Advice on racing in a 1x too big for you?

[rowrowrowyour8]

Hey y'all,

Not sure if this best goes here or in Boats/Oars, but thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm racing this weekend in my first 1x race (whee!), but since I'm at the mercy of what club equipment gets loaded on the trailers, the only shell I'll have available to use on Sunday is a shell rated at 195lbs-215lbs, where after a weekend of not rowing or racing I'll tip the scales at 185 lbs. Usually I row one of our club's shells that's loaded at 180lb-200lbs.

Advice on any rigging/boat adjustments I should make to make the shell race a little more closely to what I'm comfortable with? If it matters, I'd be going from a 2-3 year old Hudson competitive 1x to a 4-5 year old Empacher.

[Stelph]

Shouldn't make a significant difference, just make sure the span is the same and the gate height difference (ie is one gate higher than the other) is the same as with your current boat and if you can, go for a pre paddle to check if you need to check the heights.

Otherwise I don't think you should worry about it, it may "feel" odd to begin with but I've raced on boats far to big for me and done fine

[rowingrick]

The starting point for rigging a boat should be the seat height over the waterline. Know the height you prefer (generally 9-11 cm for scullers) and see if you can match it with the other boat by adjusting the seat height, probably lower (Empacher offers several differ height undercarriage brackets). If you can't get the seat height to your liking, compensations may have to be made with the oarlock height. If you're sitting high, stability may become an issue.

[SwagRowerYOLO]

The starting point for rigging a boat should be the seat height over the waterline. Know the height you prefer (generally 9-11 cm for scullers) and see if you can match it with the other boat by adjusting the seat height, probably lower (Empacher offers several differ height undercarriage brackets). If you can't get the seat height to your liking, compensations may have to be made with the oarlock height. If you're sitting high, stability may become an issue.

How does one accurately measure seat height above the water?

[1xsculler]

Sit in your boat on flat water, a level across the edges of your cockpit, a flexible, plastic measuring tape (the kind seamstresses use) running out through an oarlock with a small weight on the end (a steel nut will do), let the nut touch the water with the boat level and note the measurement at the oarlock. Now you know how far your oarlock is off the water with your boat level. Measure from a straightedge through both oarlocks to the seat top.

[SwagRowerYOLO]

Sit in your boat on flat water, a level across the edges of your cockpit, a flexible, plastic measuring tape (the kind seamstresses use) running out through an oarlock with a small weight on the end (a steel nut will do), let the nut touch the water with the boat level and note the measurement at the oarlock. Now you know how far your oarlock is off the water with your boat level. Measure from a straightedge through both oarlocks to the seat top.

Almost sure to have massive errors all over the place there before you even get into the fact that you're measuring the boat without the rower in it.

[1xsculler]

As stated, 1st step, "Sit in your boat on flat water."