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What is a Gondola? The gondola is an ancient rowing craft used in the canals of Venice, Italy. Venice, an island in a lagoon, has streets of water for boat traffic rather than streets of asphalt for automobile traffic, and it is one of the most interesting cities in the world for its boats. There are many different kinds of boats in Venice, but the most well known is the gondola: a boat used for carrying up to 6 passengers. The gondola is 36 feet (10.5 m.) long, 4 feet (1.3 m.) wide, weighs about 1,100 lbs. (500 kilos.) with passengers and is asymmetrical along its center line; that is, it has a slight curve to the right. This is to compensate for the fact that it is rowed by one oarsman, with one oar off of the right side of the stern. The asymmetrical resistance of the hull in the water is balanced by the asymmetry of the method of propulsion, and the boat travels in a straight path. The reason for this is that the inner canals of the city are very narrow, and the use of only one oar enables boats to pass each other with more ease. The gondola also has a tremendous amount of rocker, or fore and aft curvature to the submersed part of the hull, which makes it float high in the water and reduces the length of the waterline, enabling the gondolier to maneuver the craft with great efficiency. In fact, to row the gondola with passengers the gondolier uses the same effort as it takes to walk at the same speed with no load--an extraordinary fact for a boat of its size. Apart from the common gondola used for the tourist trade, there is also the gondola traghetto, which is used to ferry passengers across the grand canal, carrying up to 20 people at a time for pocket change; the gondola regatta, used for racing; and the gondolino, also used for racing, but which is lighter and faster. How are Gondolas Made?