Employee Profile: André Rathje
At the 2014 Head Of The Charles Regatta, we introduced a simple new oar carrier that holds four sweep oars or two pair of sculls. Made of Baltic Birch Plywood, six carriers can be cut from a single 5’ x 5’ piece. You can access the plans to build your own, or—as of early December—you can purchase carriers directly from Concept2 for $25 each. We'll sell them like “unfinished furniture.” You can finish them in your team colors for easy identification. Continue Reading ›
A lot of us have seen it before: a brand new set of oars in the boathouse, just begging to be rowed, but they can’t be used until the blades get the school-color treatment. Or maybe it was race day when you realized that the paint job you had agonized over a few days before is already peeling! Fortunately, we’re now expanding Concept2’s blade color options to 53 colors in order to make it easy to get great-looking oars. Continue Reading ›
Watching a crew row by, one’s technical eye will typically spot the slow catches from the faster ones, inconsistent blade work and maybe even the body movements that are out of sync. Yet, I think the coach should not be totally responsible for influencing the change of a quicker catch or improved timing. It seems to me the rower should also take the responsibility of correcting these flaws. Continue Reading ›
Can you handle the True North? That is, can you handle rowing in Canada in sub-zero temperatures? Last month, I tried exactly that. I was initiated to a historical sport, “Canot à Glace,” which is practiced in Quebec City on the St-Laurent seaway. The easy translation would be “Ice Canoeing,” but with all due respect, it’s rowing and not canoeing since we go backwards and use Concept2 oars instead of wooden paddles. However, given the oral tradition of the sport and how the passionate winter rowers in Quebec City have passed it down from one generation to the next, I will uphold the tradition and call it as it is in French, “Canot à Glace.” It is now part of the culture of Quebec City. There is a competitive league for the sport and the die-hard winter lovers say that it’s the best winter sport! Continue Reading ›