BOATING GOSSIP.

Press, Volume XVIII, Issue 2688, 11 December 1871, Page 3

BOATING GOSSIP.

It has always been a matter of wonder to mc what the Portonians do with themselves at night. What becomes of all thc jolly watermen who frequent the wharves during the day, so to. speak ; what becomes of the business men who sit at the receipt of custom? What does every one do when there is no entertainment at the Colonists' Hall 1 I went over the other evening to tout the rowing men. It was blowing, of course, strong from the south-west, and the water was not fit for practice. I went down and had a look at the boats,, notably the Mayflower, the' new four-oar built by Mr Harrison for the L.B.C. She does him, both in and out of the water, great credit, though I take leave to inform Mr Harrison that I much prefer the old-fashioned way of fixing the'stretchers to the one he has adopted in the Mayflower. The boat is well finished, and is a credit to colonial industry. With a ctew in her, she trims at present a little by the stern, but this fault Mr Harrison is going to alter, and I have little doubt when the alteration is effected a great increase of speed will Tesult. 80 much for.the boat; now as to the crew, who are placed as follows :—-1, Harrison; 2, Roper; 3, Cameron; 4, Cuff. They are all veterans in rowing, and are, bow excepted, heavy weights. They tow down to Raupaki of a morning, I understand, and run in the evening, or vice versa, but their work is of course entirely dependent upon the state of the water, which is in Port variable, to say the least of it. I saw them at work the other morning,' and beg to compliment the crew upon their performance. ; 1 dp not wish to say that they pull in firstclass form, but I was surprised to see them , row the Mayflower in the way they did, considering that Harrison, I believe excepted, not one of them have rowed in an outrigger before this season.- Stroke pulls strongly and well, but with rather a round back. Three, the heaviest man in the boat, is often too late in catching the water, and rows a trifle out of the boat. Two and one both row in very nice form. I can only regret that Harrison is not a 6tone heavier in which case the proposed alteration in the boat might be dispensed with. The whole crew are deficient in that pendulum swing forward, which one sees so often in a university eight and so seldom, here, but which stamps a well trained crew. The thwarts of the Mayflower are however in more senses than one well filled; and I think she will, bar accidents, be not very far behind on the 25th of next month. I would respectfully suggest that the crew engage some one to coach them in the meantime. In recommending this I mean no disparagement to them, far from it, but a coach would point out to each man those faults which he himself is the last to perceive, which the rest of the crew naturally do not like to notice, but which nevertheless do exist. A coach, for instance, would probably suggest to the Mayflowers that talking and rowing do not act well in concert. In a well disciplined crew, a man would no more think of seeing anything except the back of the men in front of him than a runner would of conversing on the current topics of the day with his opponent in the last lap of a twomile race. And, as to the talking, a man cannot talk and row too. I do not wish to assert that tbe Mayflowers are in the habit of yarning in the boat, but I heard them talking the other i morning, and: that is why I mention it, N. B.—l know men far worse in

Christchurch. I~~^-nc^~l>ne~"man "who"ls always coaching the-other "three, i have arrived at that he only riles them; andloseshis own wind and eventually the race. He means well, but if he continues his evil courses through the present s >ason, I'll show him up next year. I will u|>on my word.

