sport that requires a large team, this means that the sport can command up to twenty athletic scholarships per school. this is the largest number of scholarships available for any women's sport in the NCAA.
Strokes By Annie McKenna
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