An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Marine propulsion is the act of moving a floating object over or through water Oars have a flat blade at one end. The oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end. What distinguishes oars from paddles is that paddles are held by the paddler, and are not connected with the vessel. A paddle is a tool used for pushing against Liquids either as a form of propulsion in a Boat or as an implement for mixing Oars generally are fastened to the vessel.

Oarsmen generally face the stern of the vessel, reach as far as they can towards the stern, and insert the blade of their oar in the water. The stern is the rear or aft part of a Ship or Boat, technically defined as the area built up over the Sternpost, extending upwards from the Counter As they lean back, towards the vessel's bow, the blade of their oars sweeps the water towards the stern, providing forward thrust - see lever. The bow (pronounced &mdashrhymes with how) is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a Ship or Boat, Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton 's Second and Third Laws.

For thousands of years vessels were powered either by sails, or the mechanical work of oarsmen, or paddlers. A sail is any type of surface intended to generate Thrust by being placed in a Wind &mdashin essence a vertically-oriented Wing. Some ancient vessels were propelled by either oars or sail, depending on the speed and direction of the wind (see trireme and bireme). Wind is the flow of Air or other Gases that compose an Atmosphere (including but not limited to the Earth's) Trireme ( τριήρης sing τριήρεις pl triremis sing A bireme is a ship probably invented by the Phoenicians whose best known use was as an Ancient greek Naval ship that was 80 feet (24 metres long with a

Oars used for transportation

The oars used for transportation come in a variety of sizes. The oars used in small dinghies or rafts can be less than 2 metres long. A dinghy is a type of small Boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International In classical times warships were propelled by very long oars that might have several oarsmen per oar. A warship is a Ship that is built and primarily intended for Combat. These oars could be more than a dozen meters long. Dozen is another word for the Number twelve. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive groupings perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the

Oars used for competitive rowing

Main article: Oar (sport rowing)

A set of Croker sculling oars used for the sport of rowing

The oars used in competitive rowing are long (250–300 cm) poles with one flat end about 50 cm long and 25 cm wide, called the blade. In rowing, oars are used to propel the boat Oars differ from Paddles in that they use a fixed Fulcrum to transfer power from the handle to the blade Croker Oars is a Manufacturer of Rowing Oars The business was started by Howard Croker in Sydney, Australia. GB coxless pair of Toby Garbett & Rick Dunn at Henley Royal Regatta 2004 The part of the oar the oarsman holds while rowing is called the handle. While rowing, the oars are supported by metal frames attached to the side of the boat called outriggers. An outrigger is a part of a boat's Rigging which is rigid and extends beyond the side or Gunwale of a boat Classic oars were made out of wood, but modern oars are made from synthetic material, the most common being carbon fiber. Wood is hard fibrous lignified structural tissue produced as secondary Xylem in the stems of Woody plants notably trees but also shrubs

Oars used as trophies

The sport of competitive rowing has developed a peculiar tradition of using an oar as a memento of significant race wins. A 'trophy oar' is not presented at the end of the race as a more familiar precious metal cup might be, but rather given by the club, school or university that the winning crew or rower represented.

A trophy oar is a competition oar that has been painted in the club colours and has then had the details of the race signwritten on the face of the blade. The most common format would have the coat of arms or crest of the club or school positioned in the centre, with the crew names and the race details arranged around this.

Many older universities (Oxford and Cambridge would be prime examples) and their colleges have long histories of using the trophy oar and many examples are on display in club houses around the world. Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, The city of Cambridge (ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England

In culture

The Norwegian municipalities of Fedje and Herøy have oars in their coat-of-arms. Fedje is an island municipality in the county of Hordaland Norway. Herøy is a municipality in Nordland county Norway Herøy was separated from Alstahaug in 1862

Oars have been used to describe various animals with characteristics that closely-resemble the said rowing implement. The members of the Family Regalecidae, elongated deep-sea fishes, are called oarfish because their body shape is similar to that of an oar. Oarfish are large greatly elongated pelagic Lampriform Fish comprising the small family Regalecidae. Oarfish are large greatly elongated pelagic Lampriform Fish comprising the small family Regalecidae. The hawksbill turtle's genus of Eretmochelys is derived from the Latin root eretmo, which roughly translates to oar. The hawksbill turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata) is a Critically endangered Sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The hawksbill turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata) is a Critically endangered Sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The turtle was so-named because of the oar-like shape of its front flippers. ^[1]

References

See also

• Oar (sport rowing)