This week I have managed to get a long thought about idea over the last hurdle. FindOar is now live!
What was this brilliant idea?
A matchmaking service for odd oars.
www.findoar.co.uk is a free service that let’s you list an oar that you have or want, then search other listings for a match.
Why is this useful? In my work repairing oars I often hear clubs lamenting the fact that due to accident or age, they have a lot of perfectly good oars going unused because they don’t have matching partners. This is a big issue with sculling blades.
There are so many clubs with the same problem that the number of unused oars is very large.
But what if there was a way of matching these odd oars easily?
Making useful pairs means that clubs can have more equipment to use and can save money. There is also a lot of waste being avoided, which is good for the planet overall.
Even saved spoons from broken oars can be listed. I have created many sets of oars by taking a surplus of working oars from one side, replacing the spoon with the opposite side, and voila! One club gave me 20 good bow side oars and 10 stroke side spoons. I returned 10 working pairs (a resleeve was also required, but was needed anyway due to wear).
This week, go down the back of your boathouse and look at the assorted ‘odd’ oars. Using FindOar it may be possible to put a few pairs back into use, or help another club boost their oar fleet.
