Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-07-25
Amnfenr HOating.

The University Quarterly for July has an
interesting and elaborate article on the subject
of amateur boating and its incidents, prepared
by Mr.. Edward f. Blake of Yale College,
from which we make the following ex.
tracts =
COLLEGE RACE BOATS.
The college race boats are Of two kinds.
The first is what is called "clincher built
or "lapstreak" boat; that is, one whose sides
are clapboarded, as it were, the planks being
so disposed that the lower edge of every plank
overlays the next-below it, and is fastened to
1t by clinched copper rivets. The strength Of
these boats lies in the tirmness with which
each strip holds the one below it. The ribs
are frail, and their object is mainly to preserve
the lines Of the boat. This boat is long lived,
and runs well in heavy sea. The second
kind is called ''shell." 1t is built as a skele-
ton, with a strong back bone keel, stout ribs,
and thin, smooth Spanish cedar skin, spread
over it. Both ends OF these boats are cut
down very low, and covered with rubber or
vanished canvass, thus avoiding weight
catching little wind, and increasing the sus-
tanning power OF the boat when it capsizes
| Formerly there was disposition to build race
boats broad in the middle, to float lightly now
the style is long and narrow. The new boat
just built for the Yale navy is forty eight feet
! long, twenty-five inches wide, eight inches
deep. The weight of siX.oared boat as they
are now built, averages between one hundred
andAtty and one hundred and seventy pounds
In America we prefer siX-oared boats forty
eight Or fifty feet in length In the English
universities they prefer eight cared boats sixty
or seventy feet long. The difference may be
owing to the fact that all our races are out round
stake boat, and back "a long boat laboring
q ns HIcnf ,t,rrr In A
sufficient reason can be found in the fact that
their races are on the Cam or the Thames,
while many of ours are on the rough water of
harbors or large lakes, where long boat is
unmanageable. Spoon oars are now almost
universally used tor racing. The blade OF this
oar curves outward fully as the section of the
bowl of spoon. The advantage gained is,
that the force of the spring OF the blade is in
the direction of the course of the boat, not as
In the old oar, oblique to it. The butt also,
where it passes through the row lock, is made
triangular, so that it feathers itself at each
pull
TRAINING.
The object of training is three fold. In the
order of time, first, to take off fat; secondly,
to put on muscle; thirdly, to increase endur-
ance OF late it has seemed to be the object
to reduce '0eigM instead of reducing tdt Loss
OF sound flesh is loss, and nothing else,-it
weakens; loss of heavy, gross flesh is gain,-
1t adds strength. In Yale, the daily life
OF one OF the race crew is thus appointed.
AT five i'll the morning he wakes instantly
up, for if he is in good condition, he
passes no listless, dreamy, half hour interval
between asleep and awake. He puts on
loosely fitting dress, and is soon Sauted from
below by the rest Of the crew. He joins
them, and in a moment they are off on long
swinging trot, over hill and through the
woods, for a mile and half out, and back on
another road. The last forty rods is race,
and in they come, painting and putting, red
faced and perspirng. TO cool off and rub
down occupies an hour, and then a breakfast
of beetsteak and oatmeal porridge or bread
and milk, satisfies his sharp appetite, and he
sits down afterwards to study with a good
will. After the noon recitation he visits the
gymnasium. Here all Of the crew meet to-
gether. Up they go, hand over hand, on the
ladders to the top, and then down the other
side. This is repeated, and then they eXer-
else short time on the parallel bars. They
then put up the fifty pound dumb bells one or
two hundred times, and lastly pull at the sand
bags until dinner time. At dinner, and at all
the meals, butter, sugar, pastry, cake and
warm drinks are forbidden. The food is
hearty and plenty, the drink is ale or water,
in very moderate quantities The crew mess
together, and the food is provided according
to the rules, so that no forbidden Wand ever
makes its appearance on the table. Then fol.
low quiet study till the afternoon recitation
AS the sun is setting they are out on the har-
Dor, pulling over the three mile course. After
slight supper they go to bed at nine o'clock,
and thus ends the day
THE ANXIETY.
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