AQUATIC NOTES.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 230, 7 February 1885, Page 6

AQUATIC NOTES.

'/?% By "Mud-Hook;"

;-\. ;. :■.-.. >:. THE ;. pE<3-A; ; nTA. . : ' J In spite- o,f ; : the : terrible .downpour of > raiti' this passed off yery successfully ;.- : albeit, most , of the crews 6t the sailing craft were nearly % irojzen: q^ to ,theiE*ta'cks an'd?sheets, and ; I wis" ; -. told myself I looked like E-clead body that had v- been fished afterja 1 three-days' immersion. ;* • Qne's hanjis swelled up with -the' fresh water M^aud. wrinkled till a: washerwoman's thumb was-' |^1;a foolto them. .;<!,( ■■./!•■ ;• -% ]'■, • ■]':■{.{ §<f. The JSTellie justified my confidence, and won gvthe cutter, race in a canter, despite the % ifact that ;she;;carried away her .topmast and ,^;had ; -td7rig another. ; The dear old Sovereign ;^f;^he Seas came second, as I predicted, and" g^he i vPev.eroniwascthird.' '•■■■ ' ■■- ■•■ ■•■•-: ; "- •' ; pi?l3fe^hura;ngi:;wou. the small cutter^ra'ce ; ; pff|nry;and Lily filling.^ situations. I had SU|three,tipped,,bu^putXjLiy. i first. ¥ = , m^Bio:::.yaxthWkk& wph Wihe^^ijy Rita - pMuritai^fecdnd^ibrfinisK^^^ l^e .^wa^econ^ |3pppular after Mr|Hendersßn's, behaviour with

regard to the sailing jof|jhKcya^t;sJ|,He acted like a gentlema£lyjf^ to win ■ Christina wbh' 4 big v fishi&g*stn'ack race, with ! Bella Mary, second, and Albatross 4hird andlast. Mignonette ran^into first place in the\ yachts and fishing boats race, after Shrimp and Brothers 'had T led jalternately for three-parts of the course. Brothersgotsecond, Shrimp third. My tip for the yachts under 6 • tons came off exact, viz., Jessie Logan. Masher, Malua:/. V: '■; ' V '■ r; )? r=.' ".r f L ; 20-footers was a splendid race, and. won by a bit 'oorf r good luck 'by-aboataria 1 ' owner that both wanted and deserved a good turn from, fortune's wheel. I allude to Mr J. Waynioutii's,; senior,' Mascbtte. ( She was,.however, sailed better than usual, and, being a lead all round, suited her. I was prevented from mentioning her in ! my tip on . account of the, bad luck .that seems to follow Mr Waymouth's : boats, but I liked her ever since I first saw her, in all but one thing, and that is her full, deep tuck, and that helped her on ! Thursday. She was sailing a good second [ to the Dream, .when the latter's steersman took her right under the lee of the land, when he should have beeriruiinirig diagonally across the harbour, . towards i the. flagship. Dream got becalmed, and Mascotte slipped up arid won cleverly ; Dream, 2nd ; Poet, 3rd. The latter's sails set very badly, and she got away poorly, and it was, a good performance to get 'even third as," things looked first time round. Imp was a good fourth, and Vision was stuck in. the mud, and got down too late for a start, while Ika carried away her stick, and \kmy her yard. Poet and Dream were my first and second, and Mascotte's boil over only put me out. ; The 16-foot Open Boat Race was another . three-decker tip for • me. ' The boats were rattled off to a splendid flying start, and my tips so.On singled out,- .arid, ran all round in the order in which they finished, namely — Violet, 1; Lad, 2; Ely; 3. Toy was third for a short time at one part of the race, but in the run across the harbour, fair wind, the Ely's big spread told, and she re took herlost position. : ' > ■ My tip (the Vaiiduara No. 1) won the Ships' Gig Eace after a contest. The Champion Whaleboat Eace resulted in as big an upset as did the late Auckland Cup. The " imported." crew were, made such a dead certainty that 2 to 1 was freely taken about them, while 4 to 1 went begging about the Waitematas in the Maia. The race was never ; in doubt, however. Maia dashed off, and soon settled the showy Petone crew, and then led to the finish without being- pushed., The crew, of young giants who repi'esented the Thames, and I who sarcastically named their boat ' ' Outsider," being the only ones capable of getting near the winners. My Queen (Waitoa) was a fair third. The winning ! crew was as follows :— O'Keefe (stroke), E. ! Moore (4), H. Slade (3), Pritchard (2), Cook (bow), E. Moore (Cox). . They are all Auckland natives (more power, to 'em), and nearly all (4 out of the 6 anyhow) halfcastes. They have been trained most carefully by the veteran pedestrian, Ted O'Hare, who is deserving of the greatest credit for the splendid fettle he brought such a colossal charge out in, for, be it known, they are all working men, and stuck at work up to the day of , the race. The Maia was built by Mr 0. Bailey, and when writing of her a week ago I said she was a long way the best of this class of racing whaleboats I had seen yiet. She has, lam glad to say, well borne out my good opinion. Ponsonby's crack crew collapsed entirely. It is but fair to say that it is stated in excuse that bow-oar (McGrath) broke his rowlock at the start. I know I saw him miss seven strokes at a time after, and that may have .been the reason. Eough and ready Onehunga crew got a good fourth, a performance highly creditable to them. . Junior Whaleboats was won by Ponsonby lads, in the Commotion, easily, from Waitemata Juniors, in the Maia, proving that the boat so carefully built by Mr Clare for Hearn's crew was not to blame, whatever else was, for the bad shape they made in the Champion. Petone gave. up. My tip, the Auckland Naval Brigade pinj nace (12 oars) won the Naval Brigade Eace. 1 North Shore (5 oars) 2nd. Petone (5 oars) I gave -up. , , . I f ' Telegraph No. 1 won the race for P.O. and E.T. gigs. Again my tip. A. Bailey, as I predicted, won the Dingy race, Masefield 2nd,, and J. A. Waymouth 3rd. -• . ' .:■•■". .'...- --1 Steamers' Gigs (added race),' Eotomahana My anticipations all through were fairly successful, I named sever! outright winners. In the small cutters, out of eight starters, I got the three first, though the Lily got 3rd, instead of Ist, as I expected. I got Ist and 2nd 1 in the big cutters. I placed correctly the first three: in the order they finished iii the yachts, 4 to 6 tons, and the 16-foot open boats, while in the 20-footers tny Ist and 2nd came 2nd and 3rd. In the whaleboats two of my placed boats ran Ist and 3rd.

