INTERCOLONIAL BOAT RACE.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1465, 15 April 1873, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL BOAT RACE.

"' „ f ( ' This event came, off ; at Melbourne, on ' March 29tb, and wwars r witnessed by ■ ajboutj •»,tto v j&st£ ; W§ '^ ,|ttte jbllpwingj Jjpof^,\, jsft ;4iw<r^oß^w*i of: ; ttie • sthi' of >:Aprilfj^*' (! • 'rw.h.,Tj.-!: j,--!;r „; : '■ ■■-■■■■ in aeeordance with their flsual^ustpni^wonld * '^^ fc a wee, just to let the others blow themselves. ,Ihje itaftd^ih^weve^thad, no sooner-given .ibej9fprd 2) t|iftn [the; [Sydney toeti: dashed Off at a tremendous bat.; pulling not less ±ha»u4o.;& minute for a short distance. The JBsUatttt'Oity erew 7 wetS heir away, the Melbourne tailing tiff slightly in the nai 1 uflliu lWU <ifewssusfmenSoned. " THe 'Btfttsrafc meri; not being iproperly in posiutionAwtoa Atf 'Starte* gaye 1 the 4 w6r'd.;got ©fyse*l«j#, the wpriiir,pf the lot The tehtfjtf l^ad% Dps, w«w yery notjndeed, the idea wj^.ibvMently to get tnti inside rraming^'rotlha the first

bend, which point the crews were how fast approaching, the Melbourne and Ballarat City being almost level, and rowing about 40 a minute, the Sydney men very . close up, at say 37 strokes a minute. but a mUe, of the distance had been traversed,' *it was plain that thus early there were only three crews in the race. The Barwon and Hobart Town crewa were toiling hopelessly in the rear, and the Ballarat crew did not improve in form as they went along. Notwithstanding the tremendous efforts made by the Melbourne and Sydney crews for the inside running round the Junction bend, their . efforts were frustrated by the unflinching gameness of' the City men, who held , their ground manfully, and led the Melbourne at a rattling pace round the great bend, the Sydney crew having fallen slightly in the rear. Before the bend was finished, the Melbourne four had collared and passed the City ; and on entering Humbug Reach, the Melbourne led the City by over a length, the Sydney crew about that distance behind, and the Ballarat men about two lengths further in the rear, and striving most determinedly to improve their position in the straight reach. The Barwon and Southern men were by thi3 time clean out of the chase. When about half way up Humbug Reach, the No. 2 of the Melbourne four felt his back giving way, and for a good quarter of a mile was unable to get his weight on ; the boat of course steered badly, and it was not until No. 3 eased that the coxswain was able to hold a straight course. The pain fortunately lasted for a couple of minutes only, and vanished as suddenly as it came. Another mile and more had yet to be traversed, and the Sydney men are beginning to # pull up somewhat by spurting, but the Melbourne and City crews are equal to the occasion, and hold their own with undiminished vigor along the. last reach to the winning-post. The scenes on both banks of , the river for a mile at least before the finish may be best described as tumultuous, with ecstacies of delight at the position held by the Melbourne, who, as they sped along hotly pursued by the City and Sydney crews, were greeted with the ringing applause of a delighted multitude. The winning- po3t was reached first by the Melbourne crew, after a hard* fought contest, the Ballarat City two lengths behind, Sydney the same distance behind the City, and the Ballarat Rowing Club a moderate 'fourth. The time, against a tide nearly four hours on the ebb, was 25min 30sec.