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1. Shuka's aluminum spreaders are part of the structure, while Viking's keel is not
There are
spreaders on the photos in those links above. I didn't mean the keel. Btw, keel is not a "skeg of sorts "- it has more to do with cross-section, i.e. primary stability and to a lesser degree - with windage, but has little to do with tracking.
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it's no Greenland kayak and more of a canoe
Its width and shape makes it different from many types of kayaks, not only from Greenland. Open deck design makes it somewhat similar to canoe, agreed. Back-less seats - too. (Or - similar to a raft). Another thing that makes it similar to open-deck vessel is that it has no usable sprayskirts - I mean that skirt won't hold well if you put it there, the rim is narrow, no "lip".
I wouldn't compare Viking to original Klepper or Folbot (not sure what "original" meant there, will assume it included those boats before Cooper, Kiawah and Alu-lite). There are no chines or gunwales in Viking. Could be the photos, but it looks that this boat practically rests on the sponsons like flat-bottom inflatable or raft.
Sponsons integrated into skin are not always a good idea. Difficult to repair and impossible to replace - though punctures are less likely since it's the same thick material on the cockpit side. Not a common solution on folders. The only time when I had to fix a "detached" sponson on Longhaul was not because of puncture on the cockpit side, but because the inflation hose developed a crack in the "elbow" where it joined the sponson. I did carry a spare sponson and in a pinch would have replaced it in a few minutes (thing not possible with integrated sponson), but decided to try and repair it first, since had already made it to the camp and wasn't in a hurry.
Which reminds me of another critical difference of Klepper/Folbot from Viking - the former type remains usable (some more, some less) with one sponson deflated. OTH, Viking has no frame and its sponsons become structural elements instead, which makes it an inflatable. With keel (non-structural, like optional backbone in Advanced Elements) and with spreader(s) - I think it has one spreader. That's why it reminded me Shuka - the only inflatable with added metal that I saw "in flesh", though Viking has more pronounced bow/stern ends.