A Bygone Bouquet: The Progression of Modern Rowing Oars

Modern rowing oars all look very similar: they are side-specific and provide superior hydrodynamics than their predecessors, but this wasn't always the case.

Around 1990, one of the staples of rowing design changed, possibly for good. The traditional blades, also known as “macon” or “tulip” (A possible nod to the Dutch) blades were replaced by the first ever “big blade” which are now known as “hatchet” or “cleaver” blades. Designed by a pair of prolific inventors, the Dreissigacker brothers, these blades aba…