Oar length

While the physiological characteristics of a crew is generally used to help determine where to set the outboard length of the oars, the blade profile shape should also be considered. This is because the location of the centre-of-pressure along the blade face (where the blade force is centered) depends on the blade shape itself.

The distance of this centre-of-pressure from the oarlock can be described as the perceived outboard length. While two oars with different blades may have the same physical outboard length, they may load up differently because they have different perceived outboard lengths.

Generally, a more efficient blade shape will have a centre-of-pressure located closer to the blade tip. Going back the the Smoothie and Fat2 comparison, this means that the higher efficiency Fat2 should be geared lighter than the less efficient Smoothie in order to produce a similar loading for the rower.