Stretchers

[Bill Perkins]

Clinton I'm ready to go the same route . I've been putting up with a bare line :tolerable when wearing a pair of stiff Tevas but far from optimal . What size octagon did you decide you liked ?

[Woxbox]

Someone here suggested taking a standard vinyl fender, which is already on board, and tying a line to each and and back to frames port and starboard. I gave it a shot and am convinced. It's very comfortable for bare feet and it can be deployed as a fender when needed.

[Clinton B Chase]

I go 1 3/4" Diam. minimum.
Here is one that I made in a pinch when I was rowing a customers Drake in the PNW. I took a chunk of wood, chamfered the end to sit on the garboards, then rounded the edge facing me. This was probably similar size, maybe smaller, maybe a bit bigger.

[AJZimm]

These are the stretchers on Fire-Drake. Solid platforms that work for sandals, water shoes or gumboots and give a variety of foot positions for all-day rowing with either the fixed thwart or the sliding-seat rig I built. They have non-skid strips on the surface my feet contact and pegs on the bottoms that drop into holes in the floorboards. The boat is big enough that finding room to stow them out of the way when sailing is not an issue.
Foot stretchers.jpg

[rgthom]

I do some slide seat racing on a friend's racing double. It has the typical close set fixed angle stretchers, they are fine for the duration of a race. On my slide seat cruising rowboat, the stretchers are wide set, angled out to better match my duck feet, and will rotate about the ball of my feet. I found this rotation more comfortable than fixed angle for all day slide seat rowing. They also have easy out foot retention, necessary for slide seat return stroke.

[Ben Fuller]

For my short slide like the one that Alex shows in #39 I haven't found I need a pulling strap. I do have full foot braces like Alex's but they are adjusted with a thumb screw clamp system. I think for any kind of slide you need to push from the balls of your feet.

[David W Pratt]

On my Glocester Gull, I just glued in two short (?crippled) knees at the appropriate distance from the thwart. Not nearly so elegant as the ones shown above

[AJZimm]

Like Ben, I haven't found the need for foot straps. My removable sliding seat rig doesn't have that much range of travel compared to a racing scull, say. Enough to bring the major lag muscles into play, but not enough to need straps.