Oar racks – Horizontal oar racks

Swift horizontal oar racks are for storing both sweep and scull oars horizontally, by laying them on 2 arms. With these racks you can store both scull and sweep oars on the same rack. These racks are also good for storing boats without riggers in a very compact way, especially on the double sided version.

◊ Single sided or double sided?

There is a single sided version, which is suitable for positioning against a wall, or in a corner.  The total width (front to back is 1m).
There is also a double sided version, for which rowers need to be able to access both sides of the rack.   The total width (front to back is 1.8m).

◊ 1.4m cross stays, or 2m cross stays?

We make 2 lengths of cross stays for you to choose from.  Firstly you need to make sure that you have enough room for these racks. The total length of the rack with the “1.4m cross stays” is 1.5m, and likewise, the total length of the rack with the “2m cross stays” is 2.1m.

◊ How many oars can be stored on each arm?

The length of each arm is enough to store 8 scull or 8 sweep oars.

◊ How many oars can be stored on one rack?

This depends on how tightly you want to pack the oars.

If oars are stored as below, then for CII big blade/smoothie scull and sweep oars, the vertical spacing can be as little as 200mm (this is also the minimum that is possible with our design).

On a 2m upright, with 200mm vertical spacings between arms, it is possible to have 10 arms on each upright.   Therefore a single sided rack can hold 80 scull or sweep oars, and a double sided can hold 160 oars. On a 2.5m upright, with 200mm vertical spacings between arms, it is possible to have 12 arms on each upright.   Therefore a single sided rack can hold 96 scull or sweep oars, and a double sided can hold 192 oars.

◊ With wheels or without wheels?

These racks can be fitted with wheels.  The wheels are 200mm in diameter, and there are 2 types;
“Free” wheels that can move in any direction, and have a brake.
“Fixed” wheels that can only move in one direction.
If wheels are not used, the bases need to be lifted from the ground a little, to avoid resting on the heads of bolts. This can be done with some small blocks of wood (not provided by us), or by attaching our purpose made feet.

◊ What stops the oars getting scratched?

The arms are supplied as bare steel.  We suggest you also use our purpose made rubber “capping”, but you may opt to use some other material supplied by yourself, such as strips of carpet.  Something is needed to protect the oars from scratching.

◊ What parts do I need if I want to store boats?

The double sided version of this rack is good for storing boats that do not have riggers attached, in a very compact way.  With the double sided arms, you have 850mm of horizontal space, so can comfortably store even the widest boats, such as gig 4s.  If you want to store a lot of smaller boats (singles and doubles), it is easy to double the storage capacity by attaching (with strong tape etc) long pieces of 50 x 50mm wood to the tops of the arms.  The length of the wood should be decided by you, depending upon what you want to store, but 2.4m long wood should easily be enough room for 2 racing doubles on each side.

Heavier boats, such as 4s and 8s can also be stored 4 per arm, but as the total weight will become very high, you should not use wheels, and also take care to load the rack in a balanced way.
As the boats will not have riggers, they can also be packed very tightly, vertically.  The number of arms you can use depends upon the depth of the boats you want to store.  For racing boats, it should be possible to store the following;

It is also possible of course to mix different boat types on the same rack.
For storing boats, rather than oars, you will need longer cross stays.  Please use (3 of) the cross stays that are sold as parts for the Moveable Boat Rack (MBR). Because the design of the HOR and MBR are quite different, you will need to prepare 1 spacer to put between one of the cross stays and one of the uprights.  The size should be 50 x 50 x 200mm, and with 2 of 9mm holes drilled, to allow bolts to pass through the cross stay and the spacer.  This spacer can be made from square metal pipe, or from solid wood.

◊ How do all the parts fit together?

One upright is bolted to one base.  There are 2 uprights and 2 bases for each rack.  3 cross stays are used to connect these 2 upright/base pieces (2 cross stays are used near floor level, 1 cross stay is used towards the top of the uprights).  If wheels are needed, they are attached to the bases.  Finally the arms are bolted to the uprights as required.

◊ What are the shims for?

We make 2mm thick steel shims (spacers) that you can use, if needed to make your racks level, even when the ground surface is not level. These are only useful if the racks are not on wheels. You may prefer to make your own shims, as needed, after installing the rack.

◊ Why make racks that bolt together?

• Shipping is cheap, because none of the parts are bulky.
• You can order only the parts that you need, and use them in the best way for you.
• If you ever want to add parts, you just need to give us a call for the extra parts.
• If you ever want to change the configuration, you can easily reassemble.

◊ How is the finishing?

Each part is hot galvanised to protect from rust. If this is done in China, the appearance of the galvanising is not great.  However, they are very strong, and will do the job of racking your oars very well. Some distributors choose to galvanise the parts themselves, for a better look. If this concerns you, please discuss with your local distributor.

◊ What do I need to put a rack together?

Any of the vertical oar racks can be assembled by 2 people.  Regards tools, at least 1 of 13mm, and 1 of 14mm spanners, and if you need wheels, you will need 2 of 17mm spanners.  If you have “socket/ratchet spanners” this will be faster.  The best is to have a cordless drill with 13 and/or 14mm socket attachments.