When planning the rowing arrangements for Geese I found the available gunmetal or bronze rowlocks too expensive. Galvanised steel ones were cheap, but I was concerned that in the event of some kind of accident with a jetty they would be much stronger than the wood gunwale that they were mounted on. I would prefer the rowlocks to fail before the gunwale and deck were torn apart. I guessed that plastic rowlocks would be more forgiving.

This led me to reconsider plastic rowlocks, but I wanted more information about their strength. I expect many people have experience of different rowlocks and have formed their opinions, but I thought some experimental data would help me. I bought one sample of each from RWO, Plastimo and Holt to test their strength to destruction. I mounted each rowlock by representing the socket with a hole in a steel block. Using a shackle hooked over one of the jaws, I pulled sideways representing a pull on the oar. I measured the load with a large fish-balance, the load being applied using a tackle.

The results were as follows:

Brand	Max Load	Failure Mode
Plastimo	70kg	Stem flexed, allowing shackle to slide out of the jaws.
Holt	60kg	Both the stem and one side of the jaw flexed, allowing the shackle to slide off.
RWO	60kg	One side of the jaw flexed allowing shackle to slide off.
RWO with lashing	110kg	Both the stem and one side of the jaw flexed allowing shackle to slide off, displacing the lashing as it went.

All types recovered with no visible signs of damage.

As you will see there is not much to choose between them except when a lashing is applied across the jaws of the RWO. I would guess that most of us might be able to pull a force equivalent to 40 kg with one hand, particularly when in a state of fright! If you imagine trying to leave a beach through some surf or climbing up the face of a wave, this ultimate force might well be used.

Short oars where the collar is a third of the way down would result in a load at the rowlock of 60 kg. Any misalignment of the pull would make matters worse. The thought of falling back and slewing sideways on this hypothetical wave brings a chill! Only the RWO version has flared ends on the jaws to facilitate a lashing to hold the oar in place. With a loop of 4mm line around the tips, the normally redundant leg was able to support the working leg and prevent it from flexing open.

This experiment decided me to go for the RWO. In use on Geese they have proved satisfactory, despite its having less than ideal geometry for rowing (short oars and high freeboard). However, more serious sail and oar boats may well do better with the greater strength and working rigidity of metal rowlocks. JL