row2k Features
Rigger Tricks
Rowing Hack: The Cox-Box Travel Case
October 31, 2024
John FX Flynn, row2k

Here's a hack that a lot of teams have cooked up over the years: a CoxBox charging station inside a travel case that you can just unplug and load up in your truck when regatta time rolls around.

Amazingly, this trick--a super useful, road-trip friendly variation of the CoxBox Charging Cabinet Hack--has never had a Rowing Hack column of its own, so we're indebted to Cheng Xing, the boatman at Stuartholme School, for sending us his version.

Extra bonus? Cheng does his boat-rigging and hacking down in Brisbane, Australia, so we are taking this submission as proof that Rowing Hacks are indeed a world-wide phenomenon.

Cheng explained how he put this build together, using a bit of down-under lingo.

"It's a portable charging station built into a Pelican case with all the wiring and plugboards hidden under the plywood. It allows our school program to simply unplug the case, close the lid, and load it straight into the ute!"

The set up has an external outlet that allows Cheng to charge the case with a generator at longer regattas and he noted that he uses a timer when it is plugged in at home to avoid overcooking the batteries--a trick we covered a few years back in the CoxBox Charging Hack.

"There's also a test speaker attached to the case which allows our cox'ns to make sure everything works/troubleshoot cox box issues," he added, which is pretty slick add-on.

Turns out Cheng inherited the case when he became the Stuartholme boatman, but he rebuilt it with the plywood to hide all the wires and added the test speaker.

"In our racing season we'll find ourselves going to a regatta every Saturday for six weeks, so we needed a better way to transport and charge all the electronics than the individual NK bags that come with the gear, hence the case."

Do you have a cool travel solution that you use when your team hits the road? If so, share your ideas--and hacks--in the comments below.

If you have a great rowing hack to suggest for future inclusion, then please send it to us like Cheng did and we will feature your idea in a future column.

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Comments

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Bfalk
10/31/2024  1:03:34 PM
I know a web site selling these. The Crew Case .com. Our program had old ones bought more then ten years ago that needed repairs. That company no longer is in business. We now use one from CrewCase and it's a nice thing to have.



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