Sculling
The shaft of an oar receives a lot of attention at Croker Oars. We invest many hours into designing, developing, and trialling our products and believe our range of sculling oars give every rower an opportunity to match their skill level with the desired feel on the water.
Before leaving the factory every shaft is deflected, weighed and matched to its identical to give the best quality pair of oars possible. We are only too happy to discuss your abilities and offer shaft, blade and handle suggestions to best suit you or your crew.
Deflection (Flex)
Which flex is for you?
Soft Deflection
Soft shafts are ideal for juniors, women at all levels, and masters men. Soft flex shafts are also a popular choice for elite openweight women racing the single scull or small team boats.
The soft shafts are well matched to scullers with 2000m erg scores slower than 7:00, water times in the 1x around 7:45 or slower for 2000m, or for those who desire a slightly more forgiving feel at the catch. Soft shafts are also recommended for rowers with a history of recurrent injuries. Soft shafts may also be a reasonable selection for rowers lighter than 65kg.
Standard Deflection
Regular shafts are ideal for senior and elite men in all boat classes, as well as world-class elite women in team boats. The recommended 2000m erg score is 6:45 or faster. The appropriate 2000m water time in ideal conditions is 7:30 and faster. Rowers or crews not meeting this threshold may encounter rigging and comfort challenges and may be more effectively served with softer shafts. Regular shafts are also recommended for rowers heavier than 90kg with no history of injuries.
S39 ARROW - Small diameter shafts
S39 shafts are made using high modulus carbon, recently used in the America’s Cup boats. They use multiple layers of thin carbon plies at various angles to achieve a balance of strength, stiffness, torsional stiffness and are very light weight. The S39 has less aerodynamic drag than normal shafts and because they weigh less has less rotational inertia.
S40 ARROW - Small diameter shafts
S40 utilise standard modulus carbon in their construction, compared to the S39 made with high modulus carbon. As the result of this, stiffness is unchanged and strength is enhanced. These thin shafts have less aerodynamic drag than normal shafts and have less rotational inertia. They feature thicker walls for more durability as well as the latest Arrow blade.
S4 Series
The S4 series are full carbon shafts made using various layers of standard modulus carbon. They achieve a balance of maximum strength and minimum weight. These 100% carbon shafts exhibit crisper catches and allow higher rating than our elite level S2 models.
Previous S4 shaft
Note: The S4 Series will no longer have gold on the shaft.
Current S4 shaft
S2 Series
The S2 Series are made from uni-directional carbon and woven. They achieve good strength with light weight. Part of our breakthrough line of “superlight” shafts, these are constructed of 80% carbon and 20% fiberglass. The lightweight feel and elite performance of these oars is superior to that of heavier oars in common club circulation. These oars are the definitive “step up” for dedicated scullers, but still at an affordable price.
S3 Intermediate
With a shaft construction mix of 50% carbon and 50% fiberglass, the S3 is the recommended oar for club use and shared equipment situations. The S3 has the same stiffness as the S2 Soft, but is significantly more durable, making it ideal for fleet purchasing in club or scholastic sculling programs. With the heavier shaft weight, the S3 is less sensitive in high winds and bad weather and have more weight in hand than our elite S4 and S2 shafts and therefore offer more stability during the recovery phase for the developing rower. The S3 also enjoys popularity among scullers who enjoy open or rough water.
S6 Trainers
With 100% fibreglass shafts, the S6 is designed for the rougher environment of novice and learn-to-row levels. The softer shaft reduces the risk of overuse injuries, especially in junior rowers. The increase in weight makes them the perfect oar for beginners, with less propensity for rising up in windy situations or overzealous movements. Given their durability and fleet longevity, the S6 are a highly economical oar for the instructional levels of any program. The S6 also enjoys some popularity among scullers who enjoy open water rowing events.
*Approximate weights