LYTTELTON BEGATTA

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 540, 6 January 1858, Page 5

LYTTELTON BEGATTA

It was thoroughly understood, without any formal notice; that the unpropitious weather on New Year's Day caused the postponement of •the.Regatta and sports'till Saturday; On the latter day no business was transacted by common consent/and., the thorough enjoyment of the;holiday ;was proceeded; with as if it had beenthe veritable New Year's Day itself; - In the morning the storm had not subsided, and some, heavy rain fell;before nine o'clock, but there was even then promise of a beautiful day, and that promise was amply verified. J The rain 'ceased—the clouds^ gradually--draapp^eareicr," but the.w-ind-cbotinuedTto blow : strongly^ thus' forming the. best of all weather for the occasion. The breeze lasted till-the streets were dry and after that'(.till the sailing matches were over, and. it fell light and :eaimrwnen tne rowing matches -and Ashore sports were about to be commenced. i ■■■ •■■ :l :: ■ '. "-"J:The harbour was very gay. Besides the fleet of .coasting craft-which Had come into port for the occasion, the Glentanner, Bosworth, and Oriental were present, and made an agreeable additiori. to the'-appearance of. the water. All vessels/were dressed in a suit of flags; and those just named, with the Corsair schooner, kept the harbour al|ve, ; firing. in, : answer to the guns from the.shore;; and in salute to the racing craft which, passed'by, them. -\ ' _ The.morning was consumed in y.irious preparations until eleven o'clock, when a signal gun from the Custom House yard announced that the races were ~ about to commence. At this time, as we have mentioned, a. fresh breeze was blowing from the southward, with a. fair sky overhead. The first race appointed to come off was that for decked craft. The seven craft entered were brought up off the jetty, each being provided with a printed copy of the Regulations drawn up 'for the race. The following vessels started :— ■ ... ;,.

- Cutter Annie, 15 tons, Palmer l Cutter Julia: Ann, 17 tons, Swanspn 2 Ketch Midlothian, 20 tons, Marshall 3 Schooner Emerald, 10 tons, Sinimohds 4 Ketch Father Thames,' 19 tons, Foster 5 Ketch Flirt, 12 tons, W Day „. . 6 • . Schooner Waterlily, 15 tons, Green 0 . The start was exceedingly good, all got awaywell, except the : Midlothian, which lost ground here and never quite regained. it. The two cutters, took the', lead cleverly, the Annie first and; the Emerald: closely, following, whilo-the rest somewhat, tailed; down/the' wind, till the first tack round the Glentanner. . This position was'maintained as far aithe Bpsworth, when the A;rin?eput aboutoiiihestarboard tack; her companions standing on for the reef. The Midlothian now overhauled the Julia, Ann and Emerald; and these three put. ab6uf>vhen close to the reef. The Annie had, however, worked sufficiently to windward in her previous board to enable her to weather the reef witbo.ub a second tack, and she rounded thafpoinVfive minutes m advance of Iho Julia Annythe Midlothian being third, and' the Emerald, the Father Thames, the Flirt, and ,the Waterlily, in succession,' about three minutes between each. This order was maintained for the rest of the race, oxcept that the Midlothian'edged a little closer to the second 'boat>nd came in only a half-minute behind.' The Flirt and Father Thames had a close race between themselves all round. The .Wnterlily carried away her fore-peak -halyards early in the race, and abandoned the course m the middle of the second time round. Altogether this was a very fair race, and the best that has been witnessed in Lyttelton. The time occupied by the winning boat was about an hour and fifteen minutes

Tho second race of the programme did not

come off, no third boat being entered. We understand that if another boat be brought forward during the week, the race will be run as Proposed. The sailing match for open boats clow four tons followed, for. which there were three-boats started. » "

I; G-ieritanncr; Bruce, 1 . -. : Water-witch, Healey, 2 > . Dug out, Healey, 3 ; The Glentanner took the lead and kept it throughout, as was to be expected from a boat of her qualifications. The next race was a rowing match for five-oared whale boats. Dismal George, Clarkson 1 - Go-a-head, P. Cameron, 2 ; .Will-if-I-can, J. Cameron, 3 ; This was a,good race, and well contested. The next was the four-oared match. < Annie Laurie, Genet, .',""' i Shagroon, J. Cameron, 2 •"•'•"■ There-she-goes, Parkinson, 3 * Sunflower, Davis, 4 The Annie Laurie was evidently the smartest boat, and took the lead from the commencement ; the rest also taking their places at first and keeping them throughout. For all these iace's the course was from the jetty round the liientanher and outside of all the shipping in the harbour, round, the reef and in to the flag vessel off,the. jetty.. Twice round for the sailing matches, and once round, the reverse way round the course, for the.pulling matcheg. : A Dingy pulling match followed, for which they* were five entries, resulting as follows:—• Young Flirt, Hobbs 1 i . Lightning. T. Clarkson 2 Will-if-I-can, G. Clarkson 3 j | Try-again, Cameron 4 Emerald, Healey 5 ' i The Dingy Sculling Match was won by R. Butts in the Waterlily's Dingy; T. Bradley with the Young Flirt being second. ] The'duck was represented by G. Clarkson. Thin was not such good fun as we have seen on former occasions ; the duck'made, only 6ne escape and-was caught by J. Cameron with- i in five minutes. ■j The shore sports came just before the duck hunt. Sorry as we are. to cast a damp upon any amusements which to flourish among us, we must confess to being thoroughly disgusted with $ucli ridiculous amusements as were those of Saturday afternoon. The.'greasy pole displayed some gymnastic power in the boy who succeeded, but we should have much preferred the exercise without the grease; and the jingling match was certainly the poorest attempt at amusement we ever witnessed ; the red nightcaps were the only attractive part. No foot-; races, jumping (except in- sack*) ~, nor wrestling, -WcrertKbugfit of. We hope on anotheroccasiori to'witness'some competition in some sports wherein a'man may pride himself in excelling. The fun was not over till half-past eight p;m., after which the town was quiet.