Shipping Their Oars

A demonstration of wooden oar making at the 2011 Rowing History Forum.

Tim Koch writes:

There have been two recent HTBS postings on wooden oar and scull making, F. Collar - Oarmaker  and Ian Marriott: Memories of Collar and Cousins. Here is a third from the Pathe film archives, a wonderful newsreel made at an Eton boat builders and oar and scull makers in 1950.

BOAT BUILDING

The clipped and assured British accent of the narrator and the upbeat tone of the commentary hides the sad state that much of British manufacturing was in at the time, just five years after the end of the Second World War. The country was heavily in debt, its infrastructure and manufacturing base was worn out and it was in the process of giving up its Empire. Though few may have admitted it, Britain was unsure of its place in the post war world. For a long time many people hung onto the idea that ‘British craftsmanship’ would be enough to beat off foreign rivals, an idea even more ludicrous when these undoubted skills were put to making the same products that they had done for years – with no thought of innovation. The result is that today we have a few people like Collars who make a high quality product for a ‘niche market’ but we no longer dominate the ‘mass market’ at home or abroad. This cannot be blamed on cheaper foreign labour as the three most popular makes of racing oar today are manufactured in first world countries where labour costs are high.

Going afloat at the 2014 Head of the River Race in London. All the oars shown are Concept2. The boat is German but that is another story.

Concept2 (Dreissigacker) dominate the world racing oar market today and I presume that they are made in the USA. Their website is not explicit about this but their headquarters is in Morrisville, Vermont, and they say that ‘factory tours are available’.

Probably the second most popular oar is made by Crocker in Australia. Their website says:

Owned and made in Australia since 1962, Croker Oars resides on the banks of the beautiful Manning River in coastal New South Wales. Today Croker Oars manufacture quality carbon composite sculling, rowing, surf, ocean rowing and timber sweep oars for surf boats as well as other quality products for the rowing world.

Empacher also make racing oars and sculls but my subjective view is that they are not very widely used. This seems strange considering the high regard that their boats are held in. Possibly they are overpriced and badly marketed – but so are their boats.

I found this online which claims that the blades among medalists at Beijing 2008 were approximately 64% Concept, 29% Croker and 7% Empacher. Concept claim that 69% of medalists at London 2012 used their oars.

Returning to wooden oars, some time ago I paid a very brief visit to Jerry Sutton Traditional Oar and Scull Makers in Windsor. Interestingly, they told me that a big and growing part of their business is making wooden Macon oars for the thriving sport of Cornish Gig Racing (which uses only wooden oars and wooden boats for racing). Sutton’s also make barge poles – work which some people will not touch.

Cornish Gig oars.

GRR: London’s Other Marathon

The Great River Race approaches Hammersmith from Putney, passing the former Harrods Repository on the right.

Here is Tim Koch’s report on this year’s Great River Race, GRR:

The Great River Race took place on London’s River Thames on Saturday, 7 September, on a 21-mile course from London Docklands to Richmond in Surrey. While it is certainly ‘great’ with more than 300 boats from the UK and around the world, it is not (officially) a ‘race’. In my report on the 2011 GRR, I summarised the event thus:

The rules of the event say that the boats must be rowed, sculled or paddled and most boat classes must carry a coxswain plus a passenger (who may take turns at the oar or paddle). The ‘passenger rule’ comes from the Watermen’s historic responsibility to carry passengers on the Thames (small children are often favoured for this role). Also, no sliding seats or riggers are allowed and each boat must fly a flag. A huge variety of boats take part and this is coupled with the inclusive atmosphere of the event which attracts men and women, the young and the old, the competitive and the leisurely.

A race or not, the GRR is an event that is best left to pictures, not words.

Visitors from the Netherlands in a lifeboat or, in Dutch, reddingboot. I do not know how many boats came from what foreigners tend to call Holland, but I seem to have photographed a number of them.

An entry from the Royal Netherlands Naval College, an officer training establishment, the equivalent to Newport in the United States or Dartmouth in Britain.

