The Memoirs of Admiral Lord Beresford
the oar catches the water and not as it leaves it. The oar should b
pulled through with a strong, steady, powerful stroke, no jerks
whatever being given. A jerk bends or breaks an oar, but it does not
send the boat ahead; and a man who pulls a steady stroke will stay
three miles to the two miles of the man who jerks. The oar should
never be feathered higher than is necessary. The oars should be
feathered as level as possible with each other in order to ensure, as
far as may be, that the blades of the oars catch the water absolutely
together.
The coxswain should see that the crew wear no belts and that the
waistbands of their trousers are loose about the waist. If a man's
trousers are tight, they become irksome when he stretches aft as far as
he can over his toes. {501} Each one of these details requires the
earnest and constant attention of the coxswain, and he should see that
each movement is carried out slowly, deliberately, quietly and
perfectly, before he begins to get his crew into hard training. Spurts
should always be avoided until a crew is fit to pull a race. When the
coxswain wishes to spurt he should warn the crew for a spurt, state
loudly the number of strokes he wishes to spurt, and then count them
distinctly as they are pulled. The crew will then all put forth their
greatest effort together. A spurt of three strokes may win a race, in
the event of one of the opposing boat's crew catching a crab, or their
stroke becoming unequal, or one or more of them being for the moment
jaded.
The usual method for training adopted by coxswains is, however, of a
different character. They order the men to pull hard from the moment
they form their crew; they pay not the slightest regard to the
important details which must be attended to in order that any crew may
have a chance of winning a strongly contested race; they appear to
think that a boat's crew cannot be trained unless the coxswain
oscillates his body with an excitement which apparently borders on
insanity; and they accompany these oscillations with weird and nervous
cries such as "Hup with her!" "Lift her!" "Hang on her!" "Back on her!"
"Squeeze her!" "Heave on her!" and similar noises. It is well to cheer
up a crew with vocal accompaniments to their strokes, but that is by no
means the most important factor in enabling them to win.
As a crew proceeds in its training and becomes slowly and quietly fit,
dumb-bells and running will be found useful auxiliaries to pulling,
particularly if the regular practice is stopped while the ship is at
sea, but on no account should a coxswain allow one of his boat's crew
to be over-trained. He should inquire after the health of the crew
every morning, and should be most careful that they do not get a chill
or a cold after practice. Some men require more work than others to
get them in hard condition; a good coxswain will attend to this point,
and will be careful that all his {502} boat's crew reach the
starting-point in the pink of condition. He will also see that the
thwarts are smooth and comfortable, the looms of the oars smooth and
capable of being easily grasped, that the stretchers are secured so
that they can neither slip nor carry away, and that every small detail
(whose failure at the critical moment might jeopardise the chances of a
race) is attended to. The coxswain must also attend to the incidentals
of training, such as chafed sterns and blistered hands, which if not
treated may incapacitate a man from pulling in a race. Chafing on the
stern is best treated by fomenting with hot water and the application
of zinc powder afterwards. Blisters on hands are best treated by
pricking them with a needle in the live flesh just outside the blister,
pressing the water out of it, and wearing a rag over the injury until
the two skins have set together again. A coxswain should also attend
to the feeding of his crew during training, as no man can ever be
produced fit at the starting-post who is too much addicted to pudding.
There are two illustrations which exemplify the necessity for a man to
lean well aft with straight arms when commencing his stroke: (1) If a
man were holding on to a ridge-rope or other rope for his life, he
would never hold on with his arms bent, but would keep them quite
straight for the simple reason that he could hold on longer and
stronger. (2) If a man, in a sitting position, wished to raise a
weight, the pulley used being rove through a block at his feet, he
would never dream of sitting upright prising with his feet and leaning
back from the upright position, but he would bend forward well on his
toes and pull with his strength _and_ his weight. Tackles and weights
were rigged in the _Undaunted_ in order that the men might learn these
truths by practice.
Another important matter for a coxswain is to see that the conditions
on all points are clearly made out in writing before the race, and are
signed by himself and the coxswain of the competing boat. The date,
the time, the boats, the composition of the crew, the stakes, which
should always {503} be low (high stakes invariably lead to bad feeling)
and which in no case should exceed 5s. per man and 10s. per coxswain;
the precise course, _i.e._ the distance, and on which side, all marks,
etc., are to be left, and also whether the oars are to be Service or
private: all these things should be clearly defined. There has been
more bad feeling bred between vessels owing to the want of such details
having been clearly defined than to any other contingency that arises
in boat racing. This is notably the case as to oars. Wherever it is
possible a straight course should be selected, but if the length of the
race does not admit of a straight course each boat should have its own
separate buoy to round.
Coxswains should use every endeavour to get permission to have their
boats hoisted for three or four days (with the exception of the time
necessary for practice) before any forthcoming race in order to get the
boat properly dry. They should get any ragged splinters planed off the
keel, have all surplus paint scraped off and get the bottom of the boat
as smooth as possible. They should also see the oars trimmed and
exactly suited both by length and balance of weight to the small or
great beam of the boat according to the thwart on which they are pulled.
Boat pulling is a healthy and a manly recreation, and if properly
practised with friendly rivalry, can there be a doubt that it generates
that activity of mind which is generally associated with activity of
body? It also produces that courage, endurance, nerve and muscle which
have so long been the