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Skua Pronounced skoo-ah or skyoo-ah (noun) 
1) A powerful, gull-like, seabird of the polar regions. A deceptively fast flier known for taking prey from other birds of prey. 2) Probably the most historically significant fixed seat rowing craft that you cannot read about in a book* and quite possibly the most important rowing design of the 20th century. In the early 1990s Skua became the first sub-100 lbs. craft, in modern times, to win a major fixed seat open water race. At one time or another, Skua has won nearly every regularly scheduled race on the East Coast. Skua's consistent, strong performances on the open water racing circuit helped to dispel some widely held beliefs which were unsupported by any reasonable interpretation of the principals of naval architecture or the laws of physics. Prior to that time most people in the rowing community believed that undecked, fixed seat rowing craft needed to be very deep, beamy and heavily built to survive in the coastal environment; yet many of Skua's greatest victories were achieved in very rough conditions. Before Skua's breakout performance many people thought that any boat equipped with a sliding seat, regardless of hull length or shape could outperform any fixed seat boat, but in multi-class races Skua's finishing times often bested those of sliding seat recreational shells. Skua proved to modern rowers that a well-designed and built lightweight rowing cruiser is superior to any workboat replica (see our FAQ page) and her success inspired other builders to bring other lightweight, fixed seat designs to the coastal environment, with varying results. What is absolutely certain is that no coastal workboat replica has seriously challenged these lightweight craft in a single major open water event since the mid-1990s. That period marked the beginning of a distinct preferential shift in buying habits within the recreational rowing community. Before that time casual rowers didn't have many good choices. They could pick from a wide assortment of ungainly, obsolete, 19th century coastal workboats totally unsuited to car-topping and far too heavy for most couples to carry to and from the water. Back then, the lightweight alternative was some sort of complex, demanding, narrowly focused, "sweat or die" sliding seat shell that offered little possibility of a relaxed, casual outing. As more rowers become aware of clear, practical alternatives, growing numbers are choosing versatile, able, user-friendly, high-performance, fixed seat open water craft. * As this was being written, all of the major texts available that deal with fixed seat rowing were written more than three decades ago. |
Until
1996 Skua, like our 19 other models, was available constructed in
wood/epoxy/fiberglass composite only. The interest in this design was so broad
that we decided to make it available in a more affordable fiberglass lay-up so
that more people will have the opportunity to experience this remarkable design.
Thus Skua became our first design offered with hulls constructed primarily of
fiberglass-reinforced plastic