# Oar length question for this 10 foot Sotar... (pics included)



## spider (Jun 20, 2011)

I have 8' oars on my little boat, 5'6" wide. In a smaller boat the last thing you need is oars tha are too long. Your not rowing much weight and it's easier to run tight slots. Can you cut those down? Catgirl might know where to find some 8'ers.


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## DRL River Gypsies (May 19, 2010)

You could drop in Cataract oar Carlisle blades and that would shorten them to 8'3". Three inches probably isn't enough, but it's something.


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## Robpineau (Dec 21, 2009)

You could try to rotate the oar locks out: 

The benefit would be it would allow your locks to be adjusted. 

Down side is if the locks extend past the boat they may catch in a tight slot or get bashed in a bump.


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## John the welder (May 2, 2009)

Counter weights


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## johnovice (Jul 17, 2009)

I've got 7.5' on my 5' wide minimax.
48" wide NRS frame.
So far, so good.
Curious to try 8' sometime.


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## billycrack (May 20, 2010)

the oars locks look to close, 64 inches roughly for 8 ft. what is your space?


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

I'm running 8.5 ft. oars on my 12 ft. long X 6 ft. wide raft. They are a perfect fit, but I went to taller towers and angled them out a bit to achieve more width. How wide is your frame? Can you rotate your oar towers out more without too much angle? It appears in the pictures that you will need to take the towers off and turn them around (open side pointing in towards the inside of the raft) to angle them more. More width between the oar locks will allow for better oar balance. I'd try that first, then go smaller if they still don't feel right. Remember to only angle them out to the point that you can keep the oar locks fairly level. Good price on Cataract oars at backcountry.com


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## BilloutWest (Jan 25, 2013)

danattherock said:


> These Sawyer pole cats measure 8.5' but feel a bit long. With so little of the shaft above the oar locks, they feel heavy and out of balance. Any suggestions on the appropriateness of these oars or suggestions for improvement? Thanks for any thoughts.
> Dan


They feel heavy and out of balance because they are.
Way too much oar outside of the fulcrum. Just look at them.

There looks to be the right amount of oar handle inside the locks. Some overlap but not too much.
Moving the oars further in doesn't look to be an option.

Go to a shorter oar. Same inside but the outer is what needs to be shortened.

Unless you're one of those guys that has a Prius look down your nose glare at those scouting narrow chutes as you smirk on by. Perhaps you name your narrow SOTAR _the smirk_.

If that's the case, go with even longer oars.


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## mjibilian (Sep 9, 2008)

*What are the dimensions please?*

The width of the frame, and the width of the boat?

Thanks.

Mark Jibilian


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## jturnrey (Feb 15, 2010)

johnovice said:


> I've got 7.5' on my 5' wide minimax.
> 48" wide NRS frame.
> So far, so good.
> Curious to try 8' sometime.


 
I run 8' on my mini me with a 48" wide nrs frame. I actually would prefer some 7.5's. Wanna swap?


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