The Rigger: Outboard Lever Arm
An oar with nothing to pivot against generates no power. The rigger is the metal arm that gives the oar its pivot. Bolted to the gunwale of the shell, it carries the pin and oarlock 70 to 90cm outboard from the hull. That outboard distance is what converts the rower's pull into useful boat speed. Inside an Irish boathouse the rigger comes off the boat before every trailer trip and goes back on the next morning, which means every Irish club tech volunteer learns the rigger geometry by hand.
What a rigger actually is
Bolted to the gunwale (the top edge of the hull), the rigger holds the pin around which the oar pivots. The pivot point sits 70 to 90cm outboard from the boat depending on the rigging dimensions for that class. That outboard distance gives the rower the lever arm to drag the handle in toward the body while the blade stays out where the water is, which is the mechanical foundation every rowing stroke is built on.
In boathouse vernacular the word "rigger" gets shortened to "rig" ("the rig is loose", "the rig is set up bow-side"). The verb "to rig" or "to derig" means to bolt the rigger onto the boat or take it off. Long trailer trips to Cork Regatta or up to the Erne Head invariably start with an evening of derigging in the boathouse and end the next morning with a re-rig before the first paddle. Coastal weekends in particular hammer the rigger off-on cycle, because boats need to come off the trailer at every venue and back on for the trip home.
The four components
A rigger has four serviceable parts, each replaceable or adjustable:
- Pin: the vertical metal post fixed to the rigger arm. The swivel rotates around it. Pins typically have a stainless steel core with a polished outer surface for the swivel to slide against, and they carry the adjustment hardware for pitch (the lean of the pin fore-and-aft and side-to-side).
- Swivel (oarlock): the U-shaped plastic piece that rotates around the pin and holds the oar shaft. The top gate closes over the oar to keep it captured during the stroke. The swivel is where the oar's rotation gets converted into useful work against the pin.
- Sleeve: the plastic collar wrapped around the oar shaft that sits inside the swivel. Strictly part of the oar rather than the rigger, but the sleeve has to match the swivel size or the oar will not seat correctly. Concept2 Macon, Concept2 Smoothie and Croker are the common brand options.
- Button: the adjustable plastic stop on the oar shaft that bears against the inboard face of the swivel and stops the oar from sliding out. Sliding the button along the sleeve changes the oar's inboard length, which is a deliberate rigging choice the coach makes for the athlete, not a wear item that drifts on its own.
Aluminium and carbon
Most Irish club rigger arms are aluminium. Lightweight, strong, forgiving when bent (an experienced tech can usually true a bent aluminium rigger back on the bank with the right jig), and cheap to replace when damage runs past repair. Anodised aluminium is standard on top-end club gear because it holds up against corrosion at coastal venues and on the higher-mineral lakes. For most Irish clubs running fleets of fifteen to fifty boats, aluminium is the obvious choice on cost grounds alone.
Carbon fibre rigger arms turn up on higher-spec equipment. Lighter than aluminium with a better stiffness-to-weight ratio, but the price tag jumps and a cracked carbon rigger is a much harder repair than a bent aluminium one. The imports Irish clubs typically buy from (Empacher in Germany, Filippi in Italy, Hudson in Canada, Sykes in Australia) tend to ship aluminium riggers on sweep boats, where weight matters less and rigid stiffness matters more, and carbon riggers on elite sculling singles and lightweight doubles, where every gram counts.
The rigging adjustments coaches make
Four main adjustments, set by the rigger technician or coach, each one shaping every stroke the athlete takes:
- Height: the vertical distance from the seat to the swivel. Too low and the hands smash into the legs at the finish. Too high and the catch becomes awkward. Sweep typically runs 16 to 18cm. Sculling typically runs 14 to 16cm.
- Span (sculling) and Spread (sweep): distance between the two pins (sculling) or from the pin to the boat centreline (sweep). This sets the lever arm and the reach at the catch. Sweep spread typically lands at 84 to 86cm. Sculling span typically runs 158 to 160cm.
- Pitch: the angle at which the blade enters the water. Stern pitch (the lean of the pin toward the stern) is normally 4 to 6 degrees. Lateral pitch (the lean of the pin toward the rower) is usually 0 to 1 degrees. Pitch controls how cleanly the blade catches and how cleanly it extracts.
- Pin work and foot stretcher position: fore-aft position of the pin combined with fore-aft position of the foot stretcher decides where the rower sits relative to the catch. Sliding the foot stretcher closer to the bow gives more leg compression at the catch.
Changes cascade. Adjust span and the height may need a tweak. Move the pin and pitch may shift. Most Irish clubs keep a rigging book that records the dimensions of every boat in the fleet, so a change that does not work can be reverted to the previous known-good setup rather than guessed at.
