aluminum sculls

[sully]

Ran across a set of CII aluminum shaft sculls, macon style, while rescuing a pile of unwanted rowing equip from a boathouse a week ago.

I dimly recall the D brothers making some of these a long time back, but never tried them nor have I talked to someone who has.

I will try them one of these days, they're currently up at the ranch, but I will guess that they'd be too stiff. I'm a terrible judge of equipment these days since I don't scull competitively, so I may not notice a difference anyway.

Anybody try these oars or something like them?

[Carl]

Aluminium oars &, I think, sculls were made in the UK in the '70s, by
Aylings & also, IIRC, by Reredos (who also made all-aluminium singles in
the UK). The feel of these blades was thought to be similar to that of
their wooden equivalents & they were used to a high level for a limited
period. The sweep oars had rather unlovely steps in shaft diameter
rather than being sweetly tapered, which might not have been a great
selling point, but they probably had lower head-wind drag than
conventional oars of that period.

At that time Jerry Sutton was making the world's first carbon (as a
carbon/wood composite) oars, which had carbon bars bonded into very slim
wooden shafts. Some were used by e.g. the '76 GBR men's eight, & they
should have conferred considerable advantages in reduced headwind drag.
But rowers don't really understand drag reduction &, while happy to
spend out on boats, resist much smaller expenditures on somewhat more
costly (but definitely more genuine) performance enhancements.

I doubt those sculls are particularly stiff, but I wait to hear more.

Cheers -
Carl

--
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[Douglas MacFarlane]

I used the Aylings aluminium sweep oars in '76 for a while, and a few
clubs up here had sets in the mid 70's. From speaking to the Aylings
folk when we ordered them one of their motives was cost - wood was
getting more expensive and aliminium was seen as a viable alternative.

I think the London HORR was won by a crew using them, perhaps in '77 or
there abouts.

Cheers,

Douglas

[Brian Chapman]

We had two sets of these with a Mondego scull many years ago, they are used in our Touring Skiff and have been on most of the British Rowing Tours. I am not sure I would like to use them in my single but they are fine for a leisurely paddle.

[braithwa...@gmail.com]

I think we had some at the Open Water Rowing Center that were used with the Graham Trimline boats for beginning scullers. We sold them with the boats some time ago. They were long and heavy, and that seemed to help novices with balance issues. BUt they are long gone. (Maybe you found some of them.)
Ellen

[stew...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, 7 January 2014 16:44:21 UTC, sully wrote:

Got a pair of aluminium-shafted sculls at Brasenose, acquired from a chap in Hereford back in September. They have cleaver spoons, Big Blade style. I think they're George Sims but I'll check in the morning. Not bad to scull with recreationally, not a lot of give at the catch so the connection 'feels' nice even if your catches aren't all that clean. Funnily enough, they have little holes in them down by the spoons, so you have to drain them after every session.

[Meredith Haff]

Concept2 made aluminum oars for only a brief time (a few years) many decades ago. It would be fun to see a photo of these in action now - if you don't mind sending one this way to mere...@concept2.com

The alumnimum sculls were created to be a lower-cost option for recreational rowing (not for elite competition). The costs were too high to sustain the project. The shafts were actually pretty soft - let us know how they row. The blades were our stock blades, so rumor has it (I was not with Concept2 that far back!) that they rowed well. I'm curious how they compare now!

Meredith at Concept2

[sully]

I'll do that, Meredith. the oars are up at the 'ranch', when I was up there this weekend, I didn't get a chance to scull with them, lake was blown out.

So it'll be a few weeks from now.

FYI, the oars were stored in SoCal at a salt water harbor, the blades didn't show signs of the wear and tear of long constant use. I have CII sculls in club use at two clubs that are at least 30 years old, beat to hell, replace sleeves, buttons, keep the exposed wood handle inserts sealed with varnish,
and unless they get whacked in an accident, seem like they'll go another 20 years.

These sculls, not used anywhere near as much as ours, do show some patches of surface corrosion.

Meredith, back in the 80s, did you build some sculls that were intentionally heavier than others? I have a set that is in excellent condition, but very much heavier than similarly dated sculls, no water in them for sure.

sully

[Meredith Haff]

Sully,

Thanks for keeping us updated. I will look into "heavier oars" as that was before my time. But in general, since all our oars are custom-made, there is a chance that something "creative" could have been constructed for a customer. Many of our materials have been updated over time so this also could contribute to the difference in feel.

Meredith

[Meredith Haff]

Sully,

I was reminded by our engineering team... back in those days we most likely only had the "original" shaft construction and not the "ultralight" yet. So depending on the age of the oars, they may simply be heavier because they are "originals".

Cheers,
Meredith

[robin_d...@hotmail.com]

Meredith,

it is also worth noting (from experience!) that there are "Original original" and "Newer original" C2 shafts that predate the ultralight carbon-rich shafts of the 1990s. All were Macons unless they had the half-way "Delta" asymmetrical blades (late 80s?), which from memory look like Macons that are have taken a damn good whack and are a bit kinked compared to the plane of the shaft. I've experienced early sweep Macon ones (probably dating back to the early 80s as well as later ones both in Vancouver and over here in the UK). Both are the battleship grey colour of the non-ultralight shafts, but the ones from earlier on have distinct circumferential ridges if you run your finger along the shafts in a handle to blade direction and a sort of glossy finish (and had the early rounded C2 collars / sleeves), whereas certainly by the later 90s you get a non-ridged and more matte surface with a visible weave as compared to the contemporary carbon shafts which are blacker and (since 2000 or so onwards), have a deeper gloss epoxy coat on the surface. I'm sure that experts would be able to tell us all exactly when the construction methods changed as regards the differing appearances of classic and ultralight shafts over time. Also worth noting that the properly early 80s C2 sweep blades had handles which were some kind of redwood with a distinct grain as opposed to the white/grey wood that is more commonplace now - could this give a different balance compared to the modern ones?

Robin

[Meredith Haff]

Plenty of great differences noted! There is a contact here at C2 who can answer questions if it helps (he was hired as employee #4!).

[sully]

On Tuesday, January 21, 2014 7:10:02 AM UTC-8, Meredith Haff wrote:
> Plenty of great differences noted! There is a contact here at C2 who can answer questions if it helps (he was hired as employee #4!).

Took out the aluminum sculls this weekend, and I should have guessed, I couldn't tell the difference. My rowing has degenerated, and I've never been that picky anyway. They felt great.

I liked them, they were heavier than the older CII carbon fiber oars. I put them on the tailgate of a truck and leaned on them comparing to a couple different CF sculls as well, and the aluminum oars were actually less stiff, had more spring to them.

Got a new mystery, now. I've come into a set of wood sculls, they're about 20 years old, but rarely rowed and stored indoors so are in new condition. They were sold by a dealer to go with a Little River Marine SeaShell, I believe these are basswood, but I'm too ignorant to know for sure.

The workmanship is beautiful, but no brand tag on it.

My ranch is becoming a museum for oddball equipment!