The Oselvar or Oselver is a small wooden rowing boat traditionally built and used along the west coast of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The Oselvar is a clinker built boat with thin, very wide planks. Almost all parts of an Oselvar are made of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

, with only the keel of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

History

This type of boat has been very common in the outer regions of

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

for hundreds of years. It was named after the major important building site for this type of boat during the 18th century, at the mouth of the Oselva River in Os in

county. In the early 1800s, boat building was an important industry in Os and the neighboring village of

Tysnes Tysnes () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre is the village of Uggdal. Other popul ...

, on the other side of the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

. The stylized figure of an Oselvar appears on the coat of arms of the municipality of Os. Dating from at least the 1500s and continuing until 1860, these boats were exported in kit form principally to the

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

and

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

islands. During the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

crossing, the wooden boats were taken apart and then 'flat packed' for shipping. Instead of sending complicated assembly instructions, they sent Norwegian boatbuilders to re-build them. Although initially a working row or sail boat, the Oselvar also has a long tradition as a leisure craft. A boat which could achieve both grace and speed was perfect for sailing and rowing competitions. The first regatta was arranged by the Bergen Sailing Association on

Midsummer's Day Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of European or ...

in 1871. Today several clubs and sailing associations are engaged in promoting the traditions of the Oselvar, both as a sports and leisure boat. In 2009, the boat was voted Norwegian national boat in a poll held by the

Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue The Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (Redningsselskapet in Norwegian, commonly shortened to RS) is the only organization wholly dedicated to assisting people and vessels at sea along the extensive Norwegian coastline. Overview Norwegian Society f ...

References

External links

Film footage from Oselvar-regatta.Video from sailing the Oselvar at Austevoll, west coast of Norway.Video from sailing Oselvar regatta at the Tysnes island, June 2016, Norway.
Video, ends with footage of two brothers rowing an oselvar.]
Photograph Gallery
Os, Hordaland Boat types

History

See also

References

Related reading

External links