2016 Fluidesign FluidElite Review

Spoiler Alert! I’m reviewing the coolest brand you can buy right now, full stop. But, is it the best racing single you can get? Read on to find out… (or just scroll down to the score at the bottom of the page).

Looks and “Cool Factor”

Fluidesign has become one of the most instantly recognizable racing shells out there. The moment you see that color-tinted carbon fiber, you know what this boat is. Most people don’t really geek out about equipment (aside from yours truly) but I’ve overheard casual comments about these shells at regattas: “Oh, look at that one!”, “Oooo, nice”, “That one’s pretty!”. You can get these in almost any color tint you want, as part of Fluidesign’s custom program (They’ll also tweak the specs of the boat to your measurements as part of the deal).

Stiffness

Although this isn’t a BlueMax or FluidMax, which feature an all high-modulus carbon construction, the stiffness of this shell is top notch, at least in the ways that matter in rowing (more on this in a moment). While rowing, I could not detect any flex or “bounciness” of the rigger or its connection to the boat; nor could I feel any flex along the bow-to-stern axis.

In fact, the aluminum rigger is so stiff that you could feel the blade load change throughout the stroke; my perception was that it felt like the blade load increased right around the moment the oars were perpendicular to the sides of the boat. Of course, that could be down to my rowing form or any other innumerable factors, but I haven’t felt that same sensation in many other boats. Fluidesign popularized the bow rigger design with an eye toward distributing the rowing forces more evenly throughout the shell; a stern mounted rigger places most of the forces in the same location.

So, about that “stiffness” thing; I tried to be specific in describing the resistance to bending as it relates to taking a rowing stroke. But the whole boat isn’t all that stiff in cross-section. In fact, the sides are pretty squishy, to the point where (and don’t touch anyone else’s boat without permission!) you can gently squeeze the sides of the boat in with your fingers. This is a side effect of the single-layer fabric construction and minimalist design. The thinking goes that you can reduce weight in key areas where stiffness doesn’t really matter that much. This approach doesn’t seem to have any negative effect on speed at all. I would advise, however, that if you own a fluid, you open the porthole covers while the boat is in storage. There’s a chance that the temperature fluctuations can create an internal vacuum and damage the boat. To be fair, this is advised for all shells, and not just Fluidesign.

Handling

I hope you’re good with your hand positions while rowing, because this boat does whatever your hands do. It really gets out of the way of your technique, which I personally like. But it’s also clear that it’s not going to “help” you either. I found that the design was fairly easy to set at all speeds, and maybe a little easier to set at slow speeds than some alternative boats in this price range.

The Fluidesign FluidElite is sort of strange in that it not only goes straight really well (most shells do) but also seems fairly easy to turn and spin. I’m not sure how this was achieved, but I am aware that it was a long and deliberate engineering process to get there.

This hull design cuts through chop and rough water extremely well; I had a chance to row the Peinert P26 and then borrow this FluidElite on the next day, with similar water conditions. The difference between the two was eye opening: the FluidElite absolutely sliced through the chop with impunity, while the Peinert felt like the bow was getting patted back by the wavelets. There was a much greater sensation of boat run and glide with the Fluidesign (I know it’s not a fair comparison, seeing as there’s a gulf of difference in both price and age of each boat, but it was valuable to be able to double check my own biases).

I don’t write much about handling a boat once on shore, but I think it’s worthy to talk about it here. This boat is extremely light; it doesn’t feel like it weighs hardly anything. Carrying it to and from the water is absolutely without challenge. The only issue that is less than ideal is common to any boat with a bow rigger: turning it over in slings is a real pain in the butt. That long rigger sits right at the balance point, and it’s pretty difficult to get your body around it. You have to extend your arms and push the boat away from you so you can swing your hips clear of the oar locks. I don’t think there’s a good solution for this, so make sure to work out your shoulders and core?

