Sculls: Shafts & Flex

Sculls

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Concept2 offers several shafts to match your budget and goals. Options may be limited by your choice of blade, as not all blades fit all shaft types.

All our shafts are handmade in our Morrisville, Vermont, factory. Each shaft is inspected and tested to ensure consistent quality and durability

Shaft Construction Options

Ultralight

The Ultralight is our standard lightweight carbon fiber shaft. Over the years, we have refined the construction of this shaft to be as durable as possible at a price that’s affordable. The Ultralight fills most boathouses and is known for its legacy of performance and reliability.

Stiffness options: Soft, medium, stiff
Benefit: Firmer feel at catch

Skinny

The Skinny shaft has become the high-performance choice for rowers throughout the world. The shaft layup contains high-modulus carbon fiber. This material allows us to engineer a reduced-diameter profile that decreases wind resistance, particularly in a headwind. The Skinny offers similar weight, durability and balance as our Ultralight shafts.

The Skinny is the only shaft available in extra soft flex.

Stiffness options: Extra soft, soft, medium
Benefits: Softer feel at catch, reduced wind resistance

Skinny Coastal

The Skinny Coastal shaft is reinforced with durability in mind. It was developed in response to the waves, surf, tides and unique demands of the growing disciplines of open-water and beach sprint rowing. The Skinny Coastal shaft contains fiberglass which increases impact resistance without significantly affecting weight. This shaft is suitable for anyone looking for extra durability without compromising performance.

Stiffness options: Soft, medium
Benefits: Increased durability, softer feel at catch, reduced wind resistance

Stiffness options

The blade and shaft work together as a system to create a perception of oar stiffness or “flex”. We pair stiffness to the athlete and the blade; smaller or older athletes (such as youth, women, lightweights and masters) will want to use softer shafts than heavyweight (men, elite) athletes. When matching shaft stiffness to blade choice, efficient blade designs are often paired with softer flexes.

Extra Soft (Skinny Only)

A good choice for smaller or older athletes (youth, women, lightweights, masters) who want the efficiency of the Fat2 blade but prefer a softer feel at the catch.

Soft

This is the most common choice for youth, women, lightweights and masters. We also recommended soft flex for heavyweights using the Fat2 blade.

Medium

A popular choice for elite athletes, teams and clubs. It is also the standard stiffness for Ultralight shafts.

Stiff (Ultralight only)

Appropriate for those who prefer the stiffest option.

Measuring stiffness

Stiffness is measured by how much deflection occurs in an oar when a 10 kg weight is hung from the neck as illustrated below.

Demonstration of the deflection of oar when a weight is hung from the neck

Stiffness Options for Scull Shafts

Options	Ultralight	Skinny
Extra Soft	n/a	6.5 cm
Soft	5 cm	5.5 cm
Medium	4.5 cm	4.5 cm
Stiff	4 cm	n/a

Actual deflection within 0.25 cm of numbers listed above.