I think I am correct in saying that this is a currach, an ancient design of boat from the west of Ireland (St. Columba is said to have used one). There is no one standard design but they are a very light, wood framed boat with a canvas (or at one time, skin) covering. Several years ago I had the opportunity of seeing several such boats close up and initially was not very impressed. They seemed very crudely made and the oars had no spoons – they were simply long poles! However, I changed my mind when several elderly, small and wiry gentlemen put down their glasses of stout, took off their jackets, rolled up their shirt sleeves and made the currachs seemingly fly across the water. It was later explained to me that the oars, about ten-foot in length, have no spoons as they would be caught in rough seas. The trick is to dig perhaps half the length of the oar into the water to give it a large surface area to work against. The oar locks are block and thole pin.

A boat flying the flag of Scotland, Saint Andrew’s Cross or the Saltire, passes under Hammersmith Bridge.

Women from Helford River Gig Club in Cornwall pass under Hammersmith Bridge. The club writes about them here. HTBS has previously written about the remarkable revival and worldwide spread of Cornish Gig Racing.

Proving the worldwide popularity of Cornish Pilot Gigs, this one is from the Netherlands club WSV de Spiegel based in Nederhorst den Berg in the province of North Holland.

Another Cornish Pilot Gig, this time from Langstone Adventure Rowing who are based in Hampshire in the South East of England. They say that they are a centre for traditional fixed seat rowing and that they ‘...coach teams and individual rowers to reach their goals, be it to row across the English Channel.... to take part in events such as the Great River Race... or to raise money for charity’. They also run team building sessions and ‘gig rowing for fun, fitness and friendship’.

They keep on coming.

Who are the Poplar Dockers from Gravesend?

I know even less about this boat and crew than I do the Poplar Dockers!

More people I cannot tell you about apart from the fact that they look like they are having fun.

The Thames is never quite wide enough. A lifeboat crew from the Netherlands club AVR Avira, based in Duiven in the east of the country, clashes with a Great River Race self-build ‘jolly boat’.

I would love to know more about this boat – or even why the crew is dressed as monks. It looks like a very traditional design.

Is this the same type of boat as the one above?

The end of a long day.

From Pine To Plastic

The (real) Cambridge Boat of 2013.

HTBS’s Tim Koch writes from London,

In the 2013 University Boat Race, Oxford rowed in a German ‘Empacher’ while Cambridge used a Canadian ‘Hudson’. ‘Hear The Boat Sing’ has previously noted that once the boats for the ‘Battle of the Blues’ were not only made in Britain, they were produced from wood just a few feet from the Boat Race course. However, one hour before the start of the 159th Oxford - Cambridge clash, there was a race from Hammersmith to Putney (‘The Watermen’s Challenge’) which involved traditional British made craft. It included replicas of the two boats used in the first Oxford - Cambridge race in 1829.

The (replica) Cambridge Boat of 1829.

The ‘Oxbridge Cutters’ (as the pair are known) were commissioned by The Boat Race Company Ltd to celebrate the 150th Boat Race in 2004. Like the original boats, the design was strongly influenced by Cornish Pilot Gigs, though the Oxbridge boats are made of pine, not elm, and are eight-oared, not six. Originally the replicas were painted in the original colours, green for Oxford and pink for Cambridge. Today, they have been repainted in the accepted dark blue and light blue. Last February they were given on long term loan to the charity, London Youth Rowing. It is good to know that the cutters will now be in regular use and will help to bring young people into the sport of rowing – truly ‘living history’.

P.S. The original Oxford boat of 1829 is on now on display at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley. A famous picture of this boat and its 1929 successor is here.

The replica Oxford Boat of 1829. As there are no outriggers and because the boat is wider in the middle than at the bow and stern, the oars are of different lengths to produce a uniform span.

The sleeve is made of leather and the button is of rope. The oars are rowed ‘square blade’ and are not feathered.

The seating is staggered, not in line, with starboard side rowers sitting on port and visa-versa.

