Forwards facing rowing apparatus with feathering of the oar blades

A forwards facing rowing apparatus comprising, in combination:

• a boat having an elongated hull with fore and aft ends, an outrigger projecting laterally outward from one side of said hull and an oarloom assembly mounted to said outrigger, said oarloom assembly comprising a non-rotatable handle loom having an inboard end and an outboard end, a handle located at said inboard end of said handle loom, a non-rotatable blade loom extending outwardly from said outrigger and having an inner end and an outer end, a blade located at said outer end of said blade loom, an oarlock mainframe hingeably mounted to said outrigger for rotation about an axis orientated generally fore and aft of said hull, a first sweep hinge member affixed to the outboard end of said handle loom, a second sweep hinge member affixed to the inner end of said blade loom, means for mounting said first and second sweep hinge members for rotation about a common sweep axis extending through said oarlock mainframe and orientated in a generally perpendicular relationship with respect to said axis of rotation of said mainframe, linkage means connected to said non-rotatable handle loom and blade loom for synchronizing the motion of said blade loom with that of said handle loom whereby said blade loom is constrained to move in the same direction as that of said handle loom when said handle loom is rotated about said common sweep axis, a first torque shaft connected to said handle and extending along said handle loom, a second torque shaft connected to said blade and extending along said blade loom, and a pair of swing gears one of each of which is connected to said first and second torque shafts, said swing gears being arranged to engage one another with the tangent line of the gear pitch circle of each gear substantially aligned with said common sweep hinge axis, the arrangement being such that when said handle is rotated said blade is rotated in a reverse direction thereby changing the angle of incidence of said blade with respect to the surface of the water floating said hull.

A forwards facing rowing apparatus comprising, in combination:

• a boat having an elongated hull with fore and aft ends, an outrigger projecting laterally outward from one side of said hull and an oarloom assembly mounted to said outrigger, said oarloom assembly comprising a handle loom having an inboard end and an outboard end, a handle affixed to said inboard end of said handle loom, a blade loom extending outwardly from said outrigger and having an inner end and an outer end, a blade affixed to said outer end of said blade loom, said handle loom being rotatably mounted within a first non-rotatable member and said blade loom being rotatably mounted within a second non-rotatable member, an oarlock mainframe hingeably mounted to said outrigger for rotation about an axis orientated generally fore and aft of said hull, a first sweep hinge member affixed to said first non-rotatable member, a second sweep hinge member affixed to said second non-rotatable member, means for mounting said first and second sweep hinge members for rotation about a common sweep axis extending through said oarlock mainframe and orientated in a generally perpendicular relationship with respect to said axis of rotation of said mainframe, linkage means connected to said first and second non-rotatable members for synchronizing the motion of said blade loom with that of said handle loom whereby said blade loom is constrained to move in the same direction as that of said handle loom when said handle loom is rotated about said common sweep axis, and a pair of swing gears one of each of which is connected to said handle loom and said blade loom, said swing gears being arranged to engage one another with the tangent line of the gear pitch circle of each gear substantially aligned with said common sweep hinge axis, the arrangement being such that when said handle is rotated said blade is rotated in a reverse direction thereby changing the angle of incidence of said blade with respect to the surface of the water floating said hull.