Rowing for the Directionally Challenged

By Kevin Harding

Reprinted from Messing About in Boats, January 15, 2000

I’ve been rowing in one way or another for many years. My first leap forward was an Alden Shell and Oarmaster with Ciolli oars. I’m lucky enough to live on a lake in Maine in the summer, and many early mornings have been pleasantly spent getting a great workout rowing around one of the bays. My five mile loop not only produced wonderful exercise to combat my expanding waistline, but by rowing early in the morning I avoided boat traffic and enjoyed the company of loons, gulls, ducks, and even an occasional otter or beaver.

But rowing backwards has its drawbacks. Inevitably I hit things, or just barely missed them despite putting a rear view mirror on board. It sometimes got scary. There was the day I messed taking off the head of an early morning swimmer by just a few inches. I don’t think the swimmer ever knew I almost clobbered him, but it scared the hell out of me. Even more incredible was the day I saw a beautiful wooded skiff rowing on the same bay, and even though there was just the tow of us, we somehow managed to come within feet of a disastrous collision in which I’m sure I would have severed that lovely boat right in two!

The final straw was the morning that I rowed full tilt right into a rock. After quickly looking around to see if anyone had seen my idiocy, I returned to the beach to examine the damage. Amazingly the bow was chipped, but intact. I have rowed by that rock for over ten years, and yet somehow I managed to find it.

I had seen a rig advertised that promised you could row facing frontwards, and remembered seeing an early model at a boat show in Maine. My fiftieth birthday was approaching and my generous wife said to treat myself. I found the manufacturer on the net and made an appointment. Ron Rantilla (inventor, owner, and manufacturer) urged me to give the device a try, but I had already made my mind up after seeing the quality of the workmanship and professional nature of the shop. Besides, it was December, and I wasn’t sure rowing a rig I’d never seen was a good idea in questionable conditions. I bought the rig and I waited for spring.

From the first try I was sold. I was rowing facing forward! I was using both my legs and arms. Or just my arms, or just my legs! Sounds impossible, but it’s true. The Frontrower has several advantages over my Alden Oarmaster. It is unlikely that I will keep running into things; I can see where I am going, but I can have my hands free to use binoculars; although the rig uses my whole body, it seems less physically demanding than my Oarmaster (no more blisters).

I have always enjoyed bird watching from my canoe, but the best spots were almost an hour down the lake. Now, I can use the Frontrower to row into the small streams in about twenty minutes with binoculars in hand. I did make one modification to the rig to improve its performance as a birding platform; I painted the aluminum shafts of the oars black to prevent the reflection from alerting the birds.

There are additional features of the Frontrower worth mentioning. The machine is designed to fit into a canoe (with suction cups, or with wooden pads fiber glassed into place). A significant advantage of rowing my canoe as opposed to paddling it, is that my weight is much lower in the boat and so there is much more stability. I have purposely taken the boat out in heavy winds and waves that would be quite challenging if I were solo paddling, and there is a great feeling of security as it handled the conditions with no problems.

According to his advertising video, Ron is often asked if the Frontrower is fast, and he seems to have answered that question by beating traditional sliding seat rigs in several races (including the Blackburn Challenge). My own experience is more subjective, but I have outraced fast sea kayaks and I expect I could beat a traditional sliding seat Alden shell.

But there are also several disadvantages. I am constantly stopped by boats and spectators who want to know what I’m doing and how the rig works. It’s tough to be polite and row right by them, so there have been several interrupted voyages. I made the mistake of encouraging my wife to give it a try; and as a result I recently bought another Frontrower! She is a non-swimmer, and always depended on me to captain our tandem canoe. Not only did the Frontrower provide her with a secure stable platform, but now she is captain of her own boat. At least I haven’t had to buy another canoe, because the rig also fits nicely in my Alden shell.

My enthusiasm for this front facing rowing has expanded my boating, not limited it. I still enjoy a vigorous row with the Oarmaster, and there are quiet evenings when a solo paddle is just the thing to unwind tensions of the day. A new means of enjoying messing about in boats is always welcome.

This commentary may sound like a publicity release, but my endorsement does not come from any arrangement with the manufacturer. It does come from first hand experience. I expect that as good as the Frontrower is, the number of customers may be limited because most folks would not purchase one without trying it. Innovation that dramatically violates tradition faces a real challenge, but in this case, it is worth a try.