Riggers

Aluminium 3 stay rigger (1 forestay and 2 mainstays) with a rigger block as seen on many German and Italian boats.  There is at least 30mm of height adjustment and 30mm of span adjustment per rigger. Supplied with topstays (backstays) for both scull and sweep.
This design is not so great, hence the need for topstays, but is easy to set up (no adjustment to lateral pitch), and is familiar to all coaches.

Aluminium 2 stay rigger (1 mainstay and 1 “backstay”).   The rigger supports a C bracket that holds the pin from the bowward side of the pin. There is at least 30mm of height adjustment and 30mm of span adjustment per rigger.

This rigger offers excellent performance (no turning movement of the pin) at a very low all-up weight, so is fast becoming the most popular choice for many rowers. Compared with Euro riggers, there is more clearance from the water surface, and also less surface area to catch wind. There is less stiffness of the rigger in the vertical plane, compared with the Euro rigger, so performs better with crews with reasonable technique and timing.

A large aerofoil profile of aluminium, mounted on 2 fixing brackets. There is at least 30mm of height adjustment and 30mm of span adjustment per rigger. Supplied with topstays (backstays) for sweep only, and if ordered, backstays can be supplied for scull.

Some coaches prefer wing riggers because of their clearance from the water, which is useful in rough conditions. However, in rough conditions, there is wind, and wing riggers have a larger surface area to catch the wind, and so disadvantage the crew. Wing riggers are also heavy, and wing rigger hulls have lower saxboards than non-wing rigger boats, which negatively affects longitudinal and torsional stiffness.

Their 2 advantages are they can be moved bowwards and sternwards to finely adjust the boat's trim, and that as the hull has no (or only small) ribs, they are suited to rowers with “well developed posteriors”.

Aluminium 3 stay rigger (1 forestay and 2 mainstays) with a detachable L shaped rigger block. Overall this is similar to the Euro rigger, except that it allows for a massive overall height adjustment of 60mm, with 30mm of span adjustment per rigger.   This is great for training boats that are used by a variety of crew sizes.   Weight will increase by about 400g per rigger.

Supplied with topstays (backstays) for both scull and sweep.

From our experience, it is hard to make carbon riggers that perform as well as aluminium. This was true for wing riggers, but is especially true for “back” type riggers, where the pipe is largely under compression. Carbon also has the major disadvantage of being easily damaged (while on the trailer, for example), as well as failing catastrophically (such as in a collision, perhaps putting you in the water!).