There are four different wooden boat classes (see below), in
which Finnish championships are organized. The racing lenghts for wooden boats
are 2 km, 10 km, middle-distance (ca. 30 km) and long-distance (ca. 60 km). In
pair, turn and churchboat rowing there are own classes for men, women and mixed
pairs/teams.
A churchboat is row by 14 rowers (having one scull) and cox. The boat, sculls and rudder must be made of Finnish wood. Seats can be sliding or fitted. Rowlocks may not be outside the boat.
The
boat measures:
* length: max. 12 m
* width: min. 1,8 –1,95 m
* height: min. 50 cm (in the middle of the boat)
* thickness: min. 9 mm (plywood), 12 mm (board)
* weight: ca. 500 kg
Rowing speed: It takes approximately 7 minutes for
men to row 2 km with a churchboat. The record in Sulkava's long distance race (ca.
58 km) is
3.51,20.
Turn rowing
In turn rowing one person is rowing and the other one sits on the aft-seat and uses paddle. Every few minutes the rowing turn is changed and the people shift places. To change can be quite difficult especially if the sea is rough as the narrow boat is not too steady.
Solo rowing
In solo rowing the rower rows alone.
Pair rowing
In pair rowing two rowers sit one after the other. Boths rowers use two
sculls.
* length: max. 6,5 m
* width: min. 1 m
* thickness: min. 6 mm (plywood), 8 mm (board)
* weight: ca. 50 kg
Rowing speed: It takes ca.
9 minutes for a man to row 2 km with a small wooden boat. The records from
Sulkava's long-distance (ca. 58 km) are:
- men's turn 5.00,49
- men's pair 4.46,13.
- women's turn 5.54,00
- women's pair 5.24,22