ROWING.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2007, 14 March 1914, Page 12

ROWING.

[Br Mercurv.]

THE REGAfTA tQW. ] Watch for tho Flag* This afternoon, if tlie fates are pto* ■ pitious, tho Wellington liowiug Association's annual regatta will be raced ■ otf on the harboUT. > it is knjjossiWo to name tho convincing gro.uitd (or water) in advance, as the' venue wiii depend upon the direction of the wind. As is the, usual practice, the association has surveyed, two coufses'--cn& for a northerly and one i'tsi a, souttorly breeze. Tlio public will life advised as. to which is to bo used hy means of flags on tho G.P.O. this niorning. A blue nag wilt denote, that- the wn'thcriy course, has been selected, and a fed one that the alternative one- across Oriental Bay wilt be the locate o.f the meeting. -

The northerly coutso is perha.p;s the better of the two from the rowing standpoint, although it does not meet ■with such favour in the' eyes of the public and the'executive. It .stretches irom Korokoro —tfl& finish being in a lino with tho Grand Jfational Hotel— along the Ngahauranga t'ordsnore for two miles, and is one of tho heat, racing courses in the Dominion. Its drawback, in the eyes of tho association, is that it is hot reve!jue.*prqduoiiig. It is too far from town for the follow-thc-ruce boats to pkik up spectators hatweon races, and, jtt order to get the first race, tlio steadier.lras to leave tho Kerry Wharf at 1.2,18 p.m.—too eatfe for the average citk'en, whgse interest in tho regatta is eclipsed for, the nioinent by his jeS'Hiiug for luaiuli.

Tho southerly course is started' from various points in likens Bay, cresses Oriental Bay, 'and finishes oa a line drawn between the Tar-awaki and Queen's Wharves. If the wind permits of this course being chosen.., the jin-litie will be atforded amplo opportunity of seeing the racing. The- Tafa.ivaki St,reqt Wharf makes an escettofft graiidsta.nd, from which all ftnish.es can bo scon, and it has been aa-rahged that a steamer will call at tlio wharf between each eveilt for passengers at a lisittinal fee per race.

Entries Never Bettor. Tho entries have beeiu published, and as has been seen aro many and repre* sentativo. It is' no exaggeration to say' that every cre-w of ltote in its pa.tttenlar class is engaged., including erory* one of the crows lie Wing present chain* pionship honours. It is rcigrottablo that the entry for the senior race is not larger, but this will b& proro or loss made up for by the itppeafaiiee. of ifro famous Wanganui Kiriau corohittation. Its presence ensures good roivijig, oven, if not good competition, in this event. AU the other events it&vo filled very well; . Cuessing at Winners Difficult. Ho would be a rosli maa who would lie prepared to pick probable winners. Especially is this go in the ttaiden events, in which class tlto^-entries m the fours run into dftuklo fignrea.

■ A refreshing amount of competition will bo seen in the senior single sculls, which is too often an ov'ent k whieli ib is a caso of the existing champion lirsti and a very small field nowhere. On this occasion tho champion, A. Hadfield, of the Waitemsta. (Auckland) Ulub is being opposed by four scullers of merit. These include: Georgo Marshall, of tho Wangamii Club; an e:xehainpion dquble-soitller, J. Charp, of Wanganui Union; one of tjw present champion doublo-sculling dwo, Dβ "fti-flr, of the Sumner Chib; and a> Waiiraii representative, who has yet be ti'ied out in big company, Init who is well spoken of by the Marlborougli men.