The 'Niko' Fitness Rowing Boat

In searching for information on sustainable boat building timbers, I came across Vendia Marine Plank, a product from Finland. It seemed to tick the boxes of what I had in mind: a kind of engineered timber similar to plywood, produced from a widely available timber resource (Namely Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), found over a wide area of Northern Europe), and with good weight and other desirable marine timber characteristics.

Getting hold of a sample of Vendia Marine Plank from the other side of the world seemed like an expensive proposition, happily Vendia assisted in making that possible, then choosing what boat to build as a demo project was the issue. One of my main interests being recreational rowing, a rowing skiff design was at the top of the list.

With the aid of Google it quickly became apparent that a rowing skiff design has been created specifically for building in Vendia Marine Plank, the 'Niko-kuntosoutuvene' (Niko fitness rowing boat) design by Jarmo Häkkinen. A slight dilemma then occurred, to abandon my past approach of searching high and low for the best design at the least cost and try to adapt it, or, to pay for the expertise of others much more 'knowledgable in the field' of boat design. Thankfully I decided to go with a new approach and purchase the Niko design.

The Niko's basic specifications are: Loa 5.8 m, Lwl 5.44 m, Boa 1.45 m and dry weight (planked in Vendia pine) of 58-60 kg including thwarts. It is probably not a perfect boat for local Tasmanian conditions (more on that subject at a later time) but it does seem an excellent design within its design criteria, which are as a boat to be built by novices in a guided two week course, to have very good performance as a recreational 'fitness' rowing boat, and to make efficient use of the Vendia Marine Plank product's features, such as its standard plank widths and lengths.

Rowing boat performance is a reasonably simple thing to optimise. As a design for the extensive lakes and rivers of Finland, the Niko, as I see it, didn't have the need to consider rougher waters, so is more focused on achieving top speeds under human power but also being reasonably stable (so longer and straighter (less 'rocker'), but with adequate width). In fact it resembles the racing styles of wooden rowing boat used in Finland.

Lakes and rivers aren't the most common waters in Australia it has to be acknowledged, instead we have harbours and estuaries. Never-the-less most recreational rowers will tend to look for smoother waters and times of day. Heading out into open waters on multi-day journeys and getting back safely is another thing altogether and something that I am also working on providing a solution to.

The Niko is wide enough not to need outriggers, yet can be adapted to sliding seat rowing if desired.

The Niko is also a very elegant design I think, elegant simplicity in both its appearance and construction.  So building this first boat I hope will prove the worth of the Vendia Marine Plank product, and produce a fast and elegant rowing skiff to use in helping promote recreational rowing in Australia, with the possibility of a course for novice builders, as occurs in Finland, potentially being offered.