: When you row, you can get much greater force into the water since you can use
: your legs and back. So a rowing shell is faster than a kayak, not due to
: the design, but due to the propulsion.
: To reduce resistance the key factors are wetted surface, form drag and
: wavemaking drag. So as stated earlier by someone else, generally long,
: narrow hulls with rounded sections are the best. The boat needs to as
: stiff as possible and as light as it can be made.
: Have fun.

And,the power of oars applied directly to the hull can be fairly great. Constructing an SOF rowing shell that is sturdy enough to take the abuse of oars being pulled with maximum force will not be easy. SOFs can survive in rough water because they flex when encountering outside forces. An SOF rowboat is also going to flex because of inside forces generated by the oars.
If you build SOF kayaks that are paddled rather than rowed you will be making your design problems much simpler.