OARSMEN'S DAY

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 54, 6 March 1922, Page 10

OARSMEN'S DAY

WELLINGTON ROWING

REGATTA

UNION WIN PRINCIPAL EVENTS

Although handicapped by an unexpected alteration .if arrangements, brought about by the northerly wind on Saturday, the Wellington Rowing Association's Annual Regatta was successfully conducted on the NgahaurangaKoro Koro course, a,nd' it provided a good day's sport.for thie oarsmen, as well as a: fair number of spectators. Occa-. sionally the course wae ruffled in parts by the wind, but conditions were generally good..- There we«s thirteen events on the programme, and'with some of the best of the Dominion's amateur oarsmen competing,, attractive displays were not infrequent. Archie Sharpe, who is regarded as capable of achie »ing high success in sculling, .showed splendid form, simply bolting away towards the finish of the senior sculls. He retaines, the Pearce Challenge Gup, and N. W. Smith", also of the Union B.C. (Wanganui),. was similarly successful with the Bridson Challenge Cup (junior sculls). The Union Club had no difficulty in again winning ithe senior fours, a fine crew comprising; C. Healey (stroko), E. Ryland (3), H. . Sharpe' (2), and W. Coombes (bow),, with N. Ross as cox. Sharpe was included in place of _Wilson, and,a rearrangement of the positions was said to have, •effected an improvement. Ryland has "been prominent since the 190940 season, and Healey is looked upon as one of the best strokes at the present time. These two oarsmen made a fine combination in the senior pairs. On form, tha Union Club should do well at the New .Zealand championships at

Wanganui rietxt Saturday. Canterbury and Star hacl some meritorious wins, while Wellington, a club.which is somewhat handicapped, did remarkably well in securing Hwo firsts and four seconds. The best r«Jx of the day was the youths' fours, in winch eight crews participated. To the spectators who followed the racs from the i oadside, the keen tussle between so many boats presented a fine spectacle. : While the rowing was often good and -.the racing interesting, it was apparent fc'hat many crews were not properly boated, and there was a lack of leg drive.-, Healey and Rylands showed the requii ements in this respect. .> , Among' the officials who did good work under sol rtewhat .difficult circumstances were :—Messrs. A. D. Bayfield (judge), R. Crawford (umpire), J. E. Widdop "(starter),- and E. Diehl (hon. secretary and treasurer). ... , ■ . MAIDEN' FOURS. One mile (for oars- . - men : lOst weight and under, Clinker boatji). • ■ Star 8.CJ... Wellington (M. J. Carroll, A.V: Gordon, J. W. H.Pringle, T. 1?; M'Kenzie) 1 Petonel?..C. (J. Kirk, F. Cropp, W. '■, ; Wilson, R. J. Duncan) ..:....:..... 2 Wellinglton R.C. (J. Ottaway, E. EastgaUfj, G. Zander, J. Rota) 3 Petonp and Star had the race to themselves, I and the latter, in better water, were flowing well at half-way. Petone, however, were making a good^race of it, and it< was not until about\2sO- yards from 1 3ie finishing mark that Star gradually jfrailed away, winning by a length. Time, 7min 30seC ,' SENIj'IR SCULLS. One and a-kalf miles (winner to hold the Pearc'e Challenge Cjjp for one. year; Best and Best boats). Union 8.C., Wanganui (A. Sharpe) ... 1 Wellington R.C. (G. Wilson) ......:.... 2 Petone R.C. (W. Burk) 3 Af|;er Sharpe had broken twice at the startl, the scullers were sent away evenly. Burk was soon in the rear, and for some distance Wilson and Sharpe kept tpgeth'ir. At the mile post Sharpe ■ took /theilead, but was content to. keep, a good length in front of Wilson, who looked rourid repeatedly. The Wellington man hunK on well, until over the final stretch Shni'pe made a brilliant spurt, and 1 fin- • ishtsd the course with a fine exhibition of' 'sculling. He won easily by five lengths. Burk stopped twice, and was a rioor third. Time, lOmin.

