ACQUATIS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XII, Issue 709, 8 October 1903, Page 12

ACQUATIS.

(By

“The Reefer.")

The Ponsonby Regatta will be held on Saturday, December 19. Mr G. S. Mitchell is hon. secretary.

It is expected that the tiny gipsy of the Horn ” which Bailey and Lowe are building for Mr C. H. Buckeridge will be launched on the 14th. Should such be the case the adventurous voyage to England •will be commenced a few days later.

The safe arrival of the canoe Tilikum is reported from Thursday Island. She left Auckland on August 19, and called at Tanna Island on September 10. Very bad weather was experienced during the early part of the voyage.

The following have been elected as officers of the Home Bay Sailing Club : — Commodore, Mr C. H. Palmer ; vice-com-modore, Mr C. Harbutt : rear-commodore, Mr J. P. Maguire ; hon. treasurer, Mr H. F. Holmden ; hon. secretary, Mr C. H. Palmer ; assistant hon. secretary, Mr E. Whaley.

The schooner yacht La Carabine, which Mr C. Bailey, jun., is building for Sir Rupert Clarke, of Melbourne, is now all planked up, the decks laid, the bulwarks and rails on, and the outside caulking finished. She will be launched about the first week in November.

Mr A, G. Busby having retired from the captaincy of the St. George’s Rowing Club, Mr T. Richards has been appointed to the position. Mr Busby was presented with a very handsome tea and coffee service by the members.

The following have been elected officers of the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association for the ensuing year :—President, Mr J. White (Dunedin) ; vice-presi-dent, Mr J. James (Dunedin) ; secretary and treasurer, Mr N. Galbraith ; auditor, Mr G. Fache; council, Messrs A. Bayfield, G. F. Campbell, R. M. Isaaca, G. Lauchlan, R.. McVillv, S. Partridge, R. F. Smith.

r J he committee of Lloyd's Register of Shipping have issued their new rules for the building and classification of steel, wood and composite yachts. Rules for yachts were first issued by the committee of this society in the year 1878, when the society’s Yacht Register was first published. Since that time the form and construction of yachts, more especially those used for racing purposes, have undergone many changes, and, in consequence, it was necessary that the rules of these pleasure ■craft should be so modified and amended as to render them better suited for the types of such vessels as are now commonly being built. To aid them in revising these rules, the committee of Lloyd’s Register and their staff invited the opinions of the leading yacht builders and designers, not only ci the United Kingdom, but of the United States of America, and their suggestions were adopted as far as ■considered practicable. The. rules now published are, thetefore, the result of careful consideration both of the committee of Lloyd’s Register and of prominent experts in yacht-constru'ction. A new scantling basis has been adopted for all types of yachts, in which the length of the “ bilge diagonal ” has been introduced in order to ensure that the finer yachts shall have a smaller scantling than those of fuller form. Not only has the basis of the yacht rules been modified, but considerable additions and extensions have been made, both in regard to the details of requirements, as well as in the tables for the various descriptions of scantlings.

The famous swimmer and diver, “‘Professor ” William Finney, has met with a shocking accident at a display at Walsall. White diving from a height of thirty-five feet into a tank containing seven feet of water his head struck the bottom, injuring his spine so seriously that he is paralysed from just below the shoulders, and a fatal result is feared. Finney is well known as having dived from all the highest Thames bridges, including the Tower Bridge.

At the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rowing Association, held at Wellington, on Saturday, it was decided to hold the next championship regatta at Lake Waihola. The sub-committee appointed to consider the question of a suitable boat for the use of maiden scullers reported that the length should not exceed 24ft 6in. It could not recommend that the weights should be reduced below 501 b. The following were rein*stated amateurs :—J. Beer, H. S. Beer, F. Bernston, H. Roderique, M. Cussen, C. Bradley, and H. Phillips.

The new speed oil launch Standard, built to the order of Mr P. A. Hadley, was launched from the yards of Messrs Bailey and Lowe, Custom-street West, on Saturday afternoon. The Standard is a handsome little vessel, and is built on* the diagonal principle, the hull timbers being af the best heart of kauri and the stem and floor timbers of pohutakawa. She is 36ft in length overall, 6.3 ft broad, with a draught of 2.9 ft. She has a 15h.p. Standard engine which is expected to drive her at a nearly 12-knot speed. Little Miss Hadley performed the christening ceremony, which was attended by a large number of spectators who were hospitably entertained to a champagne luncheon.

The Canada International Cup has again changed hands after some of the most exciting races ever held on Lake Ontario. The challenging yacht was Irondequoit, of the Rochester YachtClub, the d. fending cut'er being Strathcona, a vessel designed by A. E. Payne, of Southampton. In the first race Strathcona won by 22secs after a great race. The second heat also fell to the Royal Canadian Yacht Club representative by lomin ssec. In the third contest Irondequoit proved the victor by over 5 minutes. She evened up matters by taking the next by 68sec, owing, however, to getting a great fluke in the wind, the Canadian cutter being a certain winner otherwise. The last and decisive event was very keenly fought out, Irondequoit winning the race and the Cup by 82 seconds.

The ninth series of races for the Seawanhaka International Cup has resulted in yet another victory for the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club. Mr A. H. Higginson, of the Manchester Yacht Club, Mass., challenged with Kolutoo, a yacht designed by Starling Burgess. To meet her F. P. Shearwood designed Thorella 11. for Mr Finley, Vice-Commodore of the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club. In the first race a 20-knot breeze was blowing, and Thorella showing much, better windward work won easily. In the second attempt the wind was even stronger, the Canadian defender beating the challenger by i9min 36sec. The concluding race, in another hard blow, was also easily taken by Thorella, which defeated the United States yacht by I2min i6sec, and thus retained the Cup. Challenges for it have heen received from the Manchester Yacht Club, the White Bear Yacht Club, arid the Royal Portsmouth Corinthian Yacht Club.