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The FrontRower changes all of that.  Now rowing can be done for the pleasure of being on the water (and with high quality exercise as a healthful byproduct).

The FrontRower gives you three ways to row your boat:

1. You can row using just your hands
2. You can row using just your feet
3. You can row using your hands and feet together 

For some owners, the FrontRower enables them to plan and take the journey of a lifetime. For others, it gives them healthful cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis. For still others, it allows them to engage in other interests (such as photography, bird watching, or fishing), while propelling and steering their boat with their feet.

The FrontRower is so easy to use that many people who are not able to row conventionally can row quite well with it. This includes older people and people with disabilities such as arm or leg amputations. See adaptive rowing.

 

 

The official FISA rules of the sport of rowing require all rowers to face backward. They also disallow any method of developing leg power other than using a sliding seat.  That's why rear-facing sliding-seat systems are standard equipment at race oriented rowing clubs.

 

The FrontRowerä breaks both these rules.   And the FrontRower is not designed to fit in racing type shells.  So you will not see it in elite sanctioned events.

 

But in some less formal races, FrontRower owners in touring type rowboats have found themselves rowing along with similar boats using conventional rigs.  It's pretty clear that the FrontRower has the advantage.  See Blackburn Challenge 22 mile open water race.

 

Long distance rower "Philly Joe" rowing his boat through Rhode Island

 

It's a common belief that sliding-seat rowing is the fastest and most efficient way to propel a rowboat.  The sliding seat lets you add the power of your legs.   But a lot of that power is wasted in the back and forth movement of the rower on the seat.

 

The inefficiency of the sliding-seat system was demonstrated in 1981 when a fixed-seat boat with sliding riggers (the overhanging structure with the oarlocks) won the Men's Singles at the World Rowing Championships in Munich. By 1983, all the Men's Singles finalists were using fixed-seat rowboats with sliding riggers. Then sliding riggers were banned from sanctioned racing.

 

The FrontRower uses a fixed seat with moving pedals to develop leg power. This reduces efficiency losses due to weight shifting to almost zero. Tests show the FrontRower™ to be as much as 19 per cent more efficient than a sliding seat rig in the same boat. See rowing efficiency.

You can watch our movie "Rowboats for Touring" on your home DVD player. It's educational. It's fun. Show it to your friends. They will be amazed. We'll be happy to send you a free copy. DVD movie

Top 100 rowing sites

 

Owner built Odyssey 18 touring rowboat

The FrontRower is the only rowing system you can row hands free, using only your legs to power and steer your rowboat or canoe. Or you can add you hands for full body rowing, with the power to outperform conventional sliding seat rigs in the same row boats or canoes. And you row it facing forward (instead of backward).

The FrontRower fits in touring type row boats and canoes. It is the first rowing system designed from the ground up for practical and comfortable long-distance rowing (or touring). It is fast and efficient and very easy to use.

Until the FrontRower came on the scene, anyone considering touring by row boat had to contend with an awkward rear-facing position, had to sit on an uncomfortable seat without any back support, and had to keep their hands on the oars in order to control and propel the boat. Little or no consideration was given to the comfort or enjoyment of the person doing the rowing.

Canoes can make excellent touring rowboats.