ROWING MISHAP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22832, 17 March 1936, Page 4

ROWING MISHAP

EIGHT-OARED BOAT DAMAGED OTAGO CREW’S MISFORTUNE Disaster overtook the Otago representative eight-oar crew during a practice row at Deborah Bay on Sunday afternoon when its boat collided with a submerged pile and was badly damaged in the amidships section. The course was one that is regularly used for training; purposes, but none of the members of the crew was aware of the obstruction until the boat struck it, and fractured the thin cedar shell for a distance of approximately 14 feet, sinking almost immediately in about four feet-of water. The boat, which is valued at over £IOO, was the one in which six interprovincial championships have been contested, and the expense that wjjl be incurred in its restoration will be a severe blow to the finances of the Otago Rowing Association, as insurance docs not cover damage of this nature. The boat was holed from No. 2 to No. 6 seats, the fracture being in places about: four inches in width,, while the ribs were broken in the centre section of the boat, which is constructed in three sections for ease of transport. The bow section was slightly damaged, but the stern escaped untouched. Fortunately the keel was not damaged, and the boat is not beyond repair, although the 61ft hull has been strained. After the accident the members of the crew dragged the boat ashore, where it was dismantled and conveyed to Port Chalmers by road.

The crew’s training for the uitcrprovincial championships will not be interrupted by* the accident, however, as a second boat is in commission, but the Otago Rowing Association, which was finding some difficulty in raising funds to send the province’s .representatives north, will now bo doubly in need of assistance from citizens who have the interests'of the sport of rowing at heart.