What is the blade of an oar called?

Answer 1

A rowing oar is made up of several parts. You have the handle, which could be wood (I prefer the grip of this), plastic or rubber. This is for either one or two hands depending on whether it's a sweep blade or a scull blade.

The shaft is usually hollow carbon fibre or some other light materiel, approximately four inches in diameter at the collar (the fitting which allows it to stay still in the gate).

The blade, or the spoon, is of many different shapes. The three basic shapes are the modern hatchet (asymmetric, like a chef's cleaver), old macon (pronounced soft c, classic oar shape) and older pencil (long and thin). They may or may not have a spine running along the spoon in line with the shaft, and they may or may not have hydrodynamic modifications on the end of the spoon to obtain better grip.

The hatchet shape stems from a desire for increased connection and lower slippage. Since the spoon is not moving straight but in an arc, the outer end moves at a different speed to the inner causing slip. The shorter and deeper a blade is the less this occurs.