Like another asymmetrically hulled craft, the Chinese Crooked Sterned Junk, the
gondola is rudderless, and in each case there is a reason for the asymmetry.
The gondolier rows his craft standing up, his body-weight on the port side and
very far aft, with the oar blade contacting the water well out to starboard.
Because of this imbalance, the gondola would, other things being equal, tend to
swing round in a steady counterclockwise circle rather than going ahead. To
some extent this tendency is compensated for by the skilful way in which the
return stroke of the oar is made, but more important is the very subtle design
of the hull. The weight of the gondolier would cause a symmetrical gondola to
list to port. However, the hull features a sort of banana-shape as viewed from
above, with the center-line following a shallow 'C', convex to port. The frames
are longer on the port side and give the hull more resistance to forward motion
and greater flotation on that side, and consequently the craft has both a
tendency to turn to starboard, and a natural list to starboard particularly
once passengers are gotten aboard. The point of deepest immersion is well aft
of the center point, and for most of its length, the flat bottom inclines
slightly downwards towards the stern. It also inclines down towards the
starboard side, and when under way the craft advances in a slightly crabwise or
sidling fashion, not dissimilarly from a left ski in snowplow configuration,
with the boat's center line inclined somewhat to the right of the direction of
travel. The heavy iron 'Ferro' which decorates the stem helps compensate for
the weight of the gondolier, and when the boat lies empty at its moorings and
is viewed from fore or aft, the deviation from the vertical of Ferro and stern
posts is acutely evident, as they lean away over towards the port side, with
the twist being greater astern. To some extent this is an illusion, since the
degree to which the hull itself is listing is much less than this suggests.
{John Harland}
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