The unglamorous half of the sport
Maintenance is where most clubs underinvest. Pins need greasing every few months to keep the swivel spinning cleanly. Rigger bolts need a tightness check before every outing, because a loose rigger is dangerous and is going to end up bent or broken inside a session or two. Sleeves and swivels grind themselves out over time and need replacing once grooves appear or play develops at the gate.
Most Irish clubs assign a rigger technician (a senior athlete or experienced volunteer) to own rigging across the fleet. The technician is the person who logs the work, but the log itself needs to live somewhere durable. Boat maintenance tracking in the admin dashboard records work per boat (rigger straightened, swivel replaced, button adjusted) so the history is searchable and survives when the volunteer moves on, rather than disappearing into a WhatsApp scroll-back and a notebook in the workshop drawer.
Common rigging-related issues
A surprising share of "mystery" technique problems turn out to be rigging faults rather than rower faults:
- Oar slipping in the swivel: button is loose or sleeve is worn through. Tighten the button or replace the sleeve before the next outing.
- Blade angle off at the catch: pitch has shifted, usually because the pin has worked loose under repeated loading. A pitch meter check on the bank fixes it in a few minutes.
- Crew unbalanced to one side: spread has gone asymmetric, typically after a bent rigger has been straightened roughly rather than measured. Measure spread on both sides. Anything off by more than 1cm goes back to a technician before the next race.
Rigger questions Irish rowers ask
What is a rigger and what does it do?
A rigger is the outrigger arm bolted to the side of the racing shell. It carries the pin (the oar's pivot point) 70 to 90cm outboard from the hull. Without that outboard distance, the oar would have nothing to pivot against and the rower would have no purchase on the water. Modern racing shells run one rigger per rower, alternating sides for sweep boats and one each side for sculling boats. The rigger is what turns the oar from a stick into a lever arm.
What are the serviceable parts of a rigger?
Four. The rigger arm itself (metal frame extending from the hull). The pin (vertical post the swivel rotates around). The swivel or oarlock (U-shaped plastic piece that rotates around the pin and carries the oar shaft). And on the oar side, the sleeve (plastic collar that sits inside the swivel) and the button (adjustable stop on the oar shaft that holds the oar in place laterally and sets inboard length). Each of these is replaceable when it wears out, so the rigger is a system of parts rather than a single component.
Which adjustments matter most?
Four. Height (how far the swivel sits above the seat, affecting how the hands run through the finish). Span on sculling or spread on sweep (the distance between the pins on sculling, or pin to centreline on sweep, affecting the lever arm and the reach at the catch). Pitch (the angle the blade enters the water at, affecting how cleanly the blade catches and extracts). Pin work plus foot stretcher position (the fore-aft setup that decides where the rower sits relative to the catch). Every stroke the athlete takes runs through whatever values these four are set to.
Aluminium or carbon?
Most Irish club fleets are aluminium. Lighter than steel, strong enough for racing loads, repairable on the bank if bent, cheap to replace if damaged beyond repair. Anodised aluminium is standard on top-end club kit because it resists corrosion in coastal water and high-mineral lakes. Higher-spec riggers are carbon fibre: lighter than aluminium and stiffer for the weight, but more expensive and harder to repair if cracked. Ireland imports its hulls from Empacher (Germany), Filippi (Italy), Hudson (Canada) and Sykes (Australia). On those imports, sweep rigger arms tend to be aluminium and elite sculling rigger arms tend to be carbon, with every gram counting on a racing single or LM2x double.
How should a club maintain its riggers?
Pins need greasing every few months so the swivel keeps rotating cleanly. Bolts holding the rigger to the gunwale need a pre-outing tightness check, because a loose rigger ends bent or broken inside one session. Swivels and sleeves wear over time and need replacing once grooves develop or play appears. Button position needs checking whenever oars are shared between athletes, because inboard length is a real rigging change and not a free swap. Most Irish clubs put a rigger technician (a senior athlete or experienced volunteer) in charge of the rigging across the fleet, and the maintenance log lives in the admin dashboard rather than the technician's head.
Related
More on rowing equipment: what a rowing shell is, rowing boat types, sculling versus sweep, browse all glossary terms. Track boat maintenance and rigging changes across the fleet with Row HQ's admin dashboard, and use the drag factor calculator for erg setup.
Log every rigging change against every boat.
Row HQ's admin dashboard logs maintenance per boat (rigger straightened, swivel replaced, button adjusted) so the history lives in one place rather than scattered across WhatsApp threads and a notebook in the workshop drawer.