Optimisation of performance rowing blades

Morgan, Ben I.; Morgan, Ben; Harrison, Will

doi:10.1177/17543371261450294

Journal article 119 views 27 downloads

Optimisation of performance rowing blades

Ben I. Morgan

, Ben Morgan, Will Harrison

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology

Swansea University Authors: Ben Morgan, Will Harrison

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Author accepted manuscript document released under the terms of a Creative Commons CC-BY licence using the Swansea University Research Publications Policy (rights retention).
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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/17543371261450294

Abstract

Rowing blades (oars) transfer power from athletes to the water to propel a boat forward. The complex nature of fluid forces around a blade has only recently started to be understood with previous studies only investigating blades that are commercially available. The full motion of a blade spoon thro...

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Published in:	Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology
ISSN:	1754-3371 1754-338X
Published:	SAGE Publications 2026
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71913

first_indexed	2026-05-15T12:33:53Z
last_indexed	2026-06-12T09:28:24Z
id	cronfa71913
recordtype	SURis
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spelling	2026-06-10T12:46:20.7168229 v2 71913 2026-05-15 Optimisation of performance rowing blades d173b9887192b836956b16035581437c Ben Morgan Ben Morgan true false dae59f76fa4f63123aa028abfcd2b07a 0000-0002-0380-7075 Will Harrison Will Harrison true false 2026-05-15 ACEM Rowing blades (oars) transfer power from athletes to the water to propel a boat forward. The complex nature of fluid forces around a blade has only recently started to be understood with previous studies only investigating blades that are commercially available. The full motion of a blade spoon through water is complex, with motion both longitudinal and perpendicular to the boat motion. This multidisciplinary research uses a combination of computational models with experimental analysis to evaluate how spoon shapes affect the fluid forces on a blade during rowing. The computational model used 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evaluate the drag and lift forces around four different spoon shapes as they rotate through moving water. Each design had the same surface area, with different positions of maximum depth along their length. Experimental analyses used telemetry to measure blade forces during a series of rowing runs, for two different Concept2 blades, over different stroke rates and blade gearing. The results showed there was a correlation of R²=0.78 between the location of the spoon’s maximum depth and the lift force generated at the catch. The study also found that, a resultant fluid force change of 47.3 N, at the spoon, can promote a 10.7° ± 1.7° shift in the maximum force angle in the real world. The shift in maximum force angle highlighted how spoon design, especially regarding position of the maximum depth, affected the profile of the rowing stroke. Journal Article Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology 0 SAGE Publications 1754-3371 1754-338X oar, drive phase, fluid forces, lateral velocity, max force angle, power curve, gearing, computational fluid dynamics, concept2, rowing 4 6 2026 2026-06-04 10.1177/17543371261450294 COLLEGE NANME Aerospace Civil Electrical and Mechanical Engineering COLLEGE CODE ACEM Swansea University Not Required 2026-06-10T12:46:20.7168229 2026-05-15T13:16:08.6433729 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering Ben I. Morgan 0009-0002-7241-9743 1 Ben Morgan 2 Will Harrison 0000-0002-0380-7075 3 71913__36915__2f357227f5ff47fb9e8329567a90f30b.pdf 71913.AAM.pdf 2026-06-10T12:43:20.1310170 Output 1583158 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true Author accepted manuscript document released under the terms of a Creative Commons CC-BY licence using the Swansea University Research Publications Policy (rights retention). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Optimisation of performance rowing blades
spellingShingle	Optimisation of performance rowing blades Ben Morgan Will Harrison
title_short	Optimisation of performance rowing blades
title_full	Optimisation of performance rowing blades
title_fullStr	Optimisation of performance rowing blades
title_full_unstemmed	Optimisation of performance rowing blades
title_sort	Optimisation of performance rowing blades
author_id_str_mv	d173b9887192b836956b16035581437c dae59f76fa4f63123aa028abfcd2b07a
author_id_fullname_str_mv	d173b9887192b836956b16035581437c_*_Ben Morgan dae59f76fa4f63123aa028abfcd2b07a_*_Will Harrison
author	Ben Morgan Will Harrison
author2	Ben I. Morgan Ben Morgan Will Harrison
format	Journal article
container_title	Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology
container_volume	0
publishDate	2026
institution	Swansea University
issn	1754-3371 1754-338X
doi_str_mv	10.1177/17543371261450294
publisher	SAGE Publications
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id	facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str	School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering
document_store_str	1
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description	Rowing blades (oars) transfer power from athletes to the water to propel a boat forward. The complex nature of fluid forces around a blade has only recently started to be understood with previous studies only investigating blades that are commercially available. The full motion of a blade spoon through water is complex, with motion both longitudinal and perpendicular to the boat motion. This multidisciplinary research uses a combination of computational models with experimental analysis to evaluate how spoon shapes affect the fluid forces on a blade during rowing. The computational model used 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evaluate the drag and lift forces around four different spoon shapes as they rotate through moving water. Each design had the same surface area, with different positions of maximum depth along their length. Experimental analyses used telemetry to measure blade forces during a series of rowing runs, for two different Concept2 blades, over different stroke rates and blade gearing. The results showed there was a correlation of R²=0.78 between the location of the spoon’s maximum depth and the lift force generated at the catch. The study also found that, a resultant fluid force change of 47.3 N, at the spoon, can promote a 10.7° ± 1.7° shift in the maximum force angle in the real world. The shift in maximum force angle highlighted how spoon design, especially regarding position of the maximum depth, affected the profile of the rowing stroke.
published_date	2026-06-04T06:13:24Z
_version_	1869035134632591360
score	11.109911

Optimisation of performance rowing blades

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