FAQ

Every boat leaves our shop in Everett, WA fully rigged to your specifications and ready to row. All you need to do is bolt on the riggers.

To modify the rig, you first need to know what kind of sill your riggers have. Our G5 and G6 (Comp) Carbon Wing Riggers have a fully adjustable, eccentric pin. So, as you turn the pin, the pitch moves in and out. The rule is that the pitch leans away from the arrow that is marked on the pin nut. To change the lateral pitch, rotate the pin. G6 wings also can come with the fully adjustable sill, or the popular slotted sill. All Extrusion Aluminum Wings and G7 Carbon Wing Riggers have a slotted sill. The tools that you will need to rig your Pocock are as follows: In inches:

3/8 for nyloc track nuts

½ for top nut

5/8 for pin nut

7/16 for rigger bolts (5/32 Allen Head for xVIII)

15/16 for bow brace threaded adjuster

If you would like suggestions, or just to talk out your rigging numbers, feel free to call the shop and ask for Andrea 425-438-9048.

Yes! We are located just north of Seattle, so even if you are on the East Coast, if you call our shop by 4pm PST (7pm EST), we get something overnighted to you by 8 am the next day.  No East Coast boat builder can do that!

Do’s

On any body of water, rinse and wipe down the hull after every row. A clean hull is a fast hull!

It is imperative if you row in salt water that you rinse and soap down the hull, but more importantly wash all the moving parts (tracks, wheels, rigger mounts, foot stretchers and channel tracks, oarlocks and pin) daily. Be aware that a lazy rinse just moves the salt around.

Seat tracks and wheels are often overlooked but easy to maintain. Regularly wipe seat tracks and remove the seats to clean wheels with a clean, damp rag.

Use a biodegradable cleaner like Simple Green for all your boat cleaning needs.

Periodically loosen and clean all nuts, bolts, and fittings. After cleaning, apply a light layer of lubricant to these parts. We recommend the Lanocote brand.

Occasionally treat shoes or sandals with an anti-fungal spray.

At a minimum, twice a year wax your shells to protect and maintain the finish. We recommend 3M Scotchguard Marine Liquid Wax. http://www.shop3m.com/scotchgard-marine-liquid-wax-09061-500-ml.html

Protect riggers and boats with custom made bags. These are small insurance policies on large investments that not only protect the boats but make traveling and strapping boats down safer (fewer cut straps).  We strongly recommend rigger bags for all carbon wings.

Always use protection between the gunwales and boat straps when trailering your boats. Over the course of long trips, gunwales can cut through straps. We provide a gunwale guard option with all new boats, but cardboard, towels, cut sections of garden hose or PVC pipe are materials we have seen crews use.

Be delicate when replacing fins.  Over tightening will strip screw threads.

Have spare parts on hand for quick repairs and emergency situations. We recommend:

o   Fin

o   Rudder

o   Complete foot stretcher

o   Carbon seat

o   Port bowbrace

o   Starboard bowbrace

o   Backup Port Wing Rigger (carbon only)

o   Backup Starboard Wing Rigger (carbon only)

o   Regatta Small Spare Parts Kit

Don’ts:

Never row damaged equipment.

Never use products containing bleach.

Never use a cleaner with muriatic or oxycilic acid.

Never use WD-40. It evaporates quickly and attracts dirt.

Never use duct tape or athletic tape on the boat or its parts. It leaves a residue.

Do not leave your new boat in its plastic shipping wrapping. Moisture and changes in temperature can ruin the finish if left wrapped up for long periods. Never use silicone or other adhesives on the fin box. The fin is engineered to break away.  If it is stuck, damage to the fin box and/or hull is probable and much more costly than simply replacing a fin. 

• Carbon- Stiffness component. Used in gunwale and keel to simulate a beam, and throughout the hull for rigidity at minimal weight.
• Kevlar™- high impact resistance material. It is the same fabric used in bulletproof vests. A layer of Kevlar™ is used throughout certain boats to prevent breakage.
• Fiberglass- all-purpose material. It is used where solid reinforcement fabric is needed.
• Closed cell foam core- advanced lightweight core material. The tiny enclosed cells prevent water absorption and provide a greater bonding surface with the skin.

Yes, we take trade-ins from every manufacturer.

If you have any questions, or are interested in the value of boats sitting on your racks, contact John Tytus john@pocock.com.

The Hypercarbon boat line has the option of our Extrusion Aluminum Wing or Carbon Fiber Wing Rigger for the same price. Finding the right fit really depends on the end user and the coach’s preference. Here are a few facts to help you decide what is right for you.

