SCULLING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17437, 8 April 1931, Page 3

SCULLING

SHIELD RACES REVIEWED NEW MATERIAL PROMINENT (Notes by “Slide’’) Results iil> i lie Wiiiron rognltn. on which iho temporary ownership of iho two district sculling shields depended, j did not pan out as anticipated by the i writer in the course of a-lorocasfc offered j last, week. The Colley and to. Shield for donblc-scniling went to Poverty Lay, J and 11 io single sculling trophy. I In- .uiHj of Mr. George Neill, to Waivoa, the Gis- j borne club being unsuccessful in both; competitions. ’I lie regatta was cbicily j remarkable for t he number of success!id , appearances made by newcomers in t no. field- of representative sculling, and lor. the promise it held of sustained interest in the shield tussles of the future'. Uj the racing at Waivoa- on Saturday can bo taken as an indication, the standard J of double, and solo work should remain on a high plane for some time. Without any attempt to explain away the discrepancy between Ids forecasts and the actual results ol the shield contests, “JSHde'’ fools that one circumstance which had a considerable effect j on the racing should be recorded. Thiswas Ti relation to the starting of the j two senior events, in the respective sections, from the mile and a half point. NO BUOYS AT THE BUND In each instance, the three contestants were lined out obliquely across the river, in the same manner as for the four-oar races for the L.V.A. Shield held oil the Wairoa River in recent years, but j whereas (lie. bend of the river was buoyed for the four-oar events, there were no buoys out for the single and double-sculling races, the effect being a decided advantage for the crew drawing the outside berth, and a corresponding disadvantage for the middle and inner | crews. Tho outside contestant was able to select his own line round the. bend, and naturally chose the shortest course

iwwimh—in mi in «wiW and iho Hal test arc, thus defeating the ~l,ject. of the preliminary lining-out. When, buoys are used, the race bears a. close resemblance to a footrace in lanes on a circular track, in which the outside runner is started from a point substantially in advance of the insiders, in order to compensate for the extra, distance to be. covered round tho bend. The absence of the buoys presented a situation in which the outside contestant- enjoyed a- big start, ancl also the benefit of having to make only a- slight correction in his course when taking the | tuni. whereas the insiders had to pull j round sharply at the bend. j : WON ON THEIR MERITS I Tho foregoing remarks arc not in- ! tended to detract from the merits of the ! performances given by J. Scott, winner i of the senior singles, or of W. Smith land K. McLeod, 'winners of the senior doubles, in both instances, unexpectedly ; good form was displayed, and it is safe j io say that under any conditions, these 1 oarsmen would have been the respective I winners on the day. In each instance-,, j the lead at- the bend was increased up ‘ (be straight, and while it is a. commonplace in all classes of oarsmanship that au early lead means a great deal, the victories were quite convincing. The writer anticipates a great tusslo next year, when W. Smith and K. McLeod meet Forbes and ITanna, tho GisI borne pair who for the past four years ; have been unbeaten in their class at j double-sculling. The partnership was broken this season, but will be restored for next, year, it seems assured; ancl the -battle for premier honors should be worth going a long way to see. it- was in the single-sculling races that, the younger scullers were most prominent. and “Slide” does not remember any year in which better form was disj played by newcomers.- For the past few seasons the annual regattas have seen repetitions of races between scullers whose merits were fairly well recognised, and the. results have been almost foregone conclusions; but this season has brought out some younger oarsmen of j decided promise who will give added interest, to the regattas of the future.