Snekkja
The Snekkja, or Longboat, is a shallow-draft wooden boat, characterised by its clinker built hull, its long, narrow dimensions and its overall graceful design. Built for speed and able to ride the cresting waves, the Longboat is powered by a bank of four outboard motors. Its light weight and shallow draft also makes it ideally suited for riverine navigation and beach landings. The symetrical design of the bow and stern permits, with a reversal or pivot of the outboard engine mountings, the longboat to reverse its course without a large turning circle. The longboat is also fitted with the capacity for hoisting a single-mast cloth sail, a feature which proves popular with Froyalanish captains for aesthetic reasons and for commanders seeking to eek out a longer voyage than what could be sustained by the outboard motors and onboard fuel drums alone.
Longboats featured heavily in the River War and the insurgency in Angularis during the 1630s and remain in use by the Elwkustbevakning for maritime patrol, coastguard and search & rescue operations.
The traditional shape and detailing of the longship continues to influence the design of boats and ships operating out of the harbours of the Seven Ports as well as the cargo vessels of the SEKEF fleet produced by the Froyalanska Varv.
Elwynnese Snekkjas bear some relation to the motor-Gokstads of the Port Riskai fishing fleet occasionally utilised by the Minarborian naval forces in training exercises and covert actions[1].
