AQUATICS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 29, 4 February 1899, Page 4 (Supplement)

AQUATICS.

The Auckland Anniversary Ileg-atta of hist Monday proved very successful from a spectacular point of view, and the crowd which thronged the steamer Mokoia in the afternoon was the largest that has ever been seen on beard a flagship in Auckland harbour, and the. ticket money was a welcome addition to the regatta funds, li was very unfortunate that the rowing races had to be postponed, especially as there was smooth water obtainable, in the afternoon under the northern shore. The races could very well have been rowed in the afternoon had the crews all been present, at the North Shore. It was a pity that in the sailing races there was not more beating to do. Had the wind been either westerly or easterly the sailing events would have been far more interesting, and the test of windward work would have been worth watching. The only bit of work on a wind was the stretch from the North Head to the Eangitoto reef mark boat, and the races therefore did not afford a fair test of the weatherly qualities of the. scows and

yachts

In the scow race the Shamrock had her day out, and the leading and running just suited her. The Pukapuka and Orakei, far more weatherly vessels, were left a long- way behind by the big scow when she got leading wind up and down the harbour, and the Shamrock looked particularly well as she ciune up past the flagship the first time, with every stitch of canvas set, from maintop-mast staysail to 'ringtail, and wate.rsail. The new scow Herald was the only one out of the four competitors which did not set extra, sails, and the result proved that she did not carry enough sail for her size, at any rate not' enough to drive her at the speed of the other three. The scow race as it spectacle, was a really g-ood one, though I would have liked to have seen more entries.

The unfortunate bungle which occured in the large yacht race on Monday has been the subject of considerable comment this week. The owner of the Heartsease took the precaution on Monday morning to procure a copy of the official programme containing the course? for the race, and had the representatives ■of the other three yachts taken the pains to do the same all the trouble would have been avoided.

The owners of the Thelma have protested against the first prize in the big yacht, race being* awarded to the Heartsease on the ground that the Heartease did not complete the proper course. Messrs Jagger Bros, hold that they, the Volunteer, and Halcyon sailed the proper course in going round the Rangitoto reef mark buoy the second time. They have in their possession a printed slip giving the conditions, courses, etc., cf races, which they state was handed to them on entry night by Mr Dacre, the lion, secretary to the committee. This slip gives the course as twice round the mark boaf off the Eangitotb reef. On the other hand MY Daci-3 says he did not hand the slip to .Tagger Bros., and that the printed slips were simply lying on the table- for the private information of .the committee. In any case "the courses were subsequently revised, and the owners of the three yachts which went round the Kangitoto hark twice did not know of the alteration. Mr Donald, owner of the Heartsease, bought a copy of the official programme on the morning of the race, and thus put himself ■on the right side; and it would have been wise had the owners of the other three yachts only T;i

the trouble to do the same, and the principal fault lies with them. At the same time it seems to be a moot question whether the sailing conditions and courses alleged to have been supplied on entry night are not official and more binding' than the course given in the official programme, which 'it is contended by some is simply issued for the information of the public. However, it is doubtful whether the instructions on the printed slip received by Jagger Bros, on the night of entry were official, seeing that no one was authorised to hand the slip to them. The secretary says he did not give the slip to the entrants, and it is therefore a question of the statement of facts as between Messrs Jagger and Mr Dacre. It is;clear in any case that the original course should not have been given to the entrants on entry night, seeing that it was still open to revision, and whoever did it was not. authorised to do so by the committee. Both sides, the Heartsease and her rivals, have a. certain amount of foundation for their claims, but I think the owner of the Heartsease must be entitled to credit, for obtaining a copy of the official programme, and thus putting himself on the right side. The whole thin* is, however, a discreditable muddle", and the officials of the committee are considerably to blame. The dispute remains in nhpynnce till the judge's report is received.

