row2k Features
Coach Tricks
Rowing Hack: The Sling Cart
January 23, 2025
John FX Flynn, row2k

This hack gives you one less thing to carry when you have to wait in line to launch.

File this hack under "Why lug stuff when you can roll it?" Meet the Sling Cart.

We've all been at big races featuring epic lines to stand in before you can launch, and having a set of slings along for the long carry is a workaround folks have used for years to let the crew put the shell down while they wait.

At Stotes last year, we spotted one team working smarter while braving the slow shuffle along Kelly Drive: instead of hefting the slings from stop to stop, they just popped them in the cart and kept things rolling along. The cart also had plenty of room for water bottles and anything else the rowers might have otherwise needed to carry along with the boat.

Now this trick might be a bit of overkill, but planning ahead so you can tow stuff instead of toting it? That's good hacking, especially for the long trip back to the trailer after your crew finally gets on the water.

Bundle this trick with the Shoe Cart Hack to really get things rolling when you launch your crews.
Bundle this trick with the Shoe Cart Hack to really get things rolling when you launch your crews.

That puts this idea right up there with some of the great cart hacks we've spotted over the years--like the gas cart, the shoe cart, the oar cart, and the boat cart--and we are willing to be that the parents at the food tent probably have a set of wheels you can borrow to boot. The chuck wagon crowd has been on to this "bring a cart" trick for years.

Combine this with a good oar-carrying hack, like using Oar Bundle Bungees, and you will have a team that can get on the water at a big regatta having saved a bit of energy for the actual racing.

Do you have a slick trick for that you use on Race Day with your team? 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 and we will feature your idea in a future column.

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