2023 Fluidesign Fluidelite

I’ve recently had one of those “experiences of a lifetime”, wherein the stars align in such a way that you just about can’t believe your good fortune. What if one of your favorite boat manufacturers reads your boat review and decides “Hey, we need to get you out in a brand new model year racing shell, to check out the improvements we’ve made. Oh, and how about rowing on a historic waterway?”. Connections were made, and in August this year, I found myself in a brand-new 2023 Fluidesign Fluidelite rowing underneath the Seattle skyline, during sunrise, on Union Bay. It really doesn’t get too much better than this.

Full Disclosure

Sean of Fluidesign reached out to me about getting me to check out their new interior and latest revisions after having read my review of the 2016 Fluidelite. He connected me with Seattle Scullers, and more specifically husband and wife duo Katie and Matt Zatorski who run operations and lent me the boat. I paid for everything out of pocket, and this is not sponsored. In addition, thank you to all the aforementioned and especially Matt Zatorski for the experience!

Looks and “Cool Factor”

I said it in the first review of a Fuildesign, but these boats are some of the coolest on the scene. This time we’re looking at a green tint with vibrant green stripes, and the Seattle Scullers logo on the stern deck. The Fluid logo on the bow is color matched to the green stripes as well. None of the striping is adhesive, it’s seamlessly painted onto the boat. I do want to note that the tape you see in the images on the bow of the boat is for inventory management, and not for repair purposes. Otherwise, the exterior of the boat is the same shape as the 2016 model I reviewed; the difference here is in the interior (which I’ll touch more upon later on).

Stiffness

I haven’t been able to row a Fluidesign single in a little while, and stepping back into one, I was filled with a bit of apprehension. You see, it’s a bit challenging to focus on how a boat feels when you’re traveling in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar oars, on unfamiliar water. That said, once I settled into it a bit through the latter half of the row, some familiar conclusions began to rear their head. While the “skin” of the boat is a little bit flexible to the touch, there is no give anywhere else. I took some hard strokes at a low rate, and again, no sense of flex anywhere. Lateral stiffness while turning felt similarly unflappable. I did some backing as well, and in reverse it was the same story; I really couldn’t find a motion that would induce flex.

Handling

Ok, I’m going to fanboy a bit here: I love the way these singles handle. I’m certain there’s many factors that combine to form the total experience, but subjectively, it’s pretty incredible. The boat simply disappears under your hands. Whatever input you give to the oar handles, the boat responds in kind. This especially applies with regard to lateral motions, such as balancing the boat. But it also applies to the ability of this boat to change direction, which is especially notable with this hull design. Somehow, Fluidesign engineers have designed a shape and skeg position that tracks straight, but also turns easier than most other racing singles. These two things seem at odds with each other, but every time I row one of these I get the same sensation. This ability to turn may be a good advantage in head racing, besides inspiring confidence during practice sessions.

Comfort and Features

Let’s talk about the big change in the design of Fluidesign 1x’s, and the main reason I’m reviewing this model: The new interior design. The previous design was more of a standard raised flat deck; It’s effective and simple, and almost every boat out there uses that design. However, this new, more complicated design solves one big issue, and a couple smaller ones. First and foremost, they’ve added a WATER BOTTLE HOLDER. Yes, I’ve railed on about this several times in different reviews, but Fluidesign did it! I was super curious about how this design would work in practice, and it’s absolutely brilliant. I never felt my bottle shift around, and when I wanted it, it was right there beneath the seat. To grab it, you sit as you would to stabilize your oars, sort of crouched forward toward the catch a bit. Then you reach back behind and below you, and it’s within easy grasp. The shape of the sloped surrounding interior area makes replacing it very easy, as it naturally wants to fall into place. If you’re super concerned about it moving around, there’s a small piece of adhesive hook and loop tape that you can apply to your bottle.

The smaller issues they’ve addressed: step in height has been lowered to almost the base of the boat, making ingress a little bit easier. If you want to see what the difference is like, it’s a bit like crouching sideways at the top of a flight of stairs, and stepping onto the next step down rather than stepping onto the same level. The design also eliminates the location where the deck might normally meet your calves, which is a small but meaningful improvement.

Physical comfort is extremely important while rowing, especially as the practice session wears on; I might suggest that it’s less important on race day as, generally speaking, your focus tends to be on pushing beyond your pain threshold in order to succeed. However, mental comfort is arguably just as important and linked with physical comfort. To help frame this idea, consider a lot of the designs from the 90’s: I’ve found they tend to have poor ergonomics, especially with regard to slide locations. Have you ever seen rowers wearing wool socks rolled up high over their calves? My rowing buddy and I used to do that when we rowed our restored ‘94 FIlippi Italia S 2x; it was the only way to avoid “calf bite”, where the ends of the slides are positioned exactly where your calves need to be at the finish. It’s annoying at first but can be debilitating over long rows!

Also important are factors that are harder to define and could be personal tastes. To me, a Fluidesign single is all about freedom. The rigger is behind you, so your hands seem like they’re waving around in front of you as there’s no visual anchor point in front of you. The gunwale is incredibly minimal around the seat; it’s almost as if your butt is sitting on the water; this lends itself to that feeling of freedom and openness. This might be a downside to the design if you’re rowing in rough water, although the times I’ve rowed in conditions rough enough to be a concern like that are pretty few. The personal question you would need to ask yourself is if that sense of freedom and minimalism is what you’re looking for; it is for me.

Value and Conclusion

The point I am trying to make is one of describing an “X” factor: how do all these engineering and human factors decisions contribute to the whole, and where does that land versus the competition? To me, it’s the combination of those design decisions that lend themselves to the boat “getting out of the way”. Add to that the new features such as the water bottle holder, and you’ve got an amazing boat.

While I have not personally been a customer of Fluidesign, it’s been a universal story from my friends that their customer service has been top tier. As a lot of companies have changed ownership since I began this blog, I cannot compare them directly to their competition. What I can point out is that I haven’t heard anyone who was disappointed, and I have a couple who’ve been fairly enthusiastic.

While Fluidesign makes a premium product, and stands by that product with great support, it still takes some means to buy one. But, if you have the means, I really must insist. This is the best racing shell I’ve ever rowed.

You can also check out their resale page for refurbished shells at a lower price point. The new interior was introduced in the 2021 model year, so my previous review would apply for model years prior to 2021.