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 A Pocock racing shell under construction in the 1920s. | |
| Founded | Seattle, Washington (1911) |
|---|---|
| Founder | George Pocock |
| Headquarters | Seattle , United States |
| Products | Rowing boats |
Pocock Racing Shells is a Seattle, Washington-based racing shells manufacturer, founded in 1911. [1]
The roots of the company began in England during the 1800s. Founder George Pocock grew up in England, where his father was the head boat builder for prestigious Eton College at Windsor at the turn of the century. As a young man, George raced single shells on the famed River Thames. At one of these races he won £50. With the money purchased passage for himself and his brother, Dick, on a cattle boat bound for Canada. In 1911, on George's 20th birthday, they arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, with $20 in their pockets and a dream of building fine racing boats. They were commissioned to build two single sculling boats for the Vancouver Rowing Club’s boathouse, without moorage, and found that at low tide they rested precariously on the mud flats. During the ensuing year, they nearly starved.
That winter, University of Washington rowing coach Hiram Boardman Conibear convinced the brothers to come to Seattle and build boats for the university after hearing about their work in Canada. In 1916 the shell building business was still struggling, and they began building pontoons for William E. Boeing's new airplane company, Boeing. George eventually became foreman of the assembly department, Dick became boatbuilder for Yale University, and their father returned to England.
In 1922 George returned to the University of Washington to build boats again, and in 1923, the unknown Washington rowing team went east and won the national sport rowing championship in a Pocock boat. For the next 50 years George built racing shells for nearly every racing college in the country and several abroad. His reputation spread as he strived to maintain the highest possible quality at a price that even small colleges or high schools could afford. Pocock Racing Shells went on to win many national sport rowing and Olympic championships.
Upon George's death in 1976, the Lake Union-based company was taken over by his son, Stan. Stan grew up in Seattle, was an oarsman at the University of Washington and graduated with a degree in engineering. In the late 1960s, management of the company became Stan's responsibility while George devoted himself to constructing cedar single shells.
In addition to his role as a boat builder, Stan also was a successful rowing coach. In addition to coaching at the University of Washington from 1947 to 1955, he was the first coach for Lake Washington Rowing Club upon its formation in 1958, and coached several gold medal-winning crews in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. In 1956 Stan began experimenting with fiberglass construction. In 1961 he built the first ever fiberglass rowing boat—a wherry. By 1979 Stan was running the shop and experimenting with ideas that were ahead of their time. He was first in many areas, including the development of a successful wood and glass laminated composite oar, molded seat tops and adjustable oarlock height spacers. Impressed with innovations in composite engineering from aerospace industries, and adding his own experience to that of the Boeing engineers, he developed the first line of all carbon fiber monocoque racing shells in 1981.
In 1985, Stan passed on the Pocock company ownership to long-time family friend Bill Tytus. Bill met the Pocock family as a child, and became a frequent visitor to the shop. In the late 1960s, he was an avid sculler while pursuing his degrees from the University of Washington and Harvard University. In 1969, he placed second in the Diamond Challenge Sculls event at the Henley Royal Regatta, and was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1969 to 1971. He is still active in the sport, teaming with Frank Cunningham for the past 15 years to coach scullers at Lake Washington Rowing Club.
Bill Tytus is the currently owner and President of Pocock Racing Shells, and oversees the day-to-day operation of the Everett, WA shop. Pocock Racing Shells builds composite racing shells for colleges, clubs, and high schools in North America. In 1998 he introduced the "Hypercarbon" laminate schedule, which is the proprietary construction used in the racing shells that Pocock builds.
The George Pocock Rowing Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Seattle, which is dedicated to perpetuating the legacy and ideals of George Pocock. The foundation functions as a community resource, serving to support and advance the sport of rowing in the Northwest. Its establishment dates back to 1984, and since then, it has been actively engaged in promoting an objective awareness of rowing in the Pacific Northwest through the development of new rowing programs. The foundation provides rowing opportunities for at-risk children and adults in the community while also sponsoring men and women training for the U.S. National Rowing Team in a non-discriminatory manner.
Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars, one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
Lake Union is a freshwater lake located entirely within the city limits of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a major part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which carries fresh water from the much larger Lake Washington on the east to Puget Sound on the west. The easternmost point of the lake is the Ship Canal Bridge, which carries Interstate 5 over the eastern arm of the lake and separates Lake Union from Portage Bay. Lake Union is the namesake of the neighborhoods located on three of its shores: Eastlake, Westlake and South Lake Union. Notable destinations on the lake include Lake Union Park, the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), and the Center for Wooden Boats on the southern shore and Gas Works Park on the northern shore.
Empacher is a manufacturer of boats. Today, they produce racing shells for the sport of rowing.
In watercraft, a racing shell is an extremely narrow, and often comparatively long, rowing boat specifically designed for racing or exercise. It is equipped with long oars, outriggers to hold the oarlocks away from the boat, and sliding seats. The boat's long length and semicircular cross-section reduce drag to a minimum. This makes the boat both fast and unstable. It must be balanced by the rowers to avoid tipping. Being able to balance – or "set" – the boat while putting maximum effort into the oars is therefore an essential skill of sport rowing.
Vespoli USA is a manufacturer of rowing shells. It was founded by former Georgetown University rower and Olympian Mike Vespoli in 1980.
Sykes Racing is an Australian manufacturer of rowing shells. The boats are widely popular by Australian rowers from schools through to Olympians.
PLU Crew is the varsity rowing program for Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. The team was founded in 1964 as a joint program with University of Puget Sound. Today the team consists of Men's and Women's programs for both Varsity and Novice rowers, and competes as a member of the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) and Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA).
A single scull, abbreviated as a 1x, is a racing shell designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand.
Conal P. Groom is an American competition competitive rower and coach. He co-founded Seattle Rowing Center with Carol Nagy, the former junior novice coach at Lake Union Crew and business manager at Pocock Rowing Center. In 2019, Groom moved to mountains outside Santa Barbara, California.
A double scull, also abbreviated as a 2x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand.
A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each hand.
A coxed four, abbreviated as a 4+, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain.
A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain.
An eight, abbreviated as an 8+, is a racing shell used in competitive rowing (crew). It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or "cox".
George Yeomans Pocock was a leading designer and builder of racing shells in the 20th century.
The George Pocock Memorial Rowing Center is an amateur rowing club famous for its namesake and its ability to produce world-class rowers.
Stämpfli Racing Boats is a British-based manufacturer of rowing boats. Stämpfli was founded in Switzerland by Johann Friedrich August Stämpfli in 1896. Manufacturing originally took place in Zurich, Switzerland, but moved to Surrey, England after the company was acquired by Janousek Racing Boats in 1991. Stämpfli is a subdivision of Janousek boats, Stämpfli produce generally slimmer boats which are more popular amongst competitive rowers at a club level.
Alden Rowing manufactures sliding-seat rowing boats. Their original product, the Alden Ocean Shell, was designed in 1970 or 1971. Traditional shell designs use high aspect ratio hulls, with long waterline with minimum beam, that emphasize racing performance at the cost of stability. These types of boats are only usable on flat water. Alden, however, specializes in shorter, beamier, highly stable designs which are suitable for rowing in open water, where swells are commonly encountered. As of 2004, Alden had sold 25,000 shells.
The Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) Shell House, also known as the UW Canoe House, is a historic building on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Washington. The building was constructed in 1918 as a Navy seaplane hangar during World War I. It was later used as a shell house for the University of Washington men's rowing team from 1920 to 1949 and a canoe rental space until 1975. The building is located northeast of the Montlake Cut on Union Bay.
