A while back, Rowing Hacks shared a cool trick for corralling sets of oars to carry them to the dock--the Oar Bundle Bungee Hack--but we are here to report that some enterprising coaches have taken that hack to a whole new level: loading their trailer when they travel with the oars already bungee'd together.
We spotted Washington-Liberty Crew re-hacking this Rowing Hack to do it one better: when they roll up on Race Day to unload, the oars arrive bundled into sets for each boat, ready to be easily carried right to the dock by just one or two people.
Having your oars collected into a manageable package when it comes time to launch your crew makes a lot of sense, and we've seen a number of solutions over the years for helping one coach bring a whole boatload of rowing sticks to the dock.
In addition to the oar carriers lots of folks use now, fixes for the "more oars than hands" problem have ranged from versions of the Bungee Hack in play here to the Oar Carry-Strap Hack.
Where these coaches have gone next level is in keeping their oars wrapped up for the whole trip, from the oar rack at home to the launch dock and all the way back again: no more fishing the last oar of the set out of the trailer, no more getting to the dock one blade short, and no more almost launching with an oar from another boat in your program by accident.
We are also betting that trailer loading goes a lot quicker at any program using this trick, and that fewer individual blades get scratched up. Plus a bundle of oars is not going to bounce out of the trailer the way a single one might if someone does forget to strap the oars down before rolling out.
[And no more needing to find room in the trailer for all those oar carriers, either.]
Of course this hack will also work with a strap, and can be a great way to recycle any straps too worn-out to use on your boats: just cut them down for oar bundles, if you don't already use them for the Rigger Strap Hack.
Do you have a trick that to make Race Day easier for you and your team? If so, share your tips--and hacks--in the comments below.
If you have a great rowing hack to suggest for future inclusion, then please send it to us and we will feature your idea in a future column.
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