Page:Boating - Woodgate - 1888.pdf/132

the Atalanta Club of New York, The I..R.C. men used slides. That did not affect their victory ; they were stronger and better oarsmen than the Americans, and could have won casily on fixed seats ; but what gave a fillip te slides was the clear testi- mony of these four oarsmen of undoubted skill to the advan- tage which they felt themselves gain by their use. Instantly there was a run upon slides. Henley Regatta was impending. The L.R.C. crews were all fitted with them for that meeting. Several other crews (ook to them after reaching Henley, and after seeing the superiority which London obtained by them. Kingston and Pembroke (Oxon) had their boats fitted with slides less than a week hefore the race. Pembroke was a moderate crew, and only entered because they held the Ladies’ Plate, At first, in practice, Pembroke did about equal time over the course with Lady Margarct, both crews being on fixed seats. But the day after Pembroke got their slides they im- proyed some 15 secs, upon the time of Lady Margaret, who kept to their old seats. It must, however, be recorded that the Ladies’ Plate was won by a fixed-seat crew—Jesus, Camb. This crew was by far the hest in material of all the entries at the regatta, ‘heir individual superiority enabled them to give away the slide to Pembroke, and had they taken to slides even for the last few days they would probably have also won the Grand Challenge. As it was, that prize fell to the L.R.C., a crew which had four good men, and then a weak tail. ‘The sliding seat had now fairly established its claims. Tt should be added that Pembroke, with two good and two moderate mien, won the Visitors’ Plate from a very good Dublin fous, about the best four that Dublin ever sent to Henley. Pem- broke used slides, and the Dublin men had fixed seats. (Slides alone won this race for Pembroke.) The Pembroke slides were on wheels—a mechanism which was soon afterwards dis- carded by builders in favour of greased glass or steel grooves or tubes, but which seems to be returning to favour in 1886 and 1887.