I got a question about what exactly is an oarboard. Here’s the short answer and the way too in-depth answer.
An oarboard is a system for converting a stand up paddleboard into a single scull. Oar Board is a specific system made by Whitehall Rowing (this is the one I bought). There’s a similar system made by Wintec and probably others. Oar Board uses a sliding rigger system. That means the seat is fixed in place, but the feet and riggers slide. You row with the same motion you use on a sliding seat system. Only major difference I’ve found is that it’s less easy to correct when you sit down and miss the seat.
Note, I’m not affiliated with Oar Board or Whitehall Rowing in any way beyond being a customer and I am happy with my purchase.
Also, I will probably call my Oar Board an oarboard in other posts because that’s what my phone autocorrects to.
Pictures and additional details about my Oar Board are below the readmore.
I bought the kit with travel oars and wheelie bag, but no SUP. The wheelie bag is very nice, pretty similar to a ski/snowboard bag, and I was pleasantly surprised that everything actually packs nicely back in the bag after being opened and used. There’s a padded divider to separate the oars (which have their own bag that goes inside the wheelie bag) from the rest of the kit.
As for the actual components...
There’s the frame. Pictured above with the seat attached. It’s made out of some very tough plastic.
Because the Oarboard uses a sliding rigger system instead of a sliding seat, the seat is secured directly to the frame. To install the seat, you set it on the platform and secure it with 2 pins (one each side) that go through the seat and into a press fit hole in the frame. To save time and minimize the potential for that press for loosening, I’ve been leaving the seat on the frame. The pins are attached to the seat by coated wires, so you can’t drop them in the lake.
Then there’s the carriage, footplate, and riggers. This chunk of the assembly is the part that moves. The carriage is made out of the same plastic as the frame. The friction between the plastic carriage and the plastic rails (aka the frame) is pretty low, but it’s not as smooth or easy as wheels on a metal track if you’re coming from a regular rowing shell or an erg. I’ve been told it loosens up a bit with use and that a silicon lubricant helps, but I haven’t tried that yet.
Riggers are metal and attached to the carriage using 6 bolts/wingnuts (2 on each side for the mainstay and 1 each side for the backstay). Oarlocks came preinstalled on the riggers and they are concept2 brand.
Footplate is the same plastic as the carriage and frame. Like the seat it is secured using a pin on each side. You can see the pins and the wire connecting them to the footplate in this picture. There are 3 different slots you can set the feet in. Between the fact that the “track” runs all the way to the seat and the length of the frame, I think the setup actually covers a really wide range of heights and flexibilities (more than you would think with only 3 set foot positions). If I were less of an average height, I might want to demo one of these just for peace of mind before buying.
Straps on the footplate are like a cross between an erg and a boat (erg style straps across top and behind heel, but the strap across the top is Velcro and has a quick release like a boat). I wear thin water shoes, but that’s mostly because I feel weird without shoes and I don’t have a place to carry or leave shoes after I launch. The foot plate has some padding on it.
Then there’s the oars. They come apart at the middle. The half with the handle narrows at the end, fits inside the shaft of the bottom of the blade, and has 2 little spring loaded nubs (ball detents for my mechanical friends) that fit into holes on the lower shaft and hold the pieces together.
The oars are carbon fiber and appear/feel full size when assembled. The grips are pretty standard for what I’ve encountered on other sculls and on the small end of medium in diameter. When separated, the weight is almost entirely in the half with the handle which was a little unexpected when I first picked up the bottom half. I haven’t had water get inside the shafts yet, but I could see it being something to watch out for (mostly on rainy days, because the joint is well above the water). I do worry about the carbon fiber chipping where the 2 parts connect and wish I didn’t have to take them apart after each row, but they won’t fit in my car otherwise. With designs like this, you always trade some durability for portability. I just make sure I baby my oars when they aren’t assembled.
Badish news, you have to put the collars on and set them. Great news, this is 100% customizable to your height, strength, and flexibility. I’ll definitely be moving mine as my flexibility improves and I can handle a little more spread at the catch. Outside of those adjustments, I don’t foresee me ever moving the collars now that I have them one. They are only part of the system that I needed a “tool” for (I used a dime I found on the floor of my car like a screwdriver to tighten them).
And the paddleboard! Oar Board sells their own SUPs. I’ve heard good things about them. They sell mostly inflatable boards. The one they sell for a “single scull” is 13 feet long (a good bit longer than most single person SUP). They have attachment points on the deck, so you don’t have to run a strap under the board and add drag. I didn’t get one due to cost. Someday, I will probably upgrade. My board is an 11 foot Body Glove Performer from Costco. Inflating this sucker is one heck of a warm up and it is heavier than I expected (having had 0 SUP experience prior to this). It’s about 40 pounds and “rolls up” to fit in a big bag (nice bag, lots on handles and backpack straps). This is not like the oar board rigging system. It doesn’t nicely and easily go back in the bag after you open it.
Onto the assembly process.
I put the seat on the frame and attached the riggers and footplate to the carriage while taking a break from pumping up the board. This gave me 2 subassemblies and the board.
After inflating the board, I put the frame on and strap it in place with the 2 straps that came with the oarboard. The way they lock down is kind of genius and I love them. Super easy to use.
There is a small plastic backstop attached the end of the frame opposite the seat by a bolt/wingnut. Taking this stop off let’s you slide the carriage on and off the frame. This is the part I am most aftraid of dropping in the lake.
Next, I start hauling stuff down to the dock. I can lift the whole assembly, but not easily and I worry about dragging the riggers on the ground. Because if this, I take the board with the frame attached down first, then come back for the carriage subassembly and oars (I can carry both of those at once if I wear the carriage on my shoulder like a purse). You have to be careful with the fin(s) on the bottom of the paddleboard. I hang my stern off the dock, because I’m paranoid about breaking the fins. My board does not have removable or replacable fins.
On the dock, I take the stop off the frame, put the carriage on, put the stop back on, and check that the straps are tight. Then, I put it in the water and pretend it’s any other single scull.
When packing up after my row, like to dry the board off and deal with rolling it up on the dock rather than the parking lot or grass (less ant hills to crawl around in while squeezing the air out). Other than that, breakdown is just the opposite of assembly.
If anyone has questions, I’m happy to answer what I can based on my experiences so far. Also, if you go to Oar Board’s website, they have a list of ambassadors broken up by region. These are customers who have offered to talk to interested people about their experiences and let people demo their Oar Board.
My living room isn’t wide enough to have both riggers on and the paddleboard’s only about 2/3 inflated, but I’m going to count my first time putting this sucker together a success (really glad I wasn’t sitting on a dock trying to figure out which way the riggers go).
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