Gig Rowing

It seems Falmouth Pilot Gig Club, which Tim Koch wrote about earlier in January, has had a great season, ending it by racing in Holland. Read about that competition and the race in Holland here. On the same note Annabel Vernon, member of Great Britain Rowing Team, wrote the other day about her first outing in a Cornish pilot gig on her BBC blog. This was her first try in this boat type, although she is a Cornishwoman. Fun stuff, read it here.

List Of Gigs Worldwide

Another one of Hilary Moll's wonderful photographs of a gig.

Tim Koch followed up with another e-mail on gigs and gig rowing. He found a list of all gigs in the world! Go to the list by clicking on List of Gigs Worldwide.

Gig Rowing And Racing In America!

HTBS reader Caleb had a question the other day where to find gig rowing and racing in the USA? I was not able to help him, but of course the good HTBS correspondent in London, Tim Koch, had an answer, which he sent to me earlier today. So Caleb and everyone else in America interested in gigs, read on.... Tim writes,

"My item on Cornish Gig Racing on 9 January 2011 prompted a query from a gentleman in Indiana asking where such rowing could be found in the USA. There is a BBC Cornwall story on American gig clubs here.

It seems to be a New England based sport. The only club named is Team Saquish Rowing Club, Saquish Beach, Plymouth, in Massachusetts. Their email is: teamsaquish@comcast.net - and I'm sure they could direct interested parties to their nearest club if there is one.

According to the BBC, in 2007 there were 26 gigs spread over Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut, with approximately 10 gig clubs."

The photograph above is from Team Saquish RC member Hilary Moll's photo site.

The Dragon Slaying Saint And A Cornish Pilot Gig Club

In an e-mail Tim Koch asks if I am related to Saint Göran. Good question! There is a famous wooden sculpture of St. Göran killing the dragon in Storkyrkan (The Great Church) in Stockholm. Of course, Göran is the Swedish for George; St George and the Dragon would be the English legend, I guess. Now, Tim is not asking me this because he suddenly became religious (he might be, but that is beside the point), no, instead he is interested in the 'rowing link' between me and the Cornish Pilot Gig Club called St. Goran Rowing Club. There is none, I'm afraid, but I would be very honoured if there was one!

Tim sends this very nice video of the club training (see below) and he writes:

"It is, I think, taken from one of the BBC's 'Coast' programmes. This is now in its fifth series and will appeal to anyone interested in boats and things maritime. It's premise is that, in Britain, you are never more than 72 miles form the sea. It is an example of the BBC at its intelligent best. DVDs are available from the BBC online shop

Back to St. Göran and me - nope, there is no connection between the good saint and me, although, there is actually a sword in the Buckhorn Family Coat of Arms.

The Revival Of Cornish Pilot Gig Racing 2

Here Tim Koch continues his story from yesterday about his visit to Falmouth Gig Club in Cornwall.

On a very cold day shortly before Christmas I appeared unannounced at Falmouth Gig Club. Founded in 1985, it is one of the top clubs, and the women have won the World Championships ten times. I found the men’s ‘A’ crew about to go out. Their captain, Fergus Muller, invited me to join them and pointed me towards the ‘pilot’s seat’ in the bow of the gig Energy. The cox was his wife, Amelia, herself a champion rower.


All my previous rowing experience had been with fine outrigged boats with sliding seats so I was very interested to find out the differences. Like all rowing when it is done well, the crew made it look easy. Energy moved fast and true, untroubled by the choppy water of Falmouth Harbour (which, including Carrick Roads, is the third largest natural harbour in the world and a fine training ground).









Fergus shows the catch.








Fergus shows the finish.

The real test came when they tolerated me taking over the bow seat for a few minutes. I was slightly overdressed in a tweed jacket and duffle coat but I slipped my brogues under the foot straps and received some quick instructions. The outside hand is held in an underhand grip and the inside hand is close to it. I was told that there was a way of using the legs at the catch despite the fixed seat but that proved too advanced for me. Against all my fine boat training, I was effectively told to ‘lean away from the work’ at the finish. Sadly, this part came easily to me. The wooden Macon oars had no button to stop them sliding through the pins and I found it difficult to keep the blade square at the catch. The result was several crabs as I (quickly) tired but at least there were no ‘boat stoppers’ or broken tholes. I soon handed back my oar and resumed my role as deadweight.

