ATHLETIC SPORTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8156, 18 January 1890, Page 6

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

FIXTURES. AQUATIC. February 4.—Hearn v. Stephenson (Championship of New Zealand). JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS. January 29,1890.—Auckland Jubilee Regatta. January 30, 1890.—Swimming Carnival and Maori Sport*. January 31, 1890.—Bowing Association, and Maor Canoe Races. February I,Athletic Sports for Squadron, AQUATICS. The fine field for competition afforded by the numerous and various events in the Jubilee celebrations has been causing considerable activity in aquatic circles, and the chances of success of the supposed cracks in the several races are being eagerly canvassed, while several new craft are being built to engage in the contests. Of these the one which is attracting most notice is a new string-test gig, which is just being completed by Mr. C. Bailey to the order of the Waitemata Boating Club. She is somewhat of a novelty in that she is the first racing boat of her kind that has been built of kauri planks, and her success or otherwise will be eagerly watched, as being a test of the qualities of the local timber for work of this kind in comparison with those of the imported cedar which has heretofore been almost exclusively used for gig building. The gig differs hardly at? all from the usual style of modern craft, but as the crew which will use her most are a heavy strapping lot of fellows she has been made both roomy and strong. Her dimensions are:—Length, 42 feet; beam, 3 feet; depth, 84 inches. She is built of two splendid planks of nice even grain, and has a fine bottom, which is French polished for extra smoothness. All her trames, etc., are of mangaio. All her fittings are of the latest style, all her metal-work being of gunmetal, and the seats fitted with roller slides. The sculls for the boat are also of local manufacture, being cut by Mr. Bailey from spruce pine. A large number of boating men have already inspected the craft, and are highly pleased with her, predicting her to be a fast 'un. The builder desires me to state that anyone interested in rowing will be welcome to come and view her before she goes into the water. The Auckland Rowing Club have wisely decided not to contest any more races in the old Isis, and will have a new cedar gig sent up from Wellington on Monday next, she having been built to their order by Mr. G. Norton. All the other clubs except the City are well provided with racing gigs, and the various events on the 31st, particularly those for the junior and maiden classes, promise to bring out large fields. I am glad to learn that the West End Club will not, despite the rumours which have been current during the week, be absent from the list of competitors, who will face the starters in the Champion Whaleboat Race on the 29th. Owing to removals from the city, and other reasons, the personnel of their crew has been changed; but lam informed that the five who will most likely comprise the representatives will be J. Witticombe, R. J. Payne, O. Wells, N. McLean, and F. W. Edwards. The crew is a good one, and, fit and well, should make a good show in the race, but they will need all the training that O'Hare can give them. The Hauraki crew, which is rowing in the same boat in which the former representatives pulled, is doing steady work from the West End shed, and will be found tough opponents for the best to tackle; while.from advices from the Thames, I learn that the Thames crew are also being carefully trained, practising steadily, and rowing well. The Waitemata crew are not making any talk about their doings, but all may rest assured that if any crew comes cherry ripe to the post it will be the yellow and golds, while their skill with tho skulls has been repeatedly proved. The new 20-footer which is being built at North Shore by C. Bailey, jun., will probably be launched next Tuesday, and she promises to be a clipper by her appearance. She is built of kauri, diagonally laid, and will be French polished. Her dimensions are: Length 20 feet, beam 6 feet, depth 2 feet 6 inches. She will carry a large spread of canvas and will be" sailed in the regatta by P. Petley. After being out of commission for some seasons the old crack Hattie May has been done up and put into first-class order, and will be amongst the competitors in the SOfeet class. During the week considerable comment has been caused by the disagreement between the Thames and Auckland Navals concerning the new cutter being built for the latter, and which the former protested against. I have had a look at the boat, and, tor all intents and purposes, she cannot be considered anything but a bona fide naval cutter. She is 30 feet long, with seven feet beam, and her planking is full half an inch thick, her keel being 3£ inches deep. The local club has no regulations as to dimensions for naval cutters, but the standard set down by the Duuedin Regatta Club is—Length, 35 feet; beam, 6 feet; planking, J inch; keel, 3J inches; and, according to these measurements, it is certain that no advantage has been taken by the builder or tho owners. The assertion that she is " nothing more than a racing gig," which I have heard once or twice, cannot be upheld by anyone who has seen her, and must either have been made under some misapprehension or a wilful desmrto cause dissension. A proposal is on foot to include the naval cutters in the list of boats eligible for the Mutual Life Association's yacht race, and Mr. W. T. J. Bell has been approached on the subject, and has, I understand, consented to be guided by the opinion of the Jubilee Committee. The matter will doubtless be broached at the regatta meeting on Monday, and will assuredly causo an animated discussion. In regard to the dingy race at the Rowing Association's Regatta on the 31st, I learn that no limit to the length of the boats has been specified. It is a rule of the Auckland Regatta Club that no boat over 12 feet overall is eligible for a dingy race, and this regulation should be enforced by the Association, for the advantage that an oarsman pulling in a 15 or 16-feet skiff would have over one rowing in a 12-footer is manifestly unfair. The action of the Regatta Committee in refusing to concede any further allowance In the open boat race to the smaller sized craft than one minute per foot is, I am informed on good authority, likely to have a prejudicial effect upon the race. The owners of the IS and 16-footers consider that this allowance is not nearly enough, and state that if no further concession is made they will nearly all be conspicuous by their absence on Regatta Day. This will leave only a couple of boats in the race and rob it of a great deal of interest. The City Rowing Club selected their crews some time ago, and they have been training pretty consistently. On paper they look pretty good, aud I hope to see them in the van this regatta, for they deserve to wiu, judging from the amount of rowing they do. The St. George's Rowing Club made a start before the holidays, but beyond one or two scratch crews out I have seen nothing of them. I hope they intend to train properly for this. Regatta, for they certainly have the makings of some splendid crews in their ranks. I had a look at the St. George's new whaleboat the other day in Logan's shed at the Shore, and she certainly looks a " clipper," and ought to prove herself to be a very hard nut to crack. She is built of splendid timbers, and is well finished. To my eye she appears a trifle sharper forward and somewhat fuller aft than any of this builder's previous productions. The Auckland Rowing Club Junior Gig crew were out the other morning, but did not show the best of.form. They will have to improve a lot if they want to carry off their race. The Maiden Gig crew under 10 stone, Wallace stroke, is displaying very good form, and I believe are training consistently. I hear that members of various clubs are growling about the manner in*which their various selection committees have carried out their duties. As usual at regatta times some little troubles have arisen in the local clubs, aud I hear of a crew that refused to row if a certain man were included in the boat's complement. The committee seeing that the crew would fall through, met them by giving them their own way, and now I hear they want to get rid of their own choice, and I have no doubt they feel sorry now that they did not place more confidence in their selection committee. Moral for selection committee: Make it a rule to stick hard and fast to your own opinion, and don't be bounced by junior members. ATHLETICS. The athletic carnival for the men and officers of the squadron promises to be extremely popular, and the entries are expected to be large for each event. As it would be impossible for any of the local men who are managing the show to handicap the bluejacbets in the absence of any true knowledge of their capabilities, and they will not arrive" in port early enough to admit of the starts being apportioned by any nominees of their own, it has been decided to run all the competitors off the mark, but a wise proviso has been inserted which precludes any one candidate from taking more than one first prize. The two toot races for the members of the Auckland Amateur Club are also sure to be exciting contests. For the quarter-mile, R. B. Lusk, J. Hutchinson, M. H. Laird, H. Goldwater, and others of less note, are actively training, and the struggle for supremacy is sure to be keen. The twowheel events will not have the local champion, A. G*. Clarke, amongst the competitors, but the majority of the other bikes will doubtless not regret his absence.

