Watching video 2 of the Clovelly, I note that it rows with the bow in the water, thus slicing through the waves. In video 1, he's riding across the chop and the bow's constantly coming out of the water.
Translating that to the Little Black Dog, we'll be able to do the bow slicing through the water routine quite well. However, when chop forces the bow out of the water, the flat bottom means that the re-entry won't be as nice as the curved hull of the Clovelly. That right Mik?
As for that sliding oar gizmo, man that looks weird. Sorry, in my world, reducing moving/complicated parts is a good thing.
Richard