AQUATICS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 53, 2 March 1907, Page 12

AQUATICS.

That particular series of contests for the America Cup which has been described as consisting of "a fluke, a foul, and a fizzle," seems to have been to some extent typical of the liability to an unsatisfactory finish in yacht racing, says an Australian We have been in the whole, immune from it in these waters, but the recent inter-State racing in Melbourne threatens to leave unpleasantness behind it, so far as one of the events is concerned, owing to the question that has arisen as to whether one of the competing boats was allowanced correctly iv proportion to her rating. What suggests itself from that difficulty is whether rating ought not to be ignored in races in which championships or their equivalent are decided. In sculling races where such a contingency is involved one man is not given a time allowance because his boat is smaller or his arms are shorter than those of his opponent; neither are players weighed or measured in first-class cricket matches, and placed so many runs on velvet in proportion to their disparities. It is a matter of all in, of best and best starting level and finishing according to their merits or the luck of the encounter. Why not apply the same principle to championship yacht racing? That there are different sizes and builds of boats, which could not sail on even terms, only shows that they can be divided into classes, as is done in most other sports, though an unhandicapped field ior blue ribands is invariable except where a fixed sex difference is recognised. A race decided by ratings often does no more than prove that one boat is faster or sailed better than another, which, however, takes the prize. In the meantime, interest in it is either delusion, from which there is an exasperating awakening when it is discovered that the boat that did best has not won, or dulled by perplexity as to how the handicap will operate on the result. Best and best boats and first past the post the winner are conditions which would give championships a new relish for the lay public, and be followed with much more general interest.