ROWING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 140, 7 March 1908, Page 9

ROWING.

<By Mercury.) COMING EVENTS. March 12.—Wanganui Regatta. March 23.— N.Z. Championship Regatta, at Napier. Tho Wellington regatta on Saturday last was productive of some oxcellent racing, but tho weather • conditions rendered it hard to make a fair estimate of -tlie quality of tho rowing. The gale that prevailed during tho oarly afternoon sent gusts and squalls spinning down the course, dead against the unfortunate oarsmen, the result-being that when they reached a point near enough to tho finish to bo seen by tho spectators tho men had''taken so much out.of themselves, that it would not bo fair ,to. them to judge their rowing capabilities, by their form then shown. The outsido crews suffered most in this respcct, and. consequently; the. rulo of tho day was to make' a break for tho calm water, under the hill-' at the-first -opportu-. nity. . , ■■ ; .

. Blenheim' adopted these tactics successfully in tho senior fours,- allowing Picton, who beat tho starter badly, to'get clear away, and then coming round behind inshore. This race soon resolved itself into a struggle betwoen .tho Blenheimitcs and Canterbury, who had considerably tho worst of tlio deal in being right .outsido." Blenheim rowed their old, quick, chopping stroke till near tho post,, .when, holding a good lead,'they slowed down r,and"tho Canterburyrcrew closed up the gap about a length 'arid a half, which was about the difference whon tho gun went. The Blenheim crow gets undeniablo paco, though how tlieydo'it with the stylo of rowing they adopt is a mystery, and if it is a fact that they had ■ only conio together, for ten'days before the regatta, they must havo a good chance of winning tho big'money at Napier.■Tlie two junior four races resulted in splendid finishes between Union (Christchurcli). and Picton, - tho' former just''getting', tho' "verdict by-a few feet' in each instance... The,winning crew wakcomposed of a big brawny quartette who showed very good form arid altogether rank Jiiglv in. their class. .

The winners : of tho - maiden arid', youths' fours,. Star: and. Canterbury respectively, both rowed well, though, in justice to tho Star youths' creiv. it should' bo- added -that they had shortly before,rowed.'a hard race in the junior clinker four, ;so that their sccond to: Canterbury was no mean performance. The local crews-all through, with the .exception'of tho AVellington senior double Soulier's and the Star maidens, rather failed to ris'o to tho occasion. Tho Star seniors,' as anticipated, lacked sufficient : condition ■ for tho hard row and the/senior double scullers gavo a disappointing display, .their steering espccially : being very bad. This club's maiden scullers, together with the Petono and AVellington , crews woro disqualified by tho umpire for being lato in their event, treatment which, though merited, always strikes one as being harsh.

The Wellington CJub's senior- double scullers put up a very good, race with M'Donald and Marshall, of Wanganui, for a milo, when tho superior strength and condition of the' visitors told and carried them homo with' about throo lengths to spare. The Wellington men got off tho mark .very quickly and led for tho. first half mile, when WanEanui drew up by degrees and, rowing very solidly; pulled clear at tho milo and won as above. ' Tho Wanganui combination is a really good; one, and quite kept up their town's -reputation for producing scullers. This reputation was furthor'enhanced by M'Donald's win in the single skulls. He had no difficulty in downing the opposition after the first' milo had been covered, and was not asked to show all his true form, still, judging by what one could see, it is unlikely that he will'doposo Wlielch'this season. .

Tho . Star Club, will' be represented at tho .Wanganui regatta. on March 12 by a youths'-, crow,, consisting of F. Turnbull (gtroke)j H. D. Bridge, W. Doughty, and A. It. Brewer and ithe. successful, maiden crew of-last Saturday—R. Brewer (sir.),' J.: Kerslako; H.; S. ; Seward, and Hi D. Bridge.' Brewer and Kerslake .will also start in the maiden double sculls. In view of tliis regatta the following notes-from tho .Wanganui "Herald",on the Wanganui crews engaged will bo of Interest:— ■■ • ■

"The sculling mania has been responsible for another challenge contest; Slyfield and Braithwaite, sen., are to . try conclusions next Monday in best and best boats, over a two mile course.

"Rumour has it.that the College four will be starters in the youths' race at the'forthcoming local regatta. Should this be so they must have a - good winning chance, though they are not anything brilliant, but youths' crews in Wanganui this season are a very ordinary, lot. "Joe Green, the U.B.C. single sculler> shows signs of returning to his best ■ form. His sojourn up the river with Webb' has improved him greatly, and having Denny Barnett as trainer, he should bo hard to beat. The meeting between Green and M'Donald is boing looked forward to with great interest. '••■■■

"Now that the regatta is drawing nigh, the local crews are getting on to fast and consequently interesting , work. , Tho senior four of tho U.B.C. are seemingly in splendid form. Tho boat shows plenty of paco between the strokes, catch and .finish aro good, but a littlo irregularity is sometimes noticeablo in the body swing. Tho same club's junior crew is at present struggling with tho rigger boat. When they succecd in sitting it they should provo hard to boat, being an active and powerful combination. The maiden crow of tho U.B.C. is only, medium, and the crow, as a whole, is inclined to finish light, tho result being that at times the crew have anything but an even row. The Union Club's youths four is fairly well together, but I fancy the top end of the boat is too weak to ensuro' its over being a first class crew. Christiansen and Couch will represent tho light blues in tho maiden double sculling event at the local regatta.

"Jack Ruscoo seems to ■be getting a fair amount of pace from his skiff, despite his crnb-liko action of catching the water. "The Lewis Sculls has been keeping members of the W.R.C. busily engaged for some timo past. Tho competition will be finished in a day or two. The senior combination of the reel and blacks is developing into a very dashy crow. Certainly thero are faults, but the paco is thero also, and they should put up a good race next week. "The W.R.C. junior crew is moving splendidly, and seems well together, but it appeared a day or two ago as if a slight cessation from-ha rd work would prove a benefit. This club's maiden crow is decidedly rough in action, but seems to get over tho water fairly quickly. Apart from body swing, their weakest point is tho finish..of the stroke in which bow side could improyo.. The W.R.C. has had no luck in connection with its youths' four this season. A crow was got together a few weeks ago, but it has now been thrown out of work."