Another muddle which occurred •was that in connection with the handicaps of the 3'ae'ht races. This has been the theme of considerable discussion in aquatic circles during the -week, and some members of the committee fully deserved the rou°h criti cism they received. The laxity in connection with the handicaps was a disgrace to the committee, and showed that some of the officials of the o]uh were certainly not attending to their duties. The handicaps should be in the possession of the iudsye on the day of the race, but as a'matter'of fact he did not receive them until two days afterwards. This is only one of

a series of blunders, and v is pretty evident that some members of the committee were guilty of great neg lect, to say the least of it. Judging by the small attendance at the A./. Championship Lowmg .utgatta, held at Lake Takapuna beach, fast Saturday, the interest of tne bulk of the Auckland public in rowing does not extend to the amount of two shilling a-piece. Had the steamer tare been fixed at one shilling- probablj there would have been a much larger attendance, but even then the necessary £150 could not have been raised. The 'Auckland Kegatta Committee finances the Bowing Championship Meeting, and the payment oi the prize money to the rowing clubs will be a heavy drain on the committees resurces, which are none too abundant. Canvassing for subscriptions is a precarious way of financing- a re-o-atta, and in the ease of the two regattas just held it was the sailing members who collected the great bulk of the money, and they complain that the rowing club.representatives on the committee only collected a very tnflIno- proportion'of the funds raised. It cannot be said that the Championship .Rowing- Regatta was a success. For one thing the proceedings dragged greatly, over an hour's needless delay* occurring before the first race was*started, and for this the officials and competitors were jointly responsible. It is true that the water, was somewhat rough, early in the afternoon off the 'beach, at onyrate for outriggers, but it was not so much so as to* prevent .the first race being rowed fit the specified time. Competitors were to blame as well as the committee, and when crews wore not up to time they should have been disqualified. 'Phis delay is the sort of thing that nnnoys patrons t of rowing, and it is al the more reprehensible when it is unnecessary delay.

The Champion Fours race was robbed of a good deal of its interest owing to the St. George's crew being thrown out of it through the bow oar breaking just as the race started. T looked to St. George's orew to'finish pretty well up; certainly they were better tlian any other Auckland crew, though Waitemata were a powerful set of men. The finish in the Auckland Plate .Junior Fours was an excellent one. Cannon's West End crew making a splendid race of it, the best finish of the day in fact.

The last Sydney 'Referee' to hand contains pictures of the Laurel, Mercia, Geisha and Bronzewing IV., which competed at the recent North Shore regatta in the one-rater championship race.

The victory of the Pieton crew in the Champion Fours hits come as a great surprise to many people in Wellington (says the 'Post'). At the regatta held at Picton on 2nd January the crew which has now won in Auckland was beaten by the very crew of the Wellington Rowing Club which it met on Saturday by about eighteen lengths. The Picton men attributed their defeat on their own course to want of training-. Since then they have been hard at work some part of each day, and on starting in Saturday "s race they were in the pink of condition. It will be recollected that the same men won the Championship Fours in the South last year. The success of the Star Boating Club's crew (R. Pownall and F. Hume)' in the Senior Double Sculls is very gratifying. When the men were selected to go Xorth there was a feeling on the part of some of the members of the club that a better crew could have been chosen, but the manner in which they have acquitted themselves proves that the selection was a good one. The .Rainbow, the large schooner built on the Clyde last year for Major Orr-Ewing (son-in-law'of Lord Glasgow^), is said to have attained a speed of 14 knots, sailing on a strong reach and with a fair tide. This is a remarkable performance, even lor a vessel of her size, but Mr Jas. Coats, a member of a great yachting family on the Clyde,, intends to do better" still, for, prompted by a desire to equal the best performances credited to the old tea clippers of thirty or forty years a°-o, he is having built a schooner yacht expected to be capable of logging at least 16 knots. The new vessel is designed by Mr G. L. Watson, and is being constructed at Messrs Henderson's yard at Whiteinch. To stiffen the new yacht under the great spread of canvas she will have 125 tons of lead on her keel., all in one block, the heaviest casting ever fitted to a vessel.