ROWING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2859, 30 December 1908, Page 66

ROWING.

I The Boxing Day regatta of 1908 is now a •thing of the past, and the rowing men are having a. well-earned rest from their training, turning their attention to holiday-mak-ing instead. The weather conditions for tbe oarsmen were all that could, have been desired, the water remaining fairly good all day long. The only disturbing element were the motor launches, which repe-axe-cMy cue up the water, ar.d it nearly always happened when a rowing race was in progress. This was especially noticeable in the Senior Fours Race, when several launches oroesed the course, and left a rough Kvash tor the ligM skiffs to K>me through. One impertinent : 'oiler" almost fouled th© InveroargiLl crew, being only a few feet off, and insisted on keeping company for some distance, much to the annoyance of Basstian and bis crew. This sort of thing will have to be put an and to by the committee in come way or other. It is getting as bad at Port Chalmers as at Pioton, where the presence, of co many motor .launches has influenced clubs in voting agarnst holding the New Zealand amateur championships' on what ;s; s otherwise undoubtedly the besfc course in the Dominion. Commenting on the big race of the day, the Senior Fours, the South- | landers can. onc9 more feel very proud of having defeated Otago's best, and they showed that they are a first-class crew. How this crew, who have now beaten Otago for some seven years in succession, cannot go north and perform well in the "blue ribboil" race of the Dominion — i.e., the Cliampion Fours — is a matter whioh is beyond the comprehension of all local oar6inen, but the Tact remains that 1 in their several attempts at the big race , Ihey havo lamentably failed even to get ' a place. However, tho writer would very nruch like to see them once more go north in search of their red cape and coats, and thinks that the honour of being the champion four of New Zealand might still be theirs. Certainly they _ wculd carry with them the best wishes of all true sportsmen in, Otago. Their win la&t Saturday was well received) by tbe public, and their opponents generally. Tb© latter would, of course, have very much, liked to ha.vo beaten the southerners, but, as they could not, they did the .next best thing, and that , was to heartily congTa.'fcu'l»ts Basstian an-d I his men on their well-deserved win. Cojni ing to the race itself, the winners held the central position, which, considering there was a strong flood tide at the time, which favoured the outside craws, was neither the beet nor the worst, course. The Port crew held outside position, and they took full advantage- of the flowing stream, and were off like a shot. M'Grath's Otago crew, wlio were also looked upon ac having the beet of chances, were right inside, and out ' of the udie, and after starting fouled' with Drive, and thus lost- any chance they bad of winning. The Drive rowed' a short, quick stroke, and although composed of good men and experienced, and who were in good form, the want of a good length soon told its tale, and they, with Otago's second orevv (stroked by Morioe), soon dropped behind. At the half distance Port were leading Inveroaa'gill by a couple of lengths, Otago being a couple of lengths behnd Inwrcarg.ill. Nearing the wharves, ; however, Ba=stian put in a determined 1 effort, and by the time the crews had entered the wharves' had caught Port and j was half a length in front. From here to ; the- finish, a, great struggle ensued. Lightbourne tried all he> knew to catch up, and. exerting his groat strength, slowly reduced the slight lead held' by the Southlandere, but could not quite manage it, and the latter crossed the line three feet in front, after ! one of the hardest races rowed at Port. I Tbe Otago crew finished third, two leng-ths and a-haJf in the rear. I The Senior Double Sculte resolved, itself into a race between the Otago -No. 1 crew j (M'Grath and Priest) and Port (Glengarry and Thompson). The other two Otago orewe (Starham. Bros, and Kcrr and Drake) ' were late in arriving- at the post, and the ! others were sent off without them. In I fact, M'Grath was late also, and the Port crew were ordered to «frart by themselves, but Glengarry, showing- a true sportsmanlike spirit, refused 1 to take a row-over, and ! would not start until Otago came up. ' Port hung on to the- ex-champions for a quarter of a mile, and then the ■veterans' long, 6we«pijig stroke began, to tell Us tale, and they slowly forged ahead. At ! half distance they were [rem a Length and ' a-'ialf to two lengths ahead, and sculling I with perfect combination. Port, however, ' hung on doggedly, and were not done with 3'et. At the entrance to the wharves Glengarry made a great effort, and reduced the gap by a length, but could do no more, and so hard had he and his mate rowed that he coui<l beixUy finish, an-d the Ot-agn pair crossed the line a- length and a-half to the good. A v^ord of praito is ' due to Glengarry for hie sportsmanlike cont duct at the "start, as mentioned above, and ! also for his plucky effort against two such j experienced t»cullers. He had been »ndisposed for some days, and had resigned ihi 6 sear in .the Senior Fourp, and only ! came out in the Sculls to make a race and ' represent his club. Would that there were a few mo:e like him amongst our rowing fraternity. The Senior Pairs prcduc3d the beet "field."' seen 1 in this event for many yeare. no less than, ' eight crews starting. From the start Bass- , tian and his rnato made the pace hot, and in a very short time had placed^ two lengths to their credit. Port No. 1 (Lightbourne) and Otago No. 1 (M'Grath) ' were next to the leaders, and after them ! came Otago (Priest), Drive, and Port (M'Dooiald). Wlien^ a third of the course ! had been rowed Isorth Entl and Otago (Morioe) stopped. Invercarg.ill led at the I entrance to the wharves by about two lengths, Port and Otag-o remaining about ! even for second place. In the run-up between the Jvharves M'Grath spurted, and ck>sedi slightly on. Basstian, ? who, however, nad tlie race won, and j crossed the* line a clear length ahead of Otago, trho feeafc Port for second plslce by a few feet. The Drive, Pojt No. 2, and Ota^p No. 3 finished tbreo

lengths away in that order. It was a good race, and undaubtedilyj as in the Fours, the better crew won. Lighrtbourne and Jones rowed well for Port, 'but were not quite good enough, their short training telling its tale at the finish. M'Grath and bis mate also pulled 1 hard, amd would have beon closer up if they Ihad got off the mask quicker. They did! not jump away like the winners, who made no niisrta>ke at the start. It is to be hoped that the next regatta, on Anniversary Day, will see another such entry in this event. A detailed report of the Junior and Maiden Races will appear next week.