“Freedom” is the name of our range of boats that are not designed for conventional Olympic style racing. We think it is a very appropriate name as it includes our adaptive, recreational, open water and touring boats, all of which give the rower the freedom to do what they want.
We started with the 1x and 2x/- from FISA’s designs for adaptive boats, and these are proving to be very popular, not only with adaptive rowers, but also with clubs and individuals, for a wide range of uses, such as;
- Recreational rowing
- Teaching beginners
- Training in open water, or rough conditions when a more stable boat is needed
- Giving all levels of athletes a great physical workout in a relatively stable environment
The Touring Gig 4+ and 2+ are the latest additions to our range of Freedom boats. These are the same shapes as those already popular in Europe.
Features common to all Freedom boats;
- Choice of Club A and Club B, both of which are sandwich construction, using Lantor coremat
- Same high quality fittings as the racing boats
- Fully enclosed bow, stern, and cockpit, for maximum buoyancy
- Choice of stretcher with flexfoot or shoes
Freedom boats – Recreational / Open water
Swift’s recreational/open water boats (1x and 2x/-) are built using FISA’s design for adaptive boats. They are available in 2 grades of construction, either Club A or Club B, both of which are sandwich construction, so providing stiffness and durability, which is especially important in these flat bottomed boats, while at the same time keeping the weight manageable.
They are useful for introducing beginners to rowing, as recreational boats, for touring, and as an alternative to always training in a fine racing shell, especially in open water or rougher conditions, or for heavier loading and less concern with balance (floating ergometer!). Please note that these are not sea boats, which are designed and built to deal with large waves, and are self bailing, usually with an open stern/transom.
They are stable due to their greater width/beam and flat bottoms, they track well due to their length, and also have a good turn of speed. The single was even used in 2007 in the Czech junior championships by a novice rower, and helped her get a 3rd place finish!
Sizes and crew weights of the boats
| Length mm |
Width mm |
Depth mm |
Crew weight rangekg (approx) |
|
| 1x | 6360 | 510 | 265 | 65-105 |
| 2x | 9160 | 515 | 275 | 60-100 |
In order to make these boats convertible to adaptive boats, they are only supplied with our aluminium wing riggers. In fact, the boats are built exactly the same way as the adaptive boats. For details please read the adaptive page.
Recreational/Open water 1x and 2x/- boat weights
| Club A | Club B | Variation | |
| 1x | 18 | 20 | ±1kg |
| 2x | 33 | 36 | ±2kg |
| 2- | 31 | 34 | ±2kg |
Combined adaptive and recreational boats
From Spring 2010 we will stop offering on our price list the combined adaptive and recreational 1x and 2x. We do this because in some cases, you might want a narrow span rigger for adaptive, but not for recreational use. This does not mean that you cannot use these boats for both purposes, but you might need 2 riggers. Please see the notes below about the extra parts needed to use 1 boat for both adaptive and recreational use. If you wish to order a combined boat, please first order the boat as an adaptive version. Then you will need to add the following spare parts;
- Seats (300mm wide)
- Seat rails (the holes in the seat deck for attaching rails will be the same for adaptive and recreational, so it is easy to change the rails)
- Riggers? (if you order an adaptive boat with an especially narrow span etc, you may need to order extra riggers for recreational use)