A matter in regard to ing has been brought under my 3; lc M< has caused me considerable aurnri. eh pears that certain members of tk» I " Athletic Club who are not in* *?* compete at the sports set apart for T"« men on the Ist prox., are asaertimr M a c are entitled to free admission to tl, l * during the sports because of their m. P° of the A.A.A. Club. I fancy how *" this feeling cannot be shared W I"', 1 number of the members, for when other bodies are giving their tCI talents, and their money, to promot ceseful Jubilee celebration, it j s as i?- a little from these gentlemen athlete ? quiring a shilling for the privilege to\J! sports. They may rest assured hmf* that their growling will be of no other than to bring down upon thetnseW stigma of mean-spiritedness, for the T i Committee, who are nominally thorn-l! actually, running the concern, will mnS tainly not make " fish of one and fl < another," by conceding to any club * lege denied to the general public. jJJ

THE WAITARA REGATTA. 1 [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT; 1 Waitara, Fri<W The Waitara Regatta, which takes „£, on Friday, the 24th instant, promises tot! very successful. The crews are in acttraining, and night after night the bridge crowded with residents and visitors wi 4 take an interest in the respective crews T Ladies' Race is causing great interest. TV* style is very much admired, and as tl? practice every evening on the river, shoiil S come to the post in good form. The #«, 1 event is the Champion Whaleboat RuJ § for which there are four entries— Waitara, Clifton, and Tikirangi. The Onl hunga crew won the race last year, but i; > anticipated that it will require ahi struggle on their part to retain the premiw position. The Waitara and Clifton crews areii splendid form this year, and ought to rende a good account of themselves. The latter ere* are using their new boat Meteor, which \n. built by Mr. W. Logan, of Auckland, Th« are much pleased with her, for she is" model of neatness and strength. Four crew are expected to take part in the Jon,, Whaleboat Race, and it is fully expecte that a Waitara crew will win this event. Tl interest in the various events is becoming ve» intense. The existence of two clubs In ti township has caused quite a revival • aquatics. Some years ago they coald a" raise a crew in the district, and now there a, four in active training. As showing the i. terest taken by the public this year, it mi be stated that next Friday has been pi. claimed a public holiday at Inglewood (Ne Plymouth) and Waitara. If the weather; fine there is every reason to believe that tl year's regatta will prove the most suocessf yet held on the Waitara River. BAY OF ISLANDS REGATTA. [bt TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.' Russell, Friday." The Bay of Islands Regatta has been pos. poned to the 12th of February, as Admit. Scott has notified that he could not be he for the fifth; bub he will attend as nc arranged.