ROWING NOTES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 66, 18 March 1936, Page 4

ROWING NOTES

(By

Wanganui crews performed very successfully at Waitara last Saturday, winning the majority of the races on the programme. Union secured the major share of the prize money, in ad dition to winning the Cheshire Cup, a handsome new trophy presented for annirol competition in the junior fours. Wanganui, with three wins, secured £l4, their maidens, lightweights and junior pairs being successful in their events. Aramoho had a solitary victory, Stowers and Jones winning the senior pairs by a comfortable margin. In buoying the course the Waitar.i Association conformed with the wishes of the parent body, but apparently there was a lark of understanding in regard to which part of the course was meant. What it was intended to convey was that it was near the finish where the buoying was required, but the northern officials had marked the lower stretches instead. A pleasing feature of the regatta was the prompt manner in which the races were got off to time, and there were no delays that of*.*;i lead to both the narsmen and public being dissatisfied. • • • • From information received it appears as though Southland will not be competing in the eights on Easter Saturdav. and this is to be regretted for it ; s understood that that had an exceptionally powerful crew and came near to defeating Otago in a recent try-out at the Bluff. Although Marlborough were regarded as being unlikely starters, a wire had been received that they will be on hand on the day. so that with the addition of Canterbury eight crews will ra< e the starter. Eight-oar racing i“ without a doubt the most spectacular form of rowing, and it is anticipated that a huge crowd will witness th" events. The interprovincial eight-oar rare on the Wanganui River on Easter Saturday is already attracting attention throughout the Dominion. C rews have already been announced and trainii’/ is in full swing. It appears fairly certain that there will be a full complement of crews fur the big representative e\ent. and ike opposition is sure to be tough. However, Wanganui will put up a big effort to make their list of successes tihrre in a row. and there will be great enthusiasm here if the selected eight again proves victorious. ♦ * • • At a re« ent meeting of the Auckland Rowing Association it was decided to include a race for the Jubilee Rowing Club on the programme of the Auckland Rowing Association's provincial championships at the Whan Estuarv on March 21. This club belongs to the Blind Institute, and this will be th* first occasion such a ra- e has been arranged for the members. Each week the • rews of the club are to be seen on the harbour, ami it has been verv pleasing to see the big advance the members have made in their rowing since the club was opened this season. The New Zealand championship regatta lor the season can now be entered on the historical records, and the keen critics present at the gala at Wei iingtou on February 22 must have plenty- to reflect i.pvn • ®ay® the Auckland 481 ar;. Despite ail the reports about the Oriental Bay course, the scene was transferred to the Korokoro course, near Fetone. and for championship events was not in keeping with the claims that ha\e been advance!. That the ra« ing was not without thrill ing incidents the Senior Fours and S.ngle .*« nib. in particular, clearly show. The fa.-t that six out of nine crew* swamped in the Senior Fours arou.-rs the question of whv the crews were allowed to start »»n the long journey in such rough water. It was disappointing that so manv crews’ chances should hate been robbed in :he big ra«e of the day. Something was evidently amis.- in the course laid out for the scullers, and the fact that the Petonrite. P. Abbott. crashed and smashed hi® boat on the rocks suggests that the Wellingtonians do not know their own waterwavs. A meeting of the executive of the • anterbury Hoc. ing Association was held last week in the < anterbury Rowing «Tub’s boathouse, the president. Mr. F. D. Kesteveu in the chair. A copv nf a letter sent to the Minister for Railwavs wa- received from the Auckland Rowing Association, asking ihe Minister to restore to rowing clubs th? privilege ot free transport nf rowing ■kiffs to regattas. The letter stated that the heavy burden of freight on boats had reduced the number of entries. and in some instance? had prevented dubs from entering crews at all. • -hi i-t’-’i«»rrh oar-men had the biggest day of their season last Saturday week, when the Christchurch Regatta Club held its annual regatta at Stewart’s Gully. With < rews from Wellington. Star .’ellington >. and Timaru Rowing Chibs competing, keen competition was asMired. and all the rega’ta chib needed for su. cess was fine weather and good water. These it had. and the day’s sport was one of the best the club has had for some tim ■. The races were rowed over a mile course on a rising tide. The breeze was so light that it s an-ely disturbed the surface of the water, bur the advantage rhe oarsmen gained from this was counteracted to some extent by the heat < f the sun. Where finishes were vigorous and they were in most of the races the oarsmen found the heat trying. Although the visiting . rews rowed well, the crews from the Christchurch clubs had their measure in most of the races, and were able to outdo them. Timaru started six tidies for a second in the Lightweight Maiden Fours, a second in Ihe Lightweight Maiden Double S ull®, ind a thin! in the Junior Double Sculls. Star crews started in four races, and were first in the Junior Fours and th ; rd in the Lightweight Maiden Double Sculls. A Wellington crew, the only one from the club at the regalia, won the Junior Double Sculls. < anterbu*y was the most successful club, and substantially increased its lead in the competition for the D.C.L. <’up. which i» awarded to the club affiliated to the Canterbury Rowing Association scoring most points in the season s regattas. Canterbury scored 20 points, and with an aggregate of 53 has a lead whi -h will be very difficult to overcome. Akama scored 15 points and maintained its position as second in the

"TANIWHA.")

