What is happening with RowPerfect?
Charles Carroll
This morning I received an email announcing that Croker West is "able to offer, for the first time, the new Rowperfect Indoor Sculler." In the email was a photograph of a RowPerfect erg and the following website:
http://www.rowperfect.ca
But there is another website offering a different looking RowPerfect:
http://www.rowperfect3.com/flashgallery/pictures.html
Can anyone offer an explanation?
Are these basically the same RowPerfect, albeit with slightly different designs and manufactured in different parts of the world?
Or are there significant differences between the two machines?
Cordially,
Charles
Kit
wrote:
AIUI, the original Rowperfect manufacturing was handed over to an
Australian company by Cas Rekers. They did such extensive development
and testing that it took quite a long time for them to produce a
finished product. Meanwhile, I believe Cas got a bit frustrated by
this and began development of RP3 in parallel. So you have 2 RP forks
running concurrently. I guess that the "Indoor Sculler" is the Aussie
version, while RP3 is the newer Cas version.
TBH, it's all a bit of a muddle and I wish they could merge somehow.
Kit
Justus J.
> Dear All,
>
> This morning I received an email announcing that Croker West is "able to offer, for the first time, the new Rowperfect Indoor Sculler." In the email was a photograph of a RowPerfect erg and the following website:
>
> http://www.rowperfect.ca
>
> But there is another website offering a different looking RowPerfect:
>
> http://www.rowperfect3.com/flashgallery/pictures.html
>
> Can anyone offer an explanation?
The summary Kit gave is, in essence, correct: Cas Rekers sold the major
part of the Rowperfect company in 2004/2005 to Mark Campbell in
Australia, at that time being a very successful Rowperfect agent.
Campbell, wanting to improve the design that had been around for about a
decade then (the black model, known to most of us), started working on a
new model, in close cooperation with Rekers, who had been updating the
machine himself too (lowering the flywheel, different legs, new axis and
bearing-system, lots of small improvements) over time. After 5 years of
prototyping, pre-releases, "almost done" emails and - most notably - no
production of the old model, leaving customers in an uncertainty on
when/what to expect, Rekers did get into an argument on the continuation
of the product, fearing the brand Rowperfect was to die or perhaps had
died already, blaming Campbell of (to put it simple and short) bad
management. In 2010, Rekers decided to setup a new production facility
for "his latest version" of the ergometer by himself, baptising it RP3 -
thus referring to the 3rd stage of evolution his Rowperfect Rowing
Simulator had reached in its 20 years of existence.
Meanwhile, Campbell had begun getting his "fork" in production,
resulting in Spring 2011 in:
- a model based on the latest ideas and design concepts of Cas Rekers,
named "RP3"
- a model designed in cooperation between Mark Campbell and Cas Rekers
in the years 2005-2009, finalised in 2010 by the former, named
"Rowperfect Indoor Sculler"
Both are dynamic, they roughly look the same.
> Are these basically the same RowPerfect, albeit with slightly different designs and manufactured in different parts of the world?
>
> Or are there significant differences between the two machines?
As there are several people here who can't acknowledge the difference in
feel on a static ergometer versus a dynamic one, I refrain to use the
word "significant". For rowers that do distinguish between the dynamics
of the old (black) Rowperfect and the ConceptII on slides, the RP3 and
Indoor Sculler are NOT the same.
> Cordially,
>
> Charles
Best,
Justus
Justus J.
On 5-1-2011 8:33, Charles Carroll wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> This morning I received an email announcing that Croker West is "able to offer, for the first time, the new Rowperfect Indoor Sculler." In the email was a photograph of a RowPerfect erg and the following website:
>
> ...
yesterday, a few hours after I wrote my previous post, a
press-announcement was sent out through the Dutch press agency regarding
the RP3:
or, short:
Best,
J.
Kit
> Hi again,
>
> On 5-1-2011 8:33, Charles Carroll wrote:> Dear All,
>
> > This morning I received an email announcing that Croker West is "able to offer, for the first time, the new Rowperfect Indoor Sculler." In the email was a photograph of a RowPerfect erg and the following website:
>
> > ...
>
> yesterday, a few hours after I wrote my previous post, a
> press-announcement was sent out through the Dutch press agency regarding
> the RP3:
>
Best of luck for the future, Justus!
Carlos
>
> - Show quoted text -
Hello,
Here is good data for you and your crew people about the change that
is coming with Dynamic erg and RP3.
www.carlosdinares.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/rowperfect3
www.rowperfect3.com
Let me know if what you find here is interesting for you and your
rowers.
Thank you,
--
Carlos Dinares