AQUATICS

Southland Times, Issue 19123, 15 December 1923, Page 13 (Supplement)

AQUATICS

(By “Stroke.”) Secretaries of clubs and others interested ' in rowing are requested to forward any items of news or comments to this office not later than Thursday of each week. ’ The date chosen for the Invercargill Regatta will clash with the annual camp - training a Bluff enthusiast informs me. The Bluff watersiders’ picnic will be held on the same date. G. Webb, the ex-Invercargill Railway Club representative, will strengthen the ’ crews he is selected to row with from the Hamilton shed. Webb will be a member 1 of the senior four this season. —Waikato ' Times. The first trial row by P. Hannan, the Australasian champion, over the course ’ selected on the Waitemata took place last week. The course measures 3 miles 300 yards, stretching in a straight fine. Han- ' nan had to pull against a strong wind and 1 tide but, rowing well within himself and at 25 strokes a minute throughout, covered the distance in 20min. 30sec. He was ac companied over half the journey by Stevenson, the New Zealand amateur champion Those on the launch were unanimous in their praise of the course. Hannan will go into serious training on the arrival of his trainer, G. Wareham. He is expected to improve greatly before his race with W. McDevitt, Tasmanian champion, who is challenging for the so-called Australasian ! title. The date of the race has been tenta- i tively fixed for January 19, when the tides should suit the course for an afternoon race. McDevitt is at present living at Drummoyne, New South Wales. The money he requires for expenses has been practically arranged and will be forwarded. He is expected to arrive in Auckland this w’eek. .As he is already in training, he will have ample time for final preparation. In the six Sanders Cup trials so far held in Wellington, Peggy has won three, Eynin two and Claire one. The new Ron a designed boats do not appear to be doing well in the South Island. Winifred, Otago’s last year representative, won two trials recently, while Heather, another old boat, finished second. At Lyttelton, the Secret—a Rona designed boat—just managed to beat the Linnet by 20 seconds after the latter had lost seven minutes through a mishap to her peak halyards. Fears are entertained in Adelaide that there will not be a rowing crew to represent Australia at the Olympic Games, remarks an exchange. It will take some time to select delegates, whose task will be to recommend a suitable crew, and as the Olympic Federation will not meet until the second week in January, it is contended that the chosen crew would have only a limited time to train. According to one writer, the choice of a crew is being repeatedly shelved simply because of the fear of giving offence to certain States who show a fretful discontent if they, do not get all the selections. Nathaniel Herreshoff, generally known as “Old Nat” to American yachtsmen, has complained that he is “not what he used to be,” and will not be able to build another America Cup defender for his country. Nat is 75 years old, and he has the distinction of having built most of the racing yachts that have won honours for the United States. His famous buildingplant at Bristol, Narragansett Bay, will be closed indefinitely and a new man will have to be chosen to draw the plans for the yacht which will try conclusions with that of Sir Thomas Lipton this year. One of “Old Nat’s” boats was “Vigilant,” which raced in 1893. Then followed Columbia, which defended the cup twice. After that he built Defender, Reliance, and, last of all, Resolute, which defeated Shamrock IV. in the races of 1920. THE FOURTEEN-FOOTERS. • When the Auckland one-designer Rona was adopted last year as the model type of boat to compete in the contests for the Sanders Memorial Cup, hopes were entertained by yachting enthusiasts in all the provinces that many ardent yachtsmen would be induced to build boats of the approved pattern for the challenge races to be sailed on Wellington Harbour towards the end of January, says a writer in the Dunedin Star. These expectations do not. seem to have been fully realised, for the number of one-designers under construction and on order in the North and South Islands could be counted on one hand. At Wellington no orders have been placed as yet, though it is rumoured that one yachtsman is thinking of so investing. In the other centres there has been a little more activity. Dunedin yachtsmen have had two new boats of the Rona design build. One of these, June, was built to the order of Mr F. B. Francis, and the other Kia Ora, to the order of Mr B. S. Irwin. Messrs F. Morrison, Sen. and Jun., recently launched a 14ft. Rona boat for the Redcliffs fleet at Christchurch. She is strictly one design, and it is the opinion that she will be faster than Canterbury’s representative for the cup last year. Linnet.

It is understood that several boats of the Rona type are to be built at Auckland. One new craft, the Queen March, was launched on November 15, and has already given a good account of her sailing qualities by beating Rona, Joan and Desert Gold. No whisper of any movement in the way of building a new boat by the Stewart Island Sailing Club has come to hand, and it would therefore appear as if Southland enthusiasts are pinning their faith still to Murihiku, which has already competed in the Sanders Cup contests at Dunedin and Auckland with some measure of success. It would appear as though the race for the 14-footer championship of New Zealand, to be sailed at Wellington at the same time as the Sanders Cup races, have but few entries. Neither Southland nor Wellington will be able to compete in the championship, and should Winifred represent Otago and Linnet Canterbury these boats will not be eligible to compete, for the reason that neither of them is of the Rona design. Auckland is almost certain to be

presented at Wellington by a boat of he Rona type, and as a new boat is being built at Auckland for Napier enthusiasts Hawke’s Bay will be eligible to compete in the championship race. Seeking a cause for the apparent lack,on the part of yachtsmen to build boats of the Rona type, a northern writer states that the high cost of building is the chief obstacle. The total cost as estimated seven or eight years ago, when the designs of the onedesign class were first was £25, but it has steadily crept up to about £125, and even to £l4O. The new boat for Napier is being built for the latter sum. The possibility of giving the class a new lease of life has been the subject of much thought, and an idea is now being worked out to lessen the outlay considerably without any deviation whatever from the approved plans. The only relief is regarded as standardised quantity production, and it is expected that when the plans are matured the cost will be about £5O. So far as sailing qualities are concerned, the one-designer is rapidly becoming a favourite, but the average man is barred from becoming an owner because of the high cost of building. If onedesigners are to be built on the style of the Rona, then some way to reduce the high cost of building is also necessary, so that instead of one man in every hundred owning a boat ninety-nine men out of a hundred would do so. By standardising the boat, as has been done, this can be effected to some extent, as it is cheaper to turn out eight pieces the same size than four of different lengths, breadths, and thicknesses; and if, instead of cutting the timber for one boat a certain size and another altogether a different size, all parts were cut to a standard size, the result must be cheaper than the other method. It i the present high cost only that is killin the one-designer as a people’s favourite and unless something is done at once thi. class will gradually sink into oblivion. In spite of these difficulties of cost, how ever, the interest shown in the 14-footcii throughout New Zealand is increasing day by day and week by week. The interest in Otago alone is phenomenal, as is proved by the crowds who watch the trial races every Saturday afternoon. This interest is stimulated by the forthcoming contests at Wellington for the Sanders Cup. The 14ft. class has certainly become popular throughout the Dominion, and it is quite certain that it will be the prominent factor of the sport as long as the Sanders Cup is in existence.