Some things to consider when making your decision:

-The boats are at weight with the Aluminum Wing, and underweight with Carbon

-Carbon is stiffer than Aluminum

-Carbon is more fragile than Aluminum

-Carbon Wings are more expensive to replace

-We strongly encourage that our customers with Carbon Wings have a spare port and starboard on hand

-We recommend the Aluminum wing for busier boathouses and younger crews

-Any boat with Carbon Wings should also invest in rigger bags

Every Pocock comes standard with your choice of our Rowing Shoe (men’s sizes 8-15) or our Rowing Sandal (size Small men’s 7-10, or Large 11 and up). Our footboards also accommodate Nike Omadas , the Shimano SRD system, and BatLogic.

The hull is finished in the mold and is the first step of the build process. This creates the smoothest surface possible and minimizes the amount of weight that goes into paint (which leaves more for the good stuff like carbon).  Because a smooth finish is such an integral part of the process, the paint we use along with our process is extremely important.  Pocock shells use a proprietary white paint and clear coat over carbon fiber.  We had to pick one color to go with, so we went with white.

When you are offered color customization by a boat builder, it means the boats are painted in the last step of the process. When this is the case, hulls are not just painted, but also faired out and smoothed down with Bondo. We would much rather spend time taking care of our molds and provide our customers with white boats that have more carbon, less paint, and ZERO Bondo.

It is also a fact that custom colored boats have a lower resale value, and are harder to sell on the used market. Pocock offers a full spectrum of color choices in several classic pinstripe styles. We can also design and apply boat names, school names, or graphics of your choice right here at the shop.

Build time varies over the course of the year. When you have decided to purchase a Pocock, your spot in the production schedule is reserved when we receive a 1/3 down deposit or an institutional PO. From that point, it can take anywhere from one to three months to build your boat.

We prefer that you come pick up your new shell, but if that is not an option, it will either be delivered by our trailer, or by a trusted trailer and driver in our network. Due to the nature of boat transport, delivery times and locations are not guaranteed. We try our best to get your boat to you in a timely manner and as close to your desired location as we can.

If we were doing nothing else and focusing only on one boat, it would take a week and a half.

In a standard production schedule, it takes about six weeks from start to finish.

Contrary to what one might imagine, we do not have a secret cache of retro and vintage parts squirreled away in the shop. Most often in these scenarios, parts need to be custom ordered. 

We can build replacement riggers, but be aware that it can be a lengthy and expensive process. Rigger fabrication also requires very specific measurements that are difficult to obtain accurately.

It is always a good idea to check out the Classifieds section in the Shellhouse to see if anyone in the rowing community has what you are looking for. If you have a custom/ wooden boat question, contact Mathew mathew@pocock.com.

We have a tremendous amount of pride in our 100+ year legacy, and we are aware that we are caretakers of our company name and legacy as we move into the 21^st century.

However, George and Stanley built hundreds of boats, and while they were incredible craftsmen, they were terrible record keepers! There was no formalized system of record keeping or numbering shells for much of the time they were building boats. As part of the Shellhouse section of our website, we are working to establish a forum where parties interested in our company history and vintage Pocock shells can connect and share ideas and information. There is a growing community of passionate and knowledgeable people who are carrying forward the history of the Pocock family and the traditions of wooden boatbuilding. We are excited and honored to create a virtual space for this community to connect! And for the record, the last boat George ever built was for Stanley, and it is hanging in the rafters of the Pocock Rowing Center in Seattle.  http://www.pocockfoundation.org/

Yes. We have an incredible amount of brainpower, industry knowledge, and capacity at our shop. Find more information in our Prototyping section of the website.

As a working shop, it is difficult to accommodate tours. Availability is dependent on the status of the shop floor. When it is a possibility, group size is limited to ten.

If we are able to accommodate your group for a tour, we suggest the you make a donation to one of the following community boathouses in the Seattle area: Everett Rowing http://everettrowing.com

Green Lake Crew http://www.greenlakecrew.org

Mt. Baker Crew http://mbrsc.com

Pocock Rowing Center http://www.pocockfoundation.org

If you or your group are interested in a tour, contact Guedo guedo@pocock.com.

For parts, the answer is yes, but PLEASE place the order ahead of time, and let us know when you will be coming. We are not set up to be a retail storefront, and don’t have a cash register. If we know you are coming and have time to put the order together, we would love to see you!!

Because we are a working shop, drop in visits are hard to accommodate. If you would like to see the shop, call us at 425-438-9048 or contact Mathew mathew@pocock.com.

With true monocoque construction, there are no fragile, highly loaded shoulders and ribs. Since there are no joints to break down, the shell will not lose stiffness over time. Every Pocock hull is a monocoque hull. It will retain the same stiffness it has leaving the shop for its lifetime. This is one of the reasons Pocock shells are so highly sought after on the used market, and why boats that are 10+ years old are still winning big races.

Yes, we get this question a lot, and yes, we have all read it. Now we are just looking forward to the movie, and who they are going to cast as George!