The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09
WITH The COLLEGE ATHLETES
DOINGS IN THE FIELD OF SPORT
IN EAST AND WEST.
Haryard's New English Shell and Some
OF Its FeatureS-The Work OF the Col.
lege Fights In Their Early Races-Yale
Is Strong. Despite Earlier Gloom.

Laar and interesting information as TO
the English shell that the Harvard crew
may use next year in it's New London race
has come to hand. From what can be
CLEANED. externally the English boat does
not differ materially in appearance from
an American eight cared shell. The meas
urements are reported as being oS feet
over all, with a beam Of 30. inches amid
ships. The depth il greater forward than
aft, being 81 inches toward the bow and an
inch less toward the stern. In a general
way. American shells are very much like
that. Ordinarily they are not 81 long. but
they are as wide. The Annapolis boat
is practically CO feet long and exactly as
wide as the Harvard shell The Columbia
boat is on very much the same lines az the
English craft. Hoyle builds the Cornell
boats rather sitter than most OF the
other college shells, so that it may be a
bit shorter than either the Columbia or
Annapolis boats.
The great difference between English
and American rowing boats is Of course In
the arrangement OF the seats. American
boats are rugged so that the seats shall he
in a straight line. The English boats have
the seats ordinarily ~ inches either side OF
the line OF the keel. That is to say there is
a distance OF three inches separating the
inside edges of the seats. Then again the
English boats have shorter outriggers. with
thole pins instead Of the American type
OF long. lock outriggers. II is on these two
points that the argument Of American and
English rowing critics IL based.
The English contention is that with more
inboard leverage and SHORTER %outriggers
a better grip on the water can I've obtained
The English oars have. it Is understood. a
q inch button. They have much more in
board than the American blades. How
ever. the American contention is that there
Is just as much opportunity TO uss strength
with the American oars and furthermore
that with the American system OF swinging
fone on d straight line directly toward
the line in which the boat is going better
general results may he obtained There
To-, according TO the American theory. less
wind resistance with the single row OF backs.
That is from all accounts a sensible view TO
take. Rowing agains: a wind there shnuld
be loopholes for tho air to go through when
men are sitting in lines Iarlllel and sepa-
rated by a distance of three inchos or
course. there is not that much orcn sCace
between the oarsmen, because they naturally
ere broad enough to present a solid line.
But it is a broader solid line thaa hat OF the
Americans.
Mathematically. the leverage in both
htyles Of rowing is practically tho same,
There is, however. the difference as to the
manner in which the force is applied. The
English do morn nf their rowing inside
the boat than do the Americans and therein
perhaps lies some Of tho difference between
results here and abroad. Rigging is what
counts, is the coaches PVion. There is
80 wide n difference in rigging the English
and American boats that il ought to count
for something.
There is a poin; that has 10 be considered
II Harvard is to do It's rowing in an imported
BOAT Harvard rows. let lis say. IN Amer
ioan style. English crews row their style
in their own boats, There will hNvc to
he n great change in methods or a hybrid
Americf1 style English boat will be the
inevitable result. n reports are true.
English osrsmana are changing their methods
Under Steve Fairbeirn tho victorious Cam
bridge oersnrn rowed more or loss the
B~ouller's style More leG drive. perhaps a
triie less of body swing, was the prescrip-
ton which beat OXford. The Americans
ARE strong on leg drive and possibly their
body swing "a more shoulder work than il
's ''N
should h..
II is pointed on: that American college
oarsmen are heavier about the shoulders
than arc fhr English. The latter are thicker
through TIE waist. These should he safe
indications OF the points wherein the two
nations differ. The slowness on the slides>
r. another thing very charac eristic of our
best college crews. notably those coached
by Charles T.. Courtney II has been said
that Courtney reformed many OF hi. ideas
after his visit to Henley with the Cornell
crew in 1895. Thai MAJ be true. but il must
he remembered that he saw there only
crews OF the sprint;nG type. That should
not necessarily havr worked a great reform
In his ideals as to four mile crews. Careful
%pttention tn slides Is also a characteristic
~ English crews. but there is not tho same
easy motion, best described rs sneakinE.
which Cornell's crews Use.
II English crews are coming in moro for
sculling style, they are approaching very
nearly what the American college crews do.
Over here, in tho Poughkeepsie contingent,
leaders in college rowing, the best coaches
are devotecs Of sculling. Courtney the Ten
EyCks, Rice and Ward are the s%oullers.
Perhaps our s"ullerSuso too much shoulder
work; indeed that is charge which has boon
brought against them very often. If that il
the case, u Wll-' DC on tic point on TlpGlnH
boats and on the matter " the use Of real
BODY work that our Oarsmen differ from the
British
To return 10 tho Harvard boat. There
vas an English craft in usp NJ Harvard
some eighteen years aro, 80 that this is
not the first time that Harvard has tried
nut n foreign shell. II may not have been
In the best of tast" for the British rVrerts
10 ]criticiso the Harvard American shell as
much as they hil last fall, but inasmuch ne
our mon went Ovcr tho~e evnrvthjrg they
had and o"erythipg they did naturally
might hn expected ~ come in for instec.
ton. The criticism "f the eight ua-"A
shell led them to believe NJ Harvard that
they could get hotter results II they tried
In English boat again,
The Harvard boat is brinr constructed
by Sims Of Pu'ncv, who builds for both
Oxford and Cambridge. as Davv does for
Harvard aud Yale Of Sims aud his work
the following iS 0urtoi from n veteran
rowing authority The builder Sims's
triumph oNcr DR.. Edmond Warre. head
master 81 Fton. who has previously stood
as tho Euglish authority on racing shell
construction. was recognized throughout
the kingdom Tn" learned master AZ Ftou
worked ont his model according TO classical
and mathematical theories of his own
'Hc advocated q length Of from ffty.sN
a. tfty-sevcn feet. saving that the bugbear
IL longitudinal oscillation did not exist
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