ForwardFace! LLC is a company that develops human-powered watercraft and propulsion systems that allow the user to face the direction they're going.

Objectives

• Fun outdoor exercise on the water, facing forward.
• Create a light, fast boat that can match the speed and efficiency of a traditional single racing shell.
• Use the full-body workout of a sliding-seat system, but fix the seat to minimize velocity fluctuation from acceleration/deceleration of the rower's body.
• Make it easy to get from the garage to the water, and going.

Drive System

We invented the ZRower: a recumbent, full-body exercise powerplant that drives a steerable, tip-up, propeller-driven outboard.

Hull Designs

We designed 3 different hull-types around the ZRower. Each is optimized for one of 3 separate primary criteria:

1. Performance: Elver (2004)
2. Aesthetics: Radius (2003) & Mackerel (2004)
3. Simplicity: Poundcake (2000) & Pablum (2004)

Further criteria for each purpose-built hull are performance, stability, weight, aesthetics, simplicity, durability, and ease-of-use.

Performance Analysis

We developed a set of real-time performance analysis tools that can accurately measure speed, power, and efficiency in small boats. We use these tools to assess hull drag, drivetrain efficiency, and overall performance.

Rapid Prototyping

To test ZRower performance in different boat designs, we developed techniques to rapidly prototype hulls via CAD and CAM. Initially, we used stitch-and-glue construction, but this method didn't allow for round-bottomed hulls. We switched to a thin-plywood-planked, wooden-backbone structure. A typical hull takes 100 hours to design, 100 hours to build, and weighs less than 40 pounds unrigged.