The Trades' Club are practising in the Fernleaf, a boat known to fame as the winner of Shaw Saville's cup at Kaiapoi last year. The crew I understand are as follows :—l, Eden ;2, Macdowell ; 3, AUwright; 4, Snoswell. I may he incorrect ia 1 and 2, for I only speak from information received from a stalwart waterman, who is very strong in the matter of beer, but whose facts and orthography I have repeatedly found "|to be shaky. The Trades'crew were not out the evening I was in Port, and I believe they seldom or never row in the morning. I hope to be fortunate enough to see them next time, and to be able to note the fact that Lyttelton has another crew as good as the L. B. C. Before leaving the Port men, I regret to state that I saw or heard nothing of any pair-oar rowing. I have advocated pair-oar rowing till I am ashamed almost to revert again to the subject; but, apart from its expediency it seems strange that in a place like Lyttelton, where there are so many good men, and men, too, that can fully appreciate the correctness of what I have stated in the matter" of pair-oar rowing, no crew is at work for the pair-oar races. Mr Maxwell's cup is again to be rowed for this season, not to speak of a pair-oar race forming a feature in every regatta programme. With the exception of the present holders of Mr Maxwell's cup, I know of no two men training for a pair-oar per sc, which if I be right, is not as it should be. Putting pairoar racing out of the question there is no way of getting a crew to pull together like pair-oar practice. I've said all this or something like it last year, and this year, and I will next, unless there is a change. Since my last I have also seen the Heathcote men at work. I like the Ferry road when the historical drain is not too—may I say—obtrusive, but it is not nearly so nice at five in the morning as at five in the afternoon. I hate the early dawn, that's a fact. The road, and of all roads the Ferry road seems dustier in the early morning than in the afternoon, and the wharf where the Heathcote Club keep their boat is a long way off. The glory has departed from the Heathcote river. In the dear old days when we were all pilgrims and walked over the hill, the Heathcote was a river of no small importance, numerous craft used to come up to the wharves, and the Heathcote naturally fancied itself some pumpkins. The tunnel has, to carry out my last beautiful simile, squashed the Heathcote river. It is, nevertheless, a good river for boating in most respects, and. even at very low tide, under which aspect I saw it tha other morning, it has a deep channel which makes a boat row far lighter than on the Avon. The Heathcote crew are a lightweight team as compared with representatives of most of the other clubs, but they are doing very good work, and are a credit to Mr F. Pavitt, who is coachiing them. The crew are, 1. E. A. Pavitt, lOst 51b ; 2. Clark, list 21b; 3.o'Hafa, list olb ;4. Davis, lOst 81b. Of these Davis and Clark were in the crew last year. They have both greatly improved ; Davis pulls a nice even stroke, and is the right man in the right place. Clark has plenty of style, but is often slow in catching the water. No. 3 is a very powerful rower, and will, with good coaching, make a right good man, but. he rows too deep, and has not yet learned to keep his back straight. Bow meets his oar badly, but apart from this is very good, and, rows like staying well. As a lot they are a • very good crew, and if appearances go for anything should, as I hope they will, score a run to the H. B. C. this season. The remarks I applied to the L. B. C, apply, however, also to them. . They do not swing together enough; th°y want at present that finish which I have little doubt Mr Pavitt will work into them in the course of the next three weeks. The Naiad lam greatly pleased with. I must own that when 1 first saw her last year on her arrival from Melbourne, I was inclined to think her a good useful boat for practice, or for, let us say, Port Lyttelton in a lumpy sea, but I have altered my opinion greatly, and if the Heathcote men do not show out well, this year, it will not be the fault of their boat. I should suggest to the crew of the H.B.C. that they devise some means of getting their boat into the water at low tide other than at present- ' Take her up tenderly, lift her with care fashioned so slenderly, frail but so fair,' is a poetical but very excellent plan of handling a racing boat; but this principle can hardly . be carried out by the Heathcote men, judging from what I saw the other morning. I hope the H.B.C. will consider my suggestion as well meant. I should be sorry to see the Naiad twisted before her time. The H.B.C. has also a boys' crew who shape uncommonly well. Pavitt, as stroke, is out and out the best form, and does credit to his paternal mentor. Martin, who rows 3, will also make a capital oar—2, Wqbdham, •is anything but a pretty rower; he has that jerk at the end peculiar to those who think rowing is all done with the arms, and who make a grave mistake. He is a poowerful lad, but wants lots of slanging. Bow, Earle. I have not seen at work, but I should think from his weight, he would probably row three. The Heathcote boys' crew are fine. boys. One of them weighs twelve stone, but I believe they aTe all under the. prescribed age, and if they will only work, and do what they ace told, they will make formidable opponents to their Avon rivals. They have all the strength, and only want the style. Sam-Pan.