Dirigo VS. Pocock VS. Vespoli
Sagriffi
the sounds the Pococks make at the release and the E shell is quite
reponsive. Of course Vespolis seems to have more gizmos and look fancier
and more high tech.
I would whole-heartedly recommend you check out POCOCK'S NEW BOW-LOADED
FOUR. We bought two this spring and they have been wonderful!!
Carbon-fiber wing rigger design, bow-loaded, light, responsive and tight.
Gunwales are a bit lower than in other fours (1 in) but we didn't have
problems with taking on water. I took the fours out in _very bad water_
to see how they would handle it. With wits and good rowing they did fine
(other club on our lake swamped a Vespoli 4 and 8 that day when they went
after the dangerously bad water). We also rowed Titus' prototype for
these shells and found the new ones much improved over the prototype.
The boats are NOT the old Pocock workhorses, but _racing shells_. They do
demand some technique- will this work for your heavies? ;-) Check the
boats out!
Stephanie Griffin
Pacific Rowing Club
Scott Jones
Vespoli, are better. We would like to buy an Women's Heavy Weight Eight
and a bow coxed Men's Heavywieght four.
We would be greatful for your suggestions, comments, and opinions.
Scott Jones (bub...@gladstone.uoregon.edu)
Bonnie & Jim Buckley
on water in the cells like other shells. The new ones are better but even
the "old workhorses" row well.
In article <3rj1oh$h...@pith.uoregon.edu>, Scott Jones
erin petersen
Vespoli (camp and WUGS), it seemed stiffer and ran out better. Possibly
it had something to do with the rowers in the boat, but I liked it
better. The only complaint I have/had was that the Vespoli cut into my
calves.
Enjoy boat shopping.
Erin
Chris
it is relatively easy to build a quality composite shell. Granted some are faster
than others but when it comes right down to it they are all very similar. Each of
the three companies you list are very reputable and probably will show similar
characteristics in performance and quality.
Chris
BilMcGowan
Empacher all at the starting line at US Nationals men's heavyweight 8+ on
Sunday. Sorry, I don't have results handy! But all manufacturers were
well-represented. Giving validity to the phrase, it's not so much the
boat, as it is the talent of the people rowing in it that moves a boat!
(with SOME variations in weights, stiffness, etc.!!)...... Gotta stay
"hands-off" this one, as far as personal opinions go!! Good luck!
Bill McGowan,
USRowing East Field Service Coordinator
5 Gerrish Street, Brighton, MA 02135-1704
Phone/Fax/Answering Machine(617)787-5060;
Email: bilmc...@aol.com
Serving USRA members in the
Mid-Atlantic & Northeast States
My name is Steven
In article <3snlsi$a...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, bilmc...@aol.com (BilMcGowan) writes...
>There was a Pocock, Vespoli, GERMANS rowing a Schoenbrod Dirigo ......
>...
>... it is the talent of the people rowing in it that moves a boat!
I totally agree with Bill's comment.
However, considering the cost of a racing shell ( 8+ or 4+ ) is not cheap. I
think we should spend our money on the most durable one - a rowing club view
point or the most competitive one - a national coach view point.
From a rowing club's view point, I would consider a boat if
- it can be easily maintained by non-specialist
( a carbon fibre shell is easier to work with than a wooden shell if
you make a hole on it )
- the cost of transportation of the boat is not too expensive.
( some vendor gave me a quote of more than US$5000 to ship one 4+ and
one 8+ to HK )
- the sales person is easy to talk to and understand customers' needs.
And he/she should be fair to other boat builders ( no harsh comments)
--
Steven Wong
Chong Heep Rowing Club,
c/o Hong Kong Amateur Rowing Association,
27 Yuen Wo Road,
Shatin, N.T.,
Hong Kong.
Matt Freemont
[snip]
Steve> From a rowing club's view point, I would consider a boat if
Steve> - it can be easily maintained by non-specialist ( a carbon
Steve> fibre shell is easier to work with than a wooden shell if
Steve> you make a hole on it )
For an interesting counter opinion, Bruce LeLonde, the very respected
boatman at University Barge Club in Phila., contends that modern
wooden boats are more durable and easier to repair than composite
plastic boats. He has told me that performing a good repair on a Nomex
sandwich boat--common construction with carbon fibre--is exceedingly
difficult. There is no good way to repair crushed Nomex, so to restore
the shell to fair (after repairing structural damage and/or punctures
in the skin) one must use lots of filler. His bigger concern is that
one must use comparatively large quantities of poisonous materials to
repair composite construction.
On the other hand, a builder for VanDusen tells me that with a
composite boat one could remove a damaged section and replace it with
new construction with no loss of strength or appreciable weight gain
compared to the original. That, of course, depends upon being able to
put the boat back in the mold. The VanDusen builder also added that
such a repair could be very costly: replacing the bow on a single
might run up a repair bill of about half the price of a new boat (at
least a new VanDusen ;)).
I guess, though, if the only concern is stopping a hole, it's easy to
slap a little fiberglass, epoxy, and filler over the hole and to hell
with how it looks or whether the boat is fair. But with those
criteria, one could do the same repair with wooden construction,
provided we don't care how it looks. My own limited experience with
epoxy and fiberglass is that in either case, one must invest some time
in learning how to use the materials properly, else the repair won't
last or won't be strong.
Matthew Fremont