On the return leg the crew showed me a burst of speed. I had read that a very fast gig can do eight knots and I now believe it. These clinker boats may look heavy compared to a sleek plastic four or eight but they do not feel it when rowed properly. A coxswain’s eye view of a Rock Gig Club crew rowing is here. A view from the pilot’s seat of a Bristol crew rowing is here. It also shows an ‘oar toss’, used to make a quick turn.

In Britain, fine boat rowing still has an image problem because of its Oxbridge / Henley / private school connotations. Not so with gig rowing. To quote The Times, in thirty years Cornish Gig Racing has gone from ‘… a moribund sport…… to a thriving competitive pastime, claimed now to be the fastest-growing community sport in the West Country……’ Those of us who are evangelical about rowing must applaud all those who made and continue to make this happen. As they say in Cornwall when something merits approval, “Proper Job”!

Many warm thanks to Tim for a very interesting report!

The Revival Of Cornish Pilot Gig Racing 1

The always reliable and alert HTBS correspondent Tim Koch in London did not only relax during his Christmas holidays in Cornwall, he had a promise to keep, so here is the first part of his story about Cornish pilot gig racing. Tim writes,

My entry of 30th November on inrigged rowing in Britain today ended with the afterthought that I should have included something on the thriving sport of Cornish Pilot Gig racing and the promise that I would write something after spending Christmas in my native county, Cornwall. Now, thanks to the generous hospitality of Falmouth Gig Club, I am able to bring a first hand report.

The county of Cornwall forms the tip of the south western peninsula of England. It is bordered to the west and north by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel and to the east by the River Tamar. Naturally, it has a strong maritime tradition. In Cornwall the prevailing winds come from the south west so it is easier to row a boat to windward than to sail it and this led to the development of the Cornish Pilot Gig, a coxed, fixed seat, six oared, clinker built rowing boat. It is built of narrow leaf elm and modern boats are all 32 feet (9.8m) long with a beam of 4 feet 10 inches (1.47m). The gunwales are too thin to support rowlocks so tholes or ‘pins’ are used. One of each pair of pins is ‘hard’ (to act as a fulcrum for the oar) and one is ‘soft’ (designed to break in the event of ‘catching a crab’). Gigs are light, buoyant and manageable in heavy seas. As the name suggests, their principal use was to carry ‘pilots’ out to incoming vessels so that they could use their local knowledge to guide ships through dangerous or congested waters. The fastest gig got their man on board first and so won the pilotage fee. Thus, gig racing was born.

When engines replaced sails and oars, interest in racing these boats declined but the sport clung on in Newquay (on the north Cornish coast) and in the Isles of Scilly (28 miles / 45 km west of Cornwall). However, by the 1980s, gig races and the few remaining boats were in danger of dying out. This was changed largely through the efforts of a remarkable local man, Ralph Bird. He triggered a revival by three courses of action. Firstly, Bird organised races. Secondly, he formed the Cornish Pilot Gig Association (CPGA) to see that future gigs were built to an agreed standard and to set the rules of racing. Thirdly, he (eventually) built 29 new gigs with his own hands. The ‘standard’ boat was to be based on the Treffry, built in 1838 and still owned by Newquay Rowing Club. A new boat costs nearly £20,000 ($31,200) and now the two principal boat builders are Hunkins and Nobbs.

Today there are over 50 clubs (owning over 130 boats between them) affiliated to the CPGA. They are mostly from Cornwall but some are from other parts of the UK. There are also clubs in France, the Netherlands, Australia, the Faroe Islands and the USA. Over 7,000 people take part in gig racing at more than 300 regattas around the South West each summer and the ‘World Championships’ are held every May in the Isles of Scilly. The numbers are growing all the time.

To be continued tomorrow...