THE BOAT RAGE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18291, 14 June 1929, Page 12

THE BOAT RAGE.

HUNDRED POUNDS A MINUTE. TOTAL OF OVER £2OOO. One hundred pounds a minute! That is the surprising amount which Oxford and Cambridge have to spend between them on their'annual boat race—which celebrated its centenary in March this year. As the race takes, on an average, twenty and a half minutes to row, this means the total cost works out at over £2OOO. “Bow-Side,” writing in Answers, gives the following explanation of how this large sum is arrived at:— Strictly speaking, preparation for the race begins in the Christmas term with trial eights; but as the cost of these is trifling, we will ignore them and begin in January, when the crews for the race itself are first made up and practice starts. Also, we will confine ourself to one University, without specifying which, as each follows approximately the same course. The first item that jumps to the eye is a new boat; for nothing can be left to chance, and t/. prime of life for a racing boat is short. Therefore, a new one, specially designed to fit the weight of the crew, is ordered each year. This costs £l2O, which is not excessive when the strength and delicacy of these craft are considered. Sixty-two and a half feet long and two feet broad in the I beam, their skin is only one-eighth of an inch thick, and yet they must carry eight lusty twelve and a half stone men pulling for dear life. The Cost of Training. Then come oars. These again are the work of artists, and their life is short; so two sets are required—one for practice and one for the race. A set consists of ten oars, two extra being allowed for damage or strain, and as each oar costs £2/7/6, bang goes another £47/10/-. In the early stages of practice the coach will ride a horse along the towpath. Later, a launch is often used, even on home waters, and is essential for the training at Henley and Putney. As the crew goes out twice a day for about eleven weeks, the cost of this item reaches the substantial total of about £l2O. Next we must consider the cartage of the boats. This is done by road, on a motor lorry fitted with a specially designed frame or rack for carrying its fragile and awkwardly shaped load. The new boat is first brought from Putney, where it is built, up to the University. From there she will be taken to Henley or Ooring. when the crew' migrate, together with a spare eight, a skiff for “tubbing" practice, oars, and sculling boats for the spare men to keep fit in. This load will later be taken to Putney, and finally returned home after the race is over.. The total cost is approximately £25. The Last Three Weeks. So long as the crew remain on “home waters” no extra expense is incurred for board and lodgings; but about five weeks before the date of the race, it is customary for each crew to put in a fortnight’s practice at Henley, or some other up-river stretch of the Thames, before proceeding to Putney for the final three weeks’ training and the race itself. During these weeks the crew must be housed and fed and waited on, and —tradesmen being only human and domestic economy not being awarded a degree at either Oxford or Cambridge —it is not surprising the bills are considerably in excess of what even a generous housewife would consider necessary. The “party” consists of the eight oarsmen, a cox, and probably two spare men; also, there is the boatman to be provided for. Altogether we shall not be far wrong if we estimated the cost of this period at £440. During all these weeks of training the crew have been allowed a pint of I beer each with lunch and dinner, and a glass of port after dinner. And on perhaps three; or, at most, four occasions, generally after a full course trial, they will have been given a “fizz night.” Also, there are numerous old Blues and other friends who will drop in to wish the crew luck in something liquid and cheer them up in moments of depression. The result is a beer and wine bill for £4O. Getting a Change of Air. Twice during training it is usual for the crews to go away for the week-end to get a change of air and scene, and so avoid “staleness.” Probably there are sufficient cars owned by the crew to make railway fares unnecessary, but the hotel bill for these two weekends may be put at £45. It is clear that we shall be well within the mark at computing the cost to each University at £IOOO, even in a “cheap” year. Toward these expenses the individual members of the crew only contribute directly a nominal sum—£s or £lO in different cases—the rest of the amount being found by the University Boat Club, which obtains its income from its share of the general sports levy made on every member of the University each year. But the members of the crew have a very heavy personal expense to meet in buying the necessary rowing clothes and shore “uniform.” This outfit rarely costs less than £3O in a man’s first year as a Blue. The grand total for the race may, , therefore, be put as somewhere about £2500, which works out at approxi- ; mately £2 for every dip of the sixteen oars during the twenty and a half ). minutes the race lasts. ;