JUNIOR FOURS. One and a-half miles ; (Best and Best boats). Sfcir ' 8.C., Wellington (W. P. 1 M'Gowan, A. G. Oborn, R. N. \ Wakelin, W. P. Robb) :.. :.'.* 1 U:tiion 8.C., Wanganui (F. Wilson, R.; 1 Wilson, A. Gurney, C. Kruse) ... 2 JBoth boajs kept on even terms for a n?rile. ■ The keen struggle then turned in favour of the home crew, which drew •ajway strongly, and left a gap of four lengths between the boats at the finish. jPetorie were unable to compete on ac-, count of their boat being damaged. Time,': lOmin 51sec. MAIDEN PAIRS.. One mile (Clinker ', ■ boats). Canterbui-y R.C. No. 1 (F. H. Brown and E. Beaven) 1 Wellington R.C. (S. Wogan and W. ' Power) 2 Star 8.C., Wellington (E. Diehl and B. W. Feiiton) ; 3 Also started: Petone R.C. (A. Hickson and/R. Parkes). ' .. The start was ragged, Wellington losing nearly a length, r' Star took, the lead quickly, but Wellington, on the inside, rowed strongly and made up the loss at the start. They then forged ahead, but Canterbury, a well-boated pair, were rowing nicely on the outside, and over the final stretch they left the other boats and won easily by four lengths. Wellington lasted loner jenotigh to finish a good length in front of Star. Time, 7min 55sec.

YOUTHS' FOURS. One mile. (Clinker boats.) Canterbury K.C./(F.' A. Bown, T. F. M. Gibson, A. C. 0. Allen, G. H. 'Arnold) 1 Wellington R.C. (G. Grace, W. Sig-' nal, ; H. Webb, P. Mawson) 2 Picton R.C. (E. C. Adams, G. H. ' France, M. J. Jacques, C. E. Peek) 3 Also started: Petone R.C. (G. Gardiner, A. Warden, G. M'Lauchlan, K. Rodger); West End R.C, Auckland (E. M'Namara, L. Culpan, R. C. Edgar, E. Williams)-; Star 8.C., Wellington (W. Steward, M. Duncan. R. M'Kegg, I. G. Hart); Wanganui R.C. (J. Read, G. Hooper, S. Marper, G. Harper); Union 8,C., Wanganui (Quirke, Andrews, Moosman, Hammond). The. eight boats got away nicely, Petone taking the lead in No. .1 position. They were a length in front of ;West End after a quarter of a mile had been covered, and Union were last, while Picton were also dropping back. West End led at half-way, with Canterbury, rowing nicely, in close attendance; and Petone and Star almost on even terms. All the crews were exerting every effort, making an excellent race. Canterbury, swinging nicely, next went to the front, and Wellington came up to second position. In a keen and interesting finish, Canterbury passed the mark one length ahead of Wellington, with Picton, who had done well over the final portion of the course, a good third, three-quarters of a length away. Petone avid Star were close up. Time, 6min 52 2-ssec. MAIDEN DOUBLE SCULLS. One mile. Wellington R.C. (J. Johnson and G. E. Bright) !■••-•• 1

Canterbury R.C. (S. P. Godfrey and F. W. M. Cowlishaw) 2 Petone R.C. (H. K. Adamson and W. Burk) 3 Also started: Star 8.C., Wellington (J. W. H. Pringls and R. T. F. M'Kenzie). Wellington's champion pair were easily superior to the other competitors. Their fine vowing placed them in front early, and towards the.finish a nice spurt enabled them to win by over half-a-dozen lengths from Canterbury, who finished a clear length in front of Petone. Time, 6min 45sec. SENIOR PAIRS. One mile and a-half. Union 8.C., Wanganui (C. Healey and E. Ryland) 1 Wairau.R.C.. (W. E. Gibbons and R. Badman) ••• 2 These were the only starters, and tlje race was an easy thing for the strong Union pair. Time, lOmin 46sec. JUNIOR PAIRS. One mile. Petone R.C: (M. Love and 0. H. Haddock) ..../ 1 Star 8.C., Wellington (C. Hill and , A. N. Wakelin) ••■ 2 Petone appeared likely to have a walkover in this event, but finally Star sent out a; crew. Th 6 result was iiever in doubt, Petons winning easily. Time,, Bmin 20sec.