SWEEPS AND SCULLS
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Handle Options Grip Options Shaft Flex Shaft Construction Options 1976 Concept2 founded in a Vermont barn Blade Colour Options 1975 Dreissigackers create carbon fibre oars Vortex Edge

What Goes into a Concept2 Oar? Passion For Concept2 Founders and brothers Peter and Dick Dreissigacker, rowing is a lifelong passion and engineering is a way of life. This drives Concept2’s commitment to design and build the best racing oars in the world. Every oar is custom built and tested in our Vermont factory to live up to this commitment. Innovation Since bringing carbon fibre oars to the rowing community over 30 years ago, Concept2 has continued to revolutionise the sport of rowing with increasingly efficient oar designs. No design is released unless rigorous on- and off-water...

CHOOSING COMPONENTS

Choosing Your Oar Components We build every oar to order. This means you can select your oars from our standard specifications, or fully customise from our wide range of options. However unique your oar needs may be, if you want it, we will build it. We’ve designed this brochure to help you work through the many options. We highly recommend selecting components in the order that they appear in the brochure and on the order form. Be sure to read through our helpful tips and guidelines so that your oar components work together for optimal efficiency and feel. The order form will help keep...

Blades Our blade designs have evolved with one purpose—to more efficiently convert the athlete’s power into boat speed. Here’s what we know about blade design: • A blade that slips less in the water loses less of the work generated at the handle by the athlete. In other words, it is more efficient. • Changing the shape, curvature, and features at the tip will impact blade interaction with the water. • As a blade becomes more effective it will generate more load and require a decrease in oar length. • As blade designs have become more efficient, controlled testing has indicated improved...

Offers the greatest potential for increasing boat speed, based on our research and on water testing. Offers many advantages of the Fat2, but with a slightly smaller surface area. Greater efficiency gives a firm feel earlier in the drive; less resistance toward the finish. Resistance is focused on the early part of the drive. Vortex Edge Tips for optimising performance Oar length should be 4–8 cm shorter than Smoothie2. More effective when rigged further through the pin. Oar length should be 1–2 cm shorter than Smoothie2. More effective when rigged further through the pin. Competitive rowers...

Vortex Edge The Vortex Edge may be added to any of our blades to further increase efficiency. Similar to Smoothie2VE, but without the added efficiency of the Vortex Edge. With its large asymmetric surface area, this breakthrough changed the shape of racing oar blades. Less resistance early in drive. Lacks the firm feel of our newer designs early in the drive. Vortex Edge may be added to increase efficiency. Best oar length may be slightly shorter than for Big Blade. We encourage you to compare with some of our newer blades. Competitive crews who want efficiency but prefer a softer feel....

Blade Colour Options Signal Yellow 1003 Rapeseed Yellow Sun Yellow 1021 1037 Concept2 offers 52 blade colours in addition to our standard white. These colours are available at an additional cost and longer lead times may apply. Coloured blades are available as single, solid colours only. You will need to apply any additional designs or stripes. Important: These colours are from the RAL international colour standard. Due to individual computer monitor and printer limitations, these samples are approximations and may not accurately reflect the true colour. Please contact our customer service...

Shaft Construction Options Skinny (Sweep and Scull) Our newest high performance shaft, the Skinny, is a smaller diameter shaft that offers less wind resistance, different bending characteristics and softer flex options. Concept2 lab tests reveal the Skinny shaft reduces wind drag of the shaft by 25% for sculls and 50% for sweeps compared to a standard Ultralight shaft. Skinny shafts are made of high modulus carbon fibre to achieve the needed stiffness with the smaller diameter. Final oar weight is the same as Ultralight shafts. Low i (Scull Only) The Low i shaft uses high modulus carbon...

Shaft Flex A blade and shaft work as a system to create a perception of oar stiffness or “flex”. We offer three different shaft constructions, each with various flex options, to help you optimise the feel and efficiency of the blade that you’ve chosen. Flex Options Extra Soft (Skinny only) A good choice for those who want the efficiency of the Fat2 blade but prefer a softer feel at the catch. Soft A good choice for smaller athletes, women, or masters, especially when assembled with the Fat2 blade. Medium A good choice for use with the Big Blade, Smoothie2 Plain Edge and Smoothie2 Vortex...

Oar Length We offer adjustable and fixed length handles for our sweeps and sculls. • Adjustable length makes it easy to share oars between boats, adjust oar lengths for different wind conditions, and to test different rigging configurations. • Fixed length oars should be ordered only if you are sure you will never want to change your sweep or scull length.

Guidelines Achieving a comfortable, effective rig is the key to keeping the load reasonable and getting the most out of your oars. In general, we recommend setting your sweeps or sculls shorter when rowing: • With more efficient blades, like the Fat2. (See table on right) • In a slower boat. • With a narrower spread. • With a longer reach/a greater catch angle. • When you need less handle overlap while sculling. Oar Length Recommendations The following table outlines our typical oar length recommendations for sweep and scull. Additional options, including fixed length, are available....