Comfort and Features

Fluidesign uses a Croker seat top, which is pretty much the gold standard. I personally don’t like the back of the seat near the tailbone, but this doesn’t seem to be a common complaint. A lot of the women rowers in my life have purchased Croker seats due to the immeasurable increase in comfort; Kate found that Wintech seats have hole placement that her Ischials (sitting bones) would rest on the edge of, this caused severe discomfort and occasional numbness in her feet. I’ve never had much of an issue with Wintech seats, so it probably depends greatly on your hips and Ischial location.

As I mentioned above, this is a “minimalist” boat. It features low, tight gunwales that really don’t leave you with a feeling of being enveloped. Quite to the contrary, rowing one of these makes you feel like you’ve hardly got a shell around you. If you take a look at the top of the seat deck, you’ll notice it sits slightly above the highest point of the gunwale; You feel like you’re hanging off the edges of the boat on either side.

About that low, narrow gunwale: Your comfort in this boat may have much to do with how your body is shaped. I don’t have much “fluff” around my hips (I have no butt), but my Kate, rowing this exact same boat, had issues where the gunwales would actually rub her keister with the seat action. This could likely be solved by raising the seat a little bit, but that also has rigging implications to balance the higher seating position relative to your feet and oarlocks.

This is a 2016 model, and as such it does not feature the molded cockpit which opens up a little more space in the boat for your things (including a water bottle holder, thank you Fluidesign!) This 2016 model features a more standard cockpit that most people would be familiar with.

This boat features a bow mounted rigger (of which Fluidesign was one of the original purveyors of). This rigger is attached very simply and without extra hardware; I’m not sure which company came up with the idea for this attachment method first, Van Dusen or Fluidesign, but both are very similar in operation. Fluidesign’s system is a more elegant and simple solution; you only need a single wrench to open up the two bolts holding it in place.

You will want to check your spread prior to racing this boat, however. By the nature of those round tubes that the oar locks clamp onto, it’s not uncommon for them to get bumped one way or the other and out of your intended setting. I’ve rowed with a buddy who had a Fluid 2x, and this happened a couple times (he would rest the rigger on the ground vertically on the oarlock, trying to get the cover on for transport). It’s also happened to another rower in my club as well, perhaps for the same reason. I don’t think it’s an inherent flaw, but I would definitely run a tape measure to double check prior to any regatta.

The foot stretcher is pretty good, but in this model year’s case, it’s a very simple but somewhat inconvenient way to adjust your feet. The upper brace by your toes rests on the inside of the gunwale; bolts that hold it in place run through the sides of the boat to wing nuts on the outside of the boat. There’s four of these to help distribute the load, but you don’t want to make foot adjustments casually, and I might suggest, never on the water. This is definitely a “set it once and never again” system. Once you find your setup, you won’t want to change it.

Price

Fluidesign singles of this era seem to be aimed squarely at the Masters rower. They’re customizable, below the FISA minimum weight guidelines, and a little bit fiddly to dial in. Some companies don’t want to be bothered by individual orders, instead opting for those larger team, multi-boat orders. I recommended several of my favorite shells to a friend who was looking for a single, and they eventually went with this Fluidesign. My friend got a call back from the representative within a couple hours, asking how they could help get them into a boat. That makes a huge difference, considering how at least one of the other companies didn’t return any of my friend’s calls.

These are premium racing shells, but despite the cost, the Fluidesign FluidElite and BlueMax ended up being the shell of choice at my club. There’s a huge winning combination of coolness, sheer speed, boat feel, and an awesome customer support team. Is the boat flawless? If you’re a masters rower who’s going to set the boat up once and then leave it set to your specs forevermore, then this is a hard one to beat. But I would definitely not recommend this for a club fleet (I’ve never seen a Fluidfirst in person, however). This era of design features too many pieces of hardware to lose, and takes too long to adjust to be a good club boat.

If I were given a choice of racing shells to buy, between this Fluidesign FluidElite and a Hudson USP, which would I get? If I already had all the gear, including slings, oars, tools, etc. I would probably get the Fluidesign. They’re extremely popular and cool for a reason.