Harrington, the Riverton sculler, left ! lijvercargiil for Sydney on Jan. 13. Before leaving he said : " Six lliverton men are here to seerne off; when I come back here at least .600 will be glad to welcome. me." „| 1 l J 6et -was out for " a spin ; on * Sunday >m6rfiin^, 1 'when off 'Freeman's' 'Bay she/ carried away her masVWf^w'ffee^Bfelow : tKe ! ' yard. These white pine sticks don't seem to

stand half asjwSlS^r^l^^ka's was a white pine alsa^e^^SilS^^' ' ' , A .meeting of , 2J3-foot bqa"t-awners>, called last week", by. <Mr^ A. Jonkffio /arranged ; sweepstake, fell , through, in consequence of none but Messrs 'Jones' 'and ' £aing (Vision) turning up. Evidently the other owners were quite, satisfied the. Drea.ni was, too. good for them. : ' ;; '"' ' l " : " ' i; ' r ' ;< ''' J " ■' ;; •"' " ! '" ■ Mr A. 11. Jones, owner of the Dream (20-footer), issues a challenge to Mr J. Weymouth,, senr., to 'sail their boat, : -which ' ran second on Regatta day, against the Ma,sco ; tte, which won; stakes, either £10 or £20 a boat. This should prove an interesting match, but. l should be inclined to back the Dream. They ; wili race' to-moi-row (Saturday) -I if the weather suits the terms', proposed, viz. —a, good sailing breeze and a beat! one way. , The prizes won at the Eegatta \vere paid over- to the successful competitors ' at the Thames Hotel on J^onday evening. Mr Malcolm Nic'col, the chairman, made a few sensible remarks in handing over the prizes, and complimented young Auckland especially on the fact that the winning whaleboat crew and the builder of the boat (Mr Bailey), were Auckland born and bred. The Waitematas and Mr T. Henderson (winner of the large yacht race) wet their cups in bumpers of champagne. Mr E. N. K. Forder proposed a vote of thanks to the Hegatta Committee, which was' carried with cheefrs. Mr Niocol, in replying, stated that it was the first time such a compliment had ever been paid to a regatta committee, and they valued it accordingly. .