Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on May 2, 2009 at 8:29am

Jim,
My rower seat is 16" from the floor to the top of the ropes on my seat. Sometimes I wish it were just a little bit higher... oh well - next boat perhaps.
GH

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Permalink Reply by Jim Rubino on May 2, 2009 at 8:35am

Thanks Greg, appreciate the info.

Jim

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Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on May 2, 2009 at 2:10pm

Hey Jim,
I have two boats, one is a standard 16 footer. That one is 18" from the floor (not floor boards) to the top of the rope. The other is a 16' High side. That one is 22" from floor to top of ropes. That is very high but kinda cool cuz I am only 5'6"
If you are building a framed boat I would suggest erring on the high side. It is possible to trim the sides of the seat to make it lower but you can't go higher without building a new seat.
Hope this helps
Mike

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Permalink Reply by Jim Rubino on May 2, 2009 at 2:34pm

Thanks Mike, that helps a lot.

Jim

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Permalink Reply by Dave Z on May 4, 2009 at 11:37am

More importantly, go low on the front seat.

I like about 16-17" on the rower ropes. But the front seat like 12" or less. from the floorboards to sitting surface. This way you cna see over your passengers, (or hopefully, they can see over you!)

I am at this point today in my latest project. Last night I put in a transom seat, and cut cross braces for the front seat. Rower seat is at 16-5"

Dave

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Permalink Reply by Jim Rubino on May 4, 2009 at 11:44am

Good advice, thanks.

Jim

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Permalink Reply by Mike Dearing on May 4, 2009 at 8:02pm

Jim,

I think the 16 to 17 inch high rowers seat is about right. You have to be careful about getting things to high or to low for that matter. If you get the oarsman's seat to high raising the oar blades to clear rocks or obstacles without them jamming in the locks or hitting you in the knees will become very difficult. All oarlocks have only a limited amount of range up and down ( Sawyer cobras have the most) and the height of the oarsmans seat is critical for keeping everything properly aligned for them to work best. If the oarsmans seat is to low then you may have problems seeing over your passengers like Dave pointed out, and your oars will be hitting you to high in the chest for proper strokes. I would say the 16 to 17 inch height is about right unless you are really tall. If you are really tall and want a higher oarsmans seat like Greg does, I would also recommend you make some kind of taller block for the oarlock to sit in to keep the rowing geometry correct.

Be careful about front seat placement too. I put my seat in pretty low in hopes of gaining some better vision over my passengers. It worked and I achieved my goal, but I also got uncomfortable passengers in the process. I have since raised the seat and put real seats (tempress) on the bench which = much happier passengers.

Mike

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Permalink Reply by Jim Rubino on May 5, 2009 at 7:11am

.....and you're measuring from the floor and not floorboards to come up with the 16-17 inch height?

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Clarke on May 5, 2009 at 4:08pm

It's 16" from the bottom of the boat to the top of the ropes on my 14" Tatman. I'm a long-torso 6' 1" and the 16" seems fine.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Rubino on May 6, 2009 at 6:50am

thanks Jonathon and everyone else that replied to this. Jim

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Permalink Reply by Jesse Ronnow on May 6, 2009 at 7:53am

Jim,

I had my seat last year at 18" from the floor (not the floor boards). As I pulled my boat apart this winter to restore it, I decided to make the rowing seat lower because I was constantly rubbing my hands on my thighs when I had the oars out of the water. Which was a combination the oar locks and the rowers seat. To adjust this I moved the rowing seat and oar locks forward one set of ribs each, and lowered the rowing seat to 16", again from the floor not the floor boards. I have not had it out on the water yet, so at this point it's just an idea.

Hope this provides some insight,

Jesse

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Permalink Reply by Jim Rubino on May 6, 2009 at 8:53am

yeah it helps, 16" inches or so seems to be the magic height. thanks, Jim

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