ARNST WINS AGAIN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 79, 5 April 1910, Page 4

ARNST WINS AGAIN.

DETAILS OF THE RACE WITH WHELGH. CHAMPION NOT EXTENDED. [BY TELEGRAPH— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] AKAROA. 4th April. The sculling race for- the champion- | ship of the world between E. Arnst, the present holder, and George Wheleh, of Akaroa, challenger, postponed from Saturday afternoon last, took place in the Akaroa Harbour this afternoon, and resulted in an easy win for Arnst by ; severe' lengths. [The bare result -of the [•^ace appeared in last nighf& Post]. The • delay of Saturday was a good thing in a way, for it enabled Arnst to shake off a recent indisposition,, which jhad been causing him some trouble I earlier in the week. Wheleh, od the other hand, had trained himself to be in foim. on Saturday, and two days" delay seemed to make a difference to him. He did not seem to be able to get going properly. There was a nasty jobblc on the water which quite upset Whelcli, but Arnsfc made very, good work of it, and was never pushed. At one stage of the race 'he* outdistanced his opponent by quite ten lengths. Afterwards he took things easily, and Wheleh, by hard and sustained work, reduced the gap to three or four lengths, but Arnst easily maintained his lead, and won. by about that distance. He kept up a fine swinging stroke when he settled down after the first quarter of a mile, whereas WhSleh, being the lighter man, had to row faster and iess accurately. BEEEZE AND JOBBLE. The race was timed to start at 3 p.m., and at about 2.30 p.m. the official boat Kelvin, with Arnst and A. E. Craddock, the umpire, on board, left Akarois for the scene .of the start at Porter's Point, soms three miles and a quarter down the harbour. It was blowing a light northerly in the upper part of the harbour, where the race was to .finish, but approaching the starting point a southerly was encountered, the result being that the race was rowed in two different breezes. There was a decided jobble of a nasty nature, which caused, some trouble, but the umpire and the competitors agreed that the water was quite smooth enough for the race, and the two men were soon afloat. Arnst's boat was taken down by the Kelvin, Wheleh taking his skiff down in his own boat. The men were ready to start shortly rtler 3 o'clock, and the umpire tossed for position. Wheich 1 took the call and bid heads. The toss went against him, and Arnst selected the inner position near the northern side of the harbour, vhicn, it is considered, would mean an advantage of about a length in the race. As events turned out, it was quite im material which position Arnst took, and as a matter of fact he did the last section of the race, from the Reef (two miles) to the finishing point, a long way to the outside of Wheleh. The start was somewhat protracted. Arnst was obviously ill at ease, and he made one or two "false starts which Wheljh did not respond to. Wheich then got away, but that also proved a false start. Both men seemed to' be manoeuvring to get every advantage right at the beginning of the race. Finally their blades caught the water simultaneously, and shortly after 3.15 p.m. the great race commenced. WHELCH LEADS FOR A SHORTTIME. _ ' Wheich. started off afc a great rate, about 42 to the minute, and he actually headed Arnst, who responded with 32. The spurt, however, did not last long, and after a quarter of a mile had been traversed Arnst was ahead, rowing a swinging stroke of 28 to the minute, which he subsequently reduced to'as low as 22. From the time Arnst got ahead he had the race in hand, and the event may be said to have been settled after that first distance was traversed. Passing the Maori kaik Arnst was rowing trom 28 to 26. He had established a good lead, and at the mile and a-half distance he was~ several lengths ahead. Wheich was rowing a short, quick stroke, but the jobble gave him a lot of trouble, and he seemed able to make no good effort at all. He was rowing 28 to the minute past the kaik, but Arnst's long powerful swiugs kept him easily in the .lead. Approaching Green Point (two miles) Arust slowed down, but on encountering the tide rip in that locality he put in some good strokes again until he was iv slack watei. ARNST HAS PLENTY IN RESERVE. •Wheich, on approaching the Reef (off Green Point), increased his strokes to 30, and shaped a straight course over the Reef to the finishing line. Arnst, on the other hand, made a, somewhat big detour to escape the rocks off the point, and slackened down considerably, so much so that many weic ulider the impression that he was done. From Green Point to the finish he slowed down to as much as 22, which enabled* Wheich to creep up, but Arnst had plenty in reserve, for he had no difiiculty in maintaining his lead to the finish. During the last mile Whelcl' vowed very pluckiry, and put in several good spurts which showed he had plenty of energy left. The best he could do. however, was less ,than what Arnst could do, and there is no doubt the better man won. No official time was taken, but according to a reliable timekeeper the distance was covered in 21min 50 3-ssec. This was by no means fast time, but the competitors had to contend with a jobble, a strong ebb tide, and* a head wind for part of the way. "WON AS HE LIKED." Arnst's weight and strength enabied him to overcome with greater ease the peculiar difficulties encountered, and the result of the race was only another demonstration of the fact that in sculling a good big man must beat a good little man every time. Interviewed at the conclusion of the race, Mr. A. E. Craddock, the umpire, said theie was nothing in the race from start to finish. Arnst drew iv shortly after the start, and won as he liked. His style seemed to be ever so much more suitable for work than that of Wheich, whose strokes were too short. The water was a little jobbly. but was very fair for rowing. ARXST INTERVIEWED Arnst, the winner, was being cubbed down by his brother Jack when he was seen by'the writer. 'It was a hard race to row," hs said, "and the water was not at al) good. I rowed very hard to get round the corner, and had to put in all I knew. George Wheich came up at the finish, and I had to vov. light up to the line, as I did not want him. to get any closer. Wlielch went pretty fast off the mark, and for a time left me, but 1 caught up again. ("corge Wheich put up a lenliy good race, but he had bad lutk with the i-tatt* of the water. '"We niiiile .i \L'i\ good .-t.ut, and our blades (-truck the water piPtty well loaetner. 1 got a bit aiixioi.- :it the start on account of the water, but soon settled down." Anitt added that ho va-> delimited v>i*li the excellence of the Norton M.-uiis he had used dunug the lace, and cxprcs-^d his thank& tq Akaroa people for tho kindness and hospitality

