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Which rowing boats to the sea?
The Vikings have been rowing across the sea for centuries. Inriggers are the modern evolution of these boats. In contrast to FISA Coastal boats, inriggers are also suitable for cold waters, as inriggers are designed to prevent the waves from hitting in the boat.
FISA-Coastal, on the other hand, have the philosophy that the waves hit the boat over the bow and run out of the open stern again.
The catch is that the oarsmen sit between them and they are bathed with every wave. With 25 degrees water and 35 degrees air in the Mediterranean maybe a nice thing, but for the North or Baltic Sea not so super......
Inriggers, on the other hand, have an extremely wide bow, with plenty of buoyancy, a closed bow and stern section with breakwaters that prevent the waves from crashing in.
Another weak point of a conventional rowing boat are the outriggers. The waves get stuck to them and water is sprayed into the boat. To prevent this, the oarlocks of classic inriggers are mounted directly on the side of the boat. The oarsmen sit offset on port and starboard and have their oarlocks on the far side of the boat. As a result, conventional inriggers are oar boats.
The result are boats that can be rowed well and relatively dry even in extreme waves.
Tests with FISA- Coastal boats versus Baumgarten Inriggers showed the advantage of the Inriggers. At 1-2m wave height you were soaking wet in the coastal boats, but not in the inrigger.
Coastal boats go through the waves, inriggers go over the waves!
Even at 4m wave height (self-test) you could still get through the waves with the inriggers, but you should only do this with very experienced crews. At least they want to try something like that!
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