ROWIM NOTES.

Press, Volume XLVIL, Issue 7712, 18 November 1890, Page 3

ROWIM NOTES.

(By Rxpabiak.) Taken all round, the first Club races of the season were fairly successfuL The arrangements were excellent, punctualitj was strictly observed,- and the starting, and judging gave universal satisfaction. Tbe rowing, on the other hand, was .hardly so successful as was generally anticipated, and there was an almost painful lack of enthusiasm at the different finishes. Of the excellence of the course everyone seemed to be satisfied, and though the rowers were under the disadvantage of having to pall against both wind and tide, which made the distance appear to be a somewhat lengthy mile, there was little or no grumbling indulged in. The stretch of water from the fishermen's huts to the winning post left little to be desired, but the first part of the course favored the inside crew somewhat. As the tide came in, and the flat got covered, it left the channel hardly as distinct as some desired it, but with a little care on the coxswain's part, there was no danger of getting out of the course. I must compliment the coxswains on the good form they showed, as with tbe exception of the Avon lads they seemed fully capable of keeping a good line, and taking advantage of any point in their favor. . On coming to the individual races, the first to call tor comment is the C.R.G. Trial Fairs. The first heat proved to be a boil over, for after Stokes and Macbeth had shown everything else a clean pair of heels they had to put up with the barren honors of third place for not finishing the course. Fortunately for them, however, the judges decided to allow them the option of competing in the final heat, and this they gladly accepted. Of the other crews, Xhacker and Watt, and Nicoll and Styche showed best form, and it was only the bad stare which the former had that prevented them from pushing the winners. * The second heat proved to be a more open affair, as although there were really only two crews in it, namely Humphreys aud Papprill, a good race was witnessed between these two, and, had Papprill rowed the race right out, I am inclined to fancy he would have won, as he somewhat easily disposed of Humphreys in the final. Five crews took part in the concluding heat, and the rowing on the whole was very fair. It was evident before half a mile had been traversed that, bar accident, Macbeth and Stokes must win ; and this they did, passing the winning-post with a lot left in them. The winners are both com-, paratively new hands at rowing, but the lorm they displayed quite eclipsed tljr pretensions of a number of much-talk ed>of crews. They roved a nice even stn jkie, with plenty of life in it, and gave evid erice of being well coached and trainer I for the occasion. Of the lot that flr«if,hed behind them Thacker and Watt ap£?ared to be the best, but bow met with e>; f,light mishap in the first heat, which. .handicapped them considerably in tYlt. final. Taking them all round, I think trie Canterbury Club has every reason to tie satisfied with their Trial crews. The U.R.C. Trial Rate, No. 2g provided the greatest surprise of the day. The winners turned up in Ellison -ifid Couzins, the lightest and youngest crew m the race. - Having the advantage of inside running, Couzins went off at a .lively fjace, and inj the first half mile had pur a good two: lengths to his credit. Afoer.this, condi-. tiou told its tale, and tlitf. winners were the only crew who wero pulling in anything like form during t&e last half mile. Considering the great' advantage the: majority or the other cyf;vro had iii weight: and'age, the victojcf/ of Couzins is; all the more meritoriOiU 3 . He was certainly in first-class condition, and I think if Lowry-arid-West, jind Hey wood and' Mansell had only t/iken a few lessons in this respeot they vfaiild have finished but little behind the v/jiners, instead of being' about a hundred away. Cooper and Mills, who second, made a fair show for the fire c half mile, but after that they appeared Vj fall to pieces, and did not > row up, to theifc trainiug form. =.;; •; i \ The A.R.C; races were disappointing from first tfi last; in fact, it has never been nay lot/tro witness such disappointing' races as tu\* 'second heat and final for this race. As I 'predicted, the first heat fell to the lot of Powell and Godfrey, who tairly smothered their opponents. Godfrey showed considerable improvement in his style ot rowing, but he is still very rough, and will take a lot of coaching to Uck him iv to anything like; decent." form. He is, a man of enormous strength, and one who will take any amount of coaching whea it comes in his way.: and his tfiate did hot perform as consistently were credited with being able to, and they gave one the .opinion of being a long way" from, flrstrCJtass ravrers. A. i/oDbs was, to say the least of it, disappointing. ' The second heat was robbed of all interest by a foul which occurred immediately after'the start. From what those iv the starter's boat state, F. Robbins took Thomas'water on the fall of the nag,-and a deadlock ensued, which allowed A. Robbins to secure a substantial lead, On getting clear again both crews bucked in with a will, and though Thomas reduced the'lead considerably, the start Robbins had obtained was too much to be made up again. . jThe final heat was, if possible, even i more disappointing. With F. Hobbe fairly on the job, a good race was anticipated between him and Godfrey, and for the first half-mile it looked an open thing. Then, all of a sudden Hobbs took Godfrey c water, and? not content with that; again re-crossed his opponent's bows, and a foul resulted. Then cume the most extraordinary part of the proceedings. Instead of trying their.best to get away from each other, the how men in each, boat .seized each other's oars and held on, thus allowing .Bobbin's, who was some lengths away, to again secure a lead sufficient to win him the race. , .:■■'. , I must. congratulate Robbins on his good fortune in winning both heats 4 by the benefit of collisions, though I am of opinion that but for the disaster already referred to, Godfrey would have justified the confidence I reposed in him by*winning. The race for the ; U>R.C. Trial Pairs (No. 1). was unsatisfactory. The ♦crews got- away, well, :• together, and it looked anyone's race till Bonniugtonand InwouJ, who hud secured a slight advantage, spoilt what looked like a rosy chauce, by getting out of ' the channel and sticking on the mad flat. With this crew out of the way the race was devoid of interest, as Grlflen and Craddock, who had been lying handy, came on and won somewhat easily from a rather ancient opponent in Dawber. The winner showed very fair style; stroke giving special promise of developing Into a useful man. . 'J- ■ ■•■■■>■ Punctually to time the quartette engaged in: the TJ.R.C. "President/Fours took up their position.,, Mason was the quickest to get hold of the water 1 , and with about half a length's advantage cut out pace at a very-lively bat.. The race gave every promise of being an interesting one till half-way down the home straight, when the effect of the strong wind told the tale on the leaders, and they gradually gave way to Foster. With his boat once ahead, Foster was all right, for he had increased his lead to nearly two lengths by the time the winning post was reached. " Haying both wind and tide agai ist them and. a choppy sea, it was just the day for Foster, and although I am now convinced that his was.; the bestcrew, I feel confident that given a calm day and smooth sea, Mason would have made things much more lively. Like Mason, Craddock was not seen to advantage under the adverse elements, but he did not row up to. his accredited form. Atkinson's display was certainly not up to that required to win a senior race, and from post Co finish this crew was right out of it. Foster's win /was exceedingly popular. Without doubt, the race in which most interest was centred was that for the C.R.C. President's Fours. Five crews faced the starter, but Hobbs was unfortunate enough to break an oar and thus put an end to any chance he may have had. The race needs hat little description, as Daly on the outside eommeneea to - improve his position as soon as the home straight was reached, and though Laurie hung on to him manfully, he was never able to get on terms -with last year's' winner. Daly's win was deserved popular, an A he rowed considerably better than any other crew in the race. Laurie also rowed well, and beating twu such crews "as Smith's and Dunnage's was: certainly: a meritorious performance. I notice the programme for both the, Akaroa and Kaiapoi Regattas are out, and' it therefore behoves the Clubs to set about selecting their representative crews. Everyone will be pleased to see that the Kaiapoi programme includes a Ladies* Plate race, and there is no doubt but that this event should draw good entries.