WITH THE OARSMEN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 258, 1 November 1939, Page 4

WITH THE OARSMEN

THE WANGANUI CLUBS SEASON OPENS SATURDAY (By “Stroke.”) The rowing season in Wanganui will be officially opened on Saturday afternoon with a function at the Union Boat Club’s boatshed. The opening ceremony will be performed by Mr. R. J. McDonald, president of the Wanganui Rowing Association, and it is hoped that Mr. J. B. Cotten 11, M.F. for Wanganui, will be present. Following the opening a series of sprint fours races will be held by composite crews. Entries for the races will close on Friday night and the crews will be published in Saturday s "Chronicle.” It is hoped this season that more rowers will take part in the opening day events, the custom in past years bemg for the majority of oarsmen to parade as spectators. Sprint racing is hard but oarsmen have had sufficient time to settle down and should be lit enough to stand the sprint. During the week-end members of the Aramoho Boating Ciub took their eight-oar best and best craft from the Union Boat Club’s shed to their own boathouse. The boat was used by the Union eight when it rowed at. Dunedin in the interprovincial race for the Halliburton Johnstone Rose Bowl, the rules providing that an association boat must, be used for the event. The boat was extensively overhauled ano reconditioned lor tne race by the Wanganui Rowing Association and will be in tine order lor the Aramoho Club during the season’s engagements. The Port Chalmers Rowing Club pians to enter a crew in the cight-oar race at the Centennial regalia at Wellington in February. For this reason the gift of an cight-oar boat at a cost of £l3O, from Mr. Isaac Stevenson, is a particularly welcome addition to the club’s plant. The new craft, of the best-and-best type, wa.s constructed by Mr. A. Miller, the Port Chalmers builder. The Hamilton Rowing Club will officially open the 1939-40 season on Saturday next, when a varied programme of events for local and visiting oarsmen will be presented. A feature will be an exhibition of eightoar rowing. The Hamilton Club is fortunate in having several of the Dominion’s leading oarsmen amongst its members, and the maroon blazer of the N.Z.A.R.A. should be in evidence on Saturday. An innovation at this year's opening ceremony will be the introduction of a loud-spgaker system to keep spectators in touch with the events. In past years spectators have been unaware of the personnel of the crows or the results of the races with the result that public interest has waned. This state of affairs was criticised by "Stroke" last season and it, is pleasing to see that some action is being taken. A good man at, the "mike” can make all the difference to the outing. Good progress is being made with the training of new members by the three clubs and some good talent is reported to be available. The Aramoho Club is finding its coaching boat an acquisition this season. Until last year the club had to train novices in the trophy boats which was found to be a big handicap both for the coaches and the new members.

The Union Boat Club’s launch is expected to take the water this weekend. All the work of renovating the craft and fitting a new engine was carried out by club members, the most prominent worker being H. Halkett. He has devoted many hours of his leisure to the boat and frequently worked late at night while installing the engine. The Special Military Force has already made inroads into the membership of the three clubs and further inroads are expected in the near future.

The recent addition of an eight-oar boat to its plant means that Port Chalmers is the second rowing club in Otago to become equipped with a boat of this type. The first was the University Club, which acquired its craft last season, and, incidentally won the New Zealand Interuniversity Eights at the Easter Tournament in Dunedin. Just as was the case with single scullers when the Otago Club gave a lead some seasons ago, there is a definite movement on foot to increase interest in eight-oar rowing on the harbour. But eight-oar boats are costly, and the ( question of finance provides a stumb