AQUATIC NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIII, Issue 10593, 28 February 1895, Page 3

AQUATIC NOTES.

[BY JASON IN " CANTERBURY TIMES.”] Considering the great disadvantages under which it labours in the matter of a limited fleet of racing boats, the Waitewa Club deserves the commendation of every local rowing man for its enterprise in deciding to send crews for five events at the Christchurch Bsgatta. lam told on the very best authority that, having secured two outriggers from the Canterbury Club, and a clinker four from the . Union, the Club will bo represented in the • Ladies’ Plate, Senior Doable Sculls, Maiden Four and' Double ' Sculls, and Junior Double Sculls.; Considering the crews for the two* senior events will have very little time in which'•to. get an idea, of outrigger rowing I do not expect to find them able to hold their own ‘ with the experienced town crews, but they may show up prominently in the Maiden Four, as having a boat somewhat similar to that used at the regatta in which to practice, * the difference will have but little, “if any, effect upon the crew in the race. ' Anyhow I hope the Wairewa Club will reap the reward of their enterprise, as nothing pleases me more than ‘to sea crew* battling against difficulties, and then coming through with flying colours; The St George Club, Auckland, had intended to be represented at the championship regatta by tho crew which had proved very successful at northern re- . gattas, but has been compelled to abandon the idea owing to one of the crew leaving for Sydney. Tha club’s representatives in the Champion Fours will be—Thompson (stroke), M*Hardy, Matriner and "Winks (bow). Gibbons, who rowed No. 2 in the Auckland Club’s crew that competed at Pioton and Wellington last Easter, has left for Sydney, and I • notice from a northern . paper that £. Moore, of the recentlyamalgamated Waitemata - City Boating Club; has been asked to fill hia seat.; I would draw the attention of the honorary secretary of the Association to this matter, and if it proves correct I trust he will severely censure the Auckland Club for its action, which is utterly opposed to the amateur spirit. It is reported that Moore has stated his willingness to row if the crew is entered as representative of Auckland rowing. I would pointout that entries must be made by clubs, and not by districts. Of course an attempt may be made to induce Moore to become a member of the Auckland Club for the nonce, and go hack to the club of which he is really a member after the championship regatta; but if anything of this kind is tried on I doubt not the Association will regard it at a flagrant piece of pointing, and deal with it accordingly. The Queensland Bowing Association has resolved to hold another race for the Amateur Sculling Championship of Australia in May, when the • Intercolonial Bight-oarad Bace will be held on the Brisbane Biver. The last race was rowed there three years ago. The race for the Amateur Sculling Championship of South Australia was decided on the Port Biver, Adelaide, on Feb. 2. The only starters were J. Clouston and E. Morrow, but the latter was compelled to give up after rowing a few hundred yards, owing to his being seized with severe pains in the region of the heart. Clonaton’s supporters intend sending him to Melbourne next November to compete for the championship of Victoria. The balance-sheet of the last Henley Begatta is interesting reading to a colonial oarsman. The receipts, including a balance of £167 19s 5d from the previous year, amounted to £1570 4a Id. Subscriptions and donations amounted to £730, entrance fees to £145 19s, revenue from the Berkshire and Oxford meadows (admission of carriages, sites for tents, admission to stand and enclosure, &o.) to £458 2s 6d, and dividends of reserve fund of £1650, consols to £43 Ids 2d. Against this the Berkshire and Oxford meadows cost £428 2a 2d (for fencing, hire of stands, rent, &c.), the course £264 ,19s 6d (marking out £l2O 7s, hire of guard launches £7O, expenses of men on guard launches . £3B 5s sd, .weed catting, signals, Ac., £lB 17s sd, expenses incurred in taking up, : feeding and replacing swans in the Beach £l7 9s 8d), band and band stand £ll9 83 sd, prizes £lO2 8s Id. These are a few of. the principal items of expenditure. ,tha . s total auiouht of which, wap '£1345 17kId, T’| leaving a .balance .of £224/7A . (Henley..- 1' regatta is .simply a great picnic .expending;’. * over three days.' 'The bulk of' the receipt's*;-j is swallowed np in expenses,; as ait <i[wiir be noticed that the prize money, .only i amounted to a shade over £IOO., o The match between Tom- Sullivan and. C. E. Harding, for £2OO a-side and tha : Sportsman’s Cup, which carries with it the English , championship, and which Sul-) livan secured when ho defeated Bubear, : was decided on, the Tyne on Saturday, having been postponed from Feb. 11, on ; account of the quantity of ice- on tho river.: The ‘ cable reports that Hardmg , won by four lengths, and that the New Zealander baa challenged him tc another , race, for £2OO a-side, to take place on the j Thames , in ' April. As a countryman of , Sullivan’s, I naturally cannot help , expressing regret at his defeat, which ,is mixed with feelings of ad- ’ miration for the great little Englishman, .. who has conquered a man two apdahalf stone heavier than himself and who, moreover, gained hia experience in the home of scullers. In dealing with the match, a few days before its decision, "Trident,” ia the Sydney Mail , I think, hit the mark plumb when he wrote the following =—lf Sullivan is the least bit off’condition the race will surely go to that sterling little rower Harding, who is sure to row up to his true form. Harding is a wonderfully good man for his weight (nine and a half atone), and Sullivan is nothing out of the common. Sometimes he has rowed eplen- - did races, but no one felt quite sure, even up to the time of starting, how he would shape. The Maorilander does not like to be bustled. His best pace is at twenty-six to twenty-eight strokes per minute. I should not be surprised to learn that Harding had rowed the New Zealander clean out in a mile, and won easily. ,