extended to him while he was in the town. The champion said he would be leaving for Australia on Thursday to compete in a handicap event on the Parramatta River, and from Australia would go direct to South Africa to prepare for the coming contest with Barry on the Zambesi. He would have to be in South Africa for at least ten weeks before the race in order to become acclimatised, but he did not think the climate would trouble him at all. The race with Barry, which takes place on 18th August, is for a purse of 1000 soys, put up by South African sportsmen, £750 for the winner and £250 for the loser. Arnst receiving £300 for expenses. If Arnsb wins or loses on that occasion, Barry has announceds that- he will give him another race on the Thames. LOSER "COULD NOT GET GOING." George Wheich, the defeated challenger, was also interviewed. He said he could not get going at all, and did not feel at all tired at tne finish. The jobble tossed him about considerably, and he could not get going. He was disappointed, feeling that he had not extended himself, but he did not want or wish to say that Dick Arnst was not the better man. It was hard for anyone to say what Arnst really could do. Even supposing there had been, another mile to go, Arast might still have won by three lengths. ! "1 was just going properly when I got into better water near the finish," continued Wheich, "and I could have kept on for another mile or so without becoming tired. During the earlier part of the race I sometimes got in a dozen or twenty good strokes, and then the jobble would alfect me. Quite a big wave came along, and I was getting water all over my back. "1 reckon Dick Arnst is a bet'< r man, and we don't know what he can do. I had a chance to try him and was very glad to get it. Th*e tide was against us and the water was veiy slow, also the time, for I have frequently coverett the course easily in 20^ minutes." Wheich added that he had no sculling plans for the future and would take a rest for a time.