Rowcave, the immersive rowing simulator, marked its launch at the Head of the Charles Regatta 21-23 October 2022, bringing the latest innovation to the rowing and fitness industry.
Rowcave is an immersive and performance-enhancing rowing simulator which replicates real world conditions to extract the best from athletes. Through stunning wrap-around visuals, advanced rowing machines, and the latest in extended reality technologies, Rowcave is the next step in indoor training.
Rowcave marked its launch at the Head of the Charles Regatta 21-23 October, the world’s largest 3-day rowing competition held on the Charles River in Boston MA, with a stand at the event showcasing a demo studio for both athletes and event goers to experience.
Theo Rigden, Founder, Rowcave said: “Rowcave is a new kind of indoor training tool, created to empower individuals to reach their best levels of performance. Athletes can train together in beautiful and detailed environments which immerse them in some of the world’s best waterways – all from the convenience of their clubs, gyms or boathouses. By partnering with RP3 Rowing, makers of advanced and innovative rowing machines, we are able to deliver advanced training software which supports coaches and their teams. Coming next year, racing in Rowcave, with software approved by World Rowing, will bring a new level of competition to the sport of rowing.”
Will Satch MBE, Olympic Gold Medallist, World Champion and Rowcave Ambassador, added: “I am extremely excited about the launch of Rowcave and the positive impact it will have on the sport of Rowing. Rowcave not only allows me to motivate and develop my teams with a fun, challenging and immersive training facility that enhances their overall performance, but crucially it will attract new and younger generations by levelling up old-school, monotonous indoor training. It also provides an amazing platform to develop indoor competitions – a very exciting prospect for teams all around the world.”
The Immersive Experience
Rowcave uses innovative technology to bring the outdoor experience of rowing indoors to allow athletes to experience the world as they would on the water. Meticulously recreated real world courses, combined with ultra-sharp LED screens, extend reality and immerse users in another world. Using RP3 Rowing’s advanced rowing machines, the speed of the boat responds instantly to any change in rower output, supporting a whole team of rowers working together simultaneously.
Designed For Every Space
Rowcave is designed for boathouses, clubs, gyms and even private homes and is designed to maximise floorspace. Rowcave’s bespoke, modular, panel-based design is personalised to fit the users needs and specifications, with studios starting from a single rower experience up to a full team. Floor and ceiling panels can further enhance the sense of immersion.
Real World Courses
Each course in Rowcave is meticulously recreated from their real-life counterparts using geospatial data, 3D scanned buildings, immersive audio and meticulous detail to reflect the real world. This level of detail fully immerses the users and transports them to iconic rowing locations around the world.
Training and Coaching
Rowcave is designed to complement and enhance existing training plans and workouts, as well as helping coaches find innovative ways to motivate their athletes. Coaches can take advantage of the benefits of training indoors and combine it with the experience of being on the water.
Every workout can be completed as a team or individually, with each athlete’s performance tracked in detail.
Video analysis, coming next year, will free up coaches’ schedules by intelligently analysing athletes’ rowing form in real time, allowing them to hone their technique within Rowcave.
Racing
Rowcaves around the world will be able to connect to one another to train or to race at any time of the day, with racing software certified by World Rowing. Opponents appear alongside competitors in real time, creating thrilling competitions that replicate the adrenalin and atmosphere of race day.
Rowing races are no longer dependent on weather, travel or other disruptions, and athletes and coaches can focus purely on performance.
RP3 Rowing
RP3 Rowing’s elite rowing machines are the perfect companion to Rowcave. With incredible accuracy and response time, rowing with RP3 in Rowcave is responsive and fluid, giving you the closest possible experience to rowing on the water. Rowcave integrates seamlessly with RP3’s analytics platform, enabling athletes and coaches to easily view precise and accurate data from RP3, and improve their crew’s performance..
Rowcave also supports Concept2 and WaterRower machines.
Head of the Charles Regatta 2022
Rowcave showcased the rowing studio at the world’s most exciting rowing regatta, the Head of the Charles. For the event, Rowcave recreated the Charles River course, replicating boathouses, foliage, apartment buildings and more. In partnership with RP3 Rowing, Rowcave provided a warm-up station for athletes competing across the weekend, giving them the best possible preparation for their races on the water.
Rowcave also opened the stand to non-competing event goers, who were able to test their abilities in a 250 metre ‘sprint-to-the-line’, across a number of different categories.
