VALUE OF A FINE HARBOUR

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 121, 16 February 1937, Page 9

VALUE OF A FINE HARBOUR

Aquatics at Sydney

Sydney Harbour as the home of yachting and rowing deeply impressed Mr. F. W. Mothes, of Wellington, who is well known as a keen supporter of aquatics. When he returned by the liner Wanganella yesterday he described the harbour with almost as great enthusiasm as Sydney people use # in speaking of it. He stated that lie thought Australians made the most of these fine natural facilities, and by doing so helped greatly to promote health and virility in the community. “When Sydney people talk about ‘our harbour’ they really have somethitig worth while to talk about,” said Mr. Mothes. “I don’t mean only from the point of view of scenic beauty. Sydney harbour commends itself because it is so hatppily endowed by nature to provide the major focal point of most of Sydney’s outdoor activities —the constant ferry traffic from one side to the other, the hundreds and hundreds of yachts of all sizes, types and descriptions, and the many thousands surfing and swimming at the various bays. “You won’t see anywhere else in the world so many varieties of yachting craft as in Sydney. One interested me considerably. I think they call it the Vaucluse Junior. This is a little craft not more than about 10ft. long, completely covered in. Made of threeply wood, it is rigged with a tiny jib and mainsail, and the crew usually consists of a couple of youths aged 16 or 17 crouched on the covered deck. They sail it in any type of wind, even in a howling gale, and of course capsizes are frequent, but that doesn’t matter for one of the youths immediately stands on the fin and the yacht rights itself. It is a serviceable little boat, so cheap as to be within the reach of schoolboys, and it provides an excellent apprenticeship for the more elaborate and serious pleasure with larger craft.

“I have never seen a finer sight anywhere in the world than Sydney harbour during their Anniversary Day re gatta on January 30. This was a special day because it celebrated the centenary of anniversary regattas—the first having been held in 1837. So tlie Sydney people made a special day of it and it was impossible to count the num-, her of yachts competing in various class events, and as for the rowing races, there must have been hundreds of oarsmen competing. Everything was perfect from the point of view of aquatic sport—lovely blue sky, just enough wind to make yachting keen and pleasurable, with plenty of sheltering water in the lee of the hills for the rowing events. “Some people say that Australians devote too much of their time to outdoor sport. I do not agree. In every business and during employment hours they work just as hard as anybody else, but they certainly have learned during the years to encourage among themselves a physical development that is to-day the envy of many other countries.* I do not know that elsewhere you could see finer physical or more healthy types than those young Australians on the beaches, particularly at Manly, Coogee and Bondi. So I repeat, when Sydney people mention ‘our harbour,’ the reference conveys to those who know, a picture of a real gift from nature handed over to a young and virile nation that knows how to use and enjoy it thoroughly.”