The venerable rowing shell manufacturer, based in Germany. Until quite recently, almost every competitor in a rowing event in the Olympics raced in the distinctive pale gold colored Empacher shell; they had a lock on the market. Rainer Empacher is the current head of the organization, and quite a nice guy I hear. The US sales rep is Bill McGowan, captain of the 1981 Northeastern University varsity crew, longtime denizen of the Charles River in Boston, and also quite a nice guy. Recently, Empacher has felt more competition from Vespoli, Resolute, and Fillipi shells.