All sorts of traditions about the speed and wonderful racing powers of the boats are current in Nordland, and romantic tales are told of some of them.

The best boats in Nordland now came from Ranen, where boatbuilding has made great strides.

To build a good boat with the correct water-lines requires genius, and cannot be learned theoretically; for it is a matter of special skill on the part of the builder of each boat.

Ill-constructed boats are sometimes put together but they are, of course, unsatisfactory and sail only moderately well.
The Nordland boat-builders have long since discovered the high fore and aft, sharp-keeled boat, to be the most practical, with one mast and a broad, prettily cut square sail admirably suited to what is most required, rapid sailing in fore and side winds, though less so for tacking.

The boat is exactly the same shape under water as the fast-sailing clippers for which the English and Americans have of late become famed.