The HOCR Regatta Equipment and Technology oversight committee has approved a proposal from MIT's rowing program to utilize hybrid shell designs in this years' regatta. The configuration calls for the modification of Eight Oared shells to incorporate the following improvements:
- While Bow Pairs and Stern Pairs will be conventionally rigged, the Middle Four Engine room will be driving the boat with a set of counter-cyclical rotating collapsible propellers driven by inboard-erg type rigging. While initial tests have yet to produce measurably faster hullspeeds, the inherent greater efficiency of the systems in this configuration helps the MIT crews compete while exerting only a fraction of the normal 3-mile race-spent energy.
- Coxswains are now rigged to steer using a wifi-directed steering wheel rudder system, reducing weight and increasing steering of the winding 3-mile course
Regatta officials see these improvements as being in synch with the Regatta's long-standing advocacy for support of improved safety and rowing technology.