What Our Gearhead(R) Experts Are Saying:"The four-pound counterweight makes such a difference on long days-less effort per stroke really adds up. This shaft flexes like wood but never needs maintenance or worries about dry rot."Hundreds of oar strokes per day separate efficient equipment from arm-burning torture devices, so we trust the Cataract SGG Oar Shaft with Counterbalance and Rope Wrap to reduce effort while increasing power. Composite construction flexes and rebounds like traditional wood without the maintenance hassles, while the four-pound counterweight assists every stroke past the oarlock, proving that smart engineering beats brute force.