At a meeting of the executive of the Canterbury’ Rowing Association last week a reply was received from the secretary of the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association (Mr. A. D. Bayfield) in answer to a letter from the as sociation referring to the condition of the water for the rowing of the championship fours at the New Zealand championship regatta. The officials were of the opinion that the need was evident for rowing the events in smooth water, but the rising of a squall during its progress had led to exaggerated comments on the action of the officials in starting the event. • • • • Rough weather last Saturday week prevented the Dunedin Regatta Club holding its annual fixture on the Upper Harbour. After considering the position the committee finally decided to abandon the regatta for this year. The weather was perfect on Saturday morning, and the regatta officials anticipated an excellent day’s racing and a .successful fixture, but after 1 p.m. the conditions became very boisterous, a squally wind blowing from the. southtmpanied by heavy rain. The water was soon lashed into whitetopped seas and it was realised that

the rowing skiffs would be swamped if launched. The committee considered the state of the weather from hour to hour, and finally, just before 4 p.m., when the conditions showed no improvement, it was decided to postpone the regatta until the Sunday’ morning. In coming to this decision the committee gave consideration to the fact that crews were present from the Awarua and Oamaru Chibs, and was anxious to decide the events to enable these crews to return to their homes. Arrangements were also made to bring crews from the Lower Harbour by special bus. The committee met in the Otago Rowing Chib’s boathouse shortly after 8 o’clock on Sunday morning and again discussed ihe possibility of holding the regatta. The weather was even worse than on the previous day, rain falling in torrents, accompanied by a squally south-west wind. The committee realised that it would not be possible to hold races under su.-h conditions, although the water was not so rough as was the case on Saturday, and it was derided to abandon the fixture for the vear. The committee agreed to refund all entrance money to the various clubs and also to make a grant to the Awarua. Oamaru. Port Chalmers and Queen’s Drive ('bibs towards the expense involved in railing boats to Dunedin. At a meeting of the Auckland Rowing Association the Waitemata Boating Chib forwarded a request to be submitted to the N.Z.A.R.A. the name of R. B. Smith as a possible-nomination for the single sculls at Ihe Olympic Game®, and also suggesting the possibility of his being nominated for the double .«rul;s partnered by A. K. G. Jackson, of the I nion Boat Club, Wanganui. It was decided to forward the request. Union Be it Club. Crews from ihe light blue shed performed exceedingly well at the Waits i i Regatta, finishing in a place in every race in which they competed. In addition to winning the sum of £l5 in don itions. a new challenge cup also fell to the light blues, a convincing win in the, junior fours giving them possession of the traphy for the next twelve months. The seniors performed surprisingly well, and had they been a little more fortunate in the matter of position, would have gone exceedingly dose to registering a win. As it was they reversed the decision® obtained over them bv their sister clubs, Aramoho and Wanganui, whov they defeated by a margin of two lengths. The youths continued their winning way. and despite the fact of having r substitute in the boat, won in hollow fashion. Day has apparently suffered little as the result of his accident, For he rowed excellently and produced the form that earned him a ®eat in the crew at the start of the season. Th? maidens rowed an excellent race, and it was only over the last hundred yards that they relinquished the lead. The lightweight® also showed nn well, but they had no chance with their opponents. Wanganui, who have gone through the season undefeated. The light blues tender their congratulations to this crew. who. bv the life they infuse into their work, are worthy of emulating in this respect. In the junior doubles Tonk® and Luxford appeared to have won by a short canvas, but the judge decided against them by a foot. The decision caused much surprise amongst the spectators and oarsmen gathered at the finish, but was accepted in true spirit bv the two sculler.® who when questioned expressed rhe opinion that they had thought that they had won narrowly. A list has been posted at the club house calling for nominations for the Flannagan Doubles, entries for which will close on Friday evening next. Racing will take place on Saturday afternoon. and will be conducted on similar line® to the Frank Crotty Memorial T ou rs. Wanganui Club. With the last regatta of the season now finished, attention will be centred on.e more on club racing, which has had perforce to give wav to an extraordinarily long regatta season. At least three races are to be rowed off. rhe Dustin Fours. Dnrie Rose Bowl, and the Drew Pairs. The racing for the Dustin Fours will be commenced at 2.30 p.m. next Saturday, and all members will be included in crews, with the exception of those rowing in the eight, ‘ rews will be published in Friday and Saturday morning’s paper, and any member not wishing to be included must notify the secretary immediately. In the meantime members are advised to keep in training. The club had several successes at Waitara Regatta. The lightweight four

sustained their unbeaten record for the season and won comfortably. The personnel of the unbeaten crew is: Butzbach. Christian, Paul. Stroud. The heavyweight maidens had their revenge over the New Plymouth crew in a very thrilling finish, gaining the verdict bj’ a few feet. The crew was, McCann, •"taton. Goss. Cooper. The first two also annexed a comfortable win in the junior pairs, and their performance • ame as a surprise, for they had very few training rows together. The seniors, after four months of solid training and continuous racing, did not produce anything like their Wellington form, and were undoubtedlv suffer-

With the school crews in training for their “house” racing, it is essential that the fours be maintained in good running order. Therefore, members should effect any repairs which may eventuate during the eveningly