ROWING NOTES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 8, 9 January 1877, Page 2

ROWING NOTES.

■ ..' I; ' Br Proteus. ,As the time draws near for our interprovincial regatta the more interest is there taken ih' it, not only by intending competitors, but also by quondam boating men. 'The principal interest, of course, centres irtthefou.^oared outrigger race, for which, if all the boats come to the scratch, six will start. The crew of the Nelson boat have been tpjiijing. .vigorously for the last few days, and have wisely dispensed with the sliding se_,ts. ' The stroke (W. Westrupp) is ajstrong muscular* fellow, but his forte is not outrigger-towing; he is more adapted for a v/haleboat. No, j_ (H, Wimsett) has a very uneven swing forward, which may probably be caused by k sluggish early recover v, en-tailing-a necessary rush later on to make up 108-^grbund. 1 This sluggishness may be secopdary owing to a hang of the hands, due to primary faults of feather under water, rowing deep, finishing with biceps, loosing one hand at tbe finish, or other faults. I think the reason will be found that be does not use all the muscles applicable for recovery of the body at the same time, but uses them in detail, some, perhaps, not at all. The recovery should be from muscles of loins, abdomen, and legs, the latter gaining their <« purchase "from the straps. No. 2 (Reid) is well known as a good man in a boat which requires any amount of strength, but he, like the stroke, is out of place in an outrigger. The bow oar has been entrusted to C. Bird, who, siuce the Welliugtqu meij have ;been practising, has been adopting their style of rowing as much as possible. This is all very well in its way, but why should we not have a style of our own? The Nelson men have an able coach in their boat, who is quite competent to take charge, and why does he not give them the proper stroke? The bow and No. 3 have also a bad form in. jpwinjr. Their backs are hy far too round.

I do not mean to say that the back should be absolutely straight, but rather the reverse,, if anything. Not more than half of the best ' oars anywhere row with perfectly straight backs. Such a back is of some value, but it is by no means a sine qua non. The values of a straight back are— (l) That the man who so -rows must be " swinging'--from his loins only at the hips, and not from any point in the middle of his back as a secondary pivot. (2) That the straightness of the back to some extent eases the respiratory organs. But it is not every back that can naturally be perfectly straight from hip to shoulder when full forward, and it-' may be that such is the case with those I have mentioned. It will suffice then if the back is as straight as natural conformation will allow of when the body is at full stretch forward, and if it is kept at the same bend, neither farther bent and straightened, up io'the finish. Faulty time is a common fault with our men, but no doubt is secondary. Some other fault exists to which it can be traced, and the prime fault must first be taken in hand. The Wellington men have? been doing good practice in their boat, the Dolly Varden, since their arrival here. They iJ generally " do " the course which is nowlaidn down, and with which, I believe, they are . highly pleased. The crew, with the except tion of one, is the same as rowed in the Dolly Varden when she won the champion \ race at Wellington last year. This one— M'Grath — - . has greatly improved since he-was here ilasS. year in the wha.ebpa.t;Cu.-i.but even yet is hardly good enough for the rest of the crew. Want of watermanship is; a fault which it would be well for them to remedy. .before* 5 regatta day, as it being high water, at t thef . time the race will be rowed, there will pro-.-bably be a little swell on in th harbor. ... Considering the time they have been in trainiug.f. their watermanship is almost as defective as* our men. The Kaiapoi crew, I learri, are out? practising regularly, and are doing good work! 11 They are all heavy men, averaging eleven aud a half stone. Although their boat— the Cam— was only third in the race at the last in.e_prdvihcial regatta, she is by no means a duffer,, and with her present crew in her ought to be able to hold her own. Nothing daunted by their want of snccess last year, the Thames crew have had a new boat built by their coxswain, Mr Savage. They pulled well last year, though their boat, -being a local production, was not up to the standard of the English boats. If they win the race the more credit will be due to them from the fact of their having had pluck enough to build a boat to contest the race. Auckland will also send a boat, but nothing definite is known about the crew. The Star Club on Sunday brought over by the Wellington "two" boats, one four-oared outrigger, the Stella, and a foar-oared inrigged boat, which were taken to the Government bonded store. Until the arrival of the Thames and Auckland crews, it would be premature to say which will be first, but if our men contiribb to improve as they have done this last • weekf'they will make some of the crews row hard for the race. The four-oared race will probably only se§ three boats, two from Wellington and ouir -| own boat. The crews will be the same as will row in the champion race. . By the Alhambra onSunday the Nelson Club received their four-oared inrigged boat. She is in. every respect a beauty, and is far superior' in every point to the Wellington boats. If everything goes well she ought to come in first. An accident having occurred to the Greymouth four-oared boat, will preclude the possibility of their putting in an appearance. It appears that at the regatta on New Year's Day at Greymouth, during the r&ce three boats collided and a fine one built by Brown at one time a famous boat builder in JNelsori' got three of her planks stove in, thus virtually putting an end to her visiting this place. This is the more to be regretted as she was said to be a fine boat, and her builder looked forward to having a trial with the Melbourne built boats. I hear there is a four-oared boat busily practising in Wan- ' ganui on the q jiet, and that she will show up next week. ' Of the whaleboat race at present I cannot say much. The Thistle has had a streak taken off her, and the old brass rowlocks have been superseded by wooden -thowlpins; Her crew is a heavy one, and they feel confident of carrying off the prize. Taylor's new whaleboat will be launched some time during this week, and is to have a Scotch name, taken, I believe, from one of Burns' celebrated poems. She is a fine boat to look at, but until she is put into the water it is impossible to say what turn of speed she will have. A whaleboat from the Thames, built hy Savage, who has the reputation of being a good boat-builder, and manned by members of the Thames Naval Brigade, is expected by the Wellington on Sunday next. The old Colonist, I hear, is coming from . Richmond to take part in the race, but unless more speed is got out of her than heretofore, which is hardly possible, she will stand but little chance against the light boats. Two whaleboatsare also expected from Wellington at the latter end of the week. At present there is little probability'of there being a pair-oared race. The Welling--ton Rowing Club have brought over a pairoared boat, which is to be rowed by Woods and M'Grath. Taylor's boat hangs up in his shed waiting for a crew. Although she is some six feet shorter than the Wellington boat she wonld push her hard for first place. It is likely that Auckland will send down a pair-oared boat, but I have no good authority for saying so. Hearn is out in his sculler's boat every day. His sculling is greatly admired, and it will take a good boat and a good man to beat him. Taylor has started to build a sculler's boat, and he has got his work cut ont for him to have her finished by regatta day. Even if she is finished it will be a difficult job to find a man to sit her who has not been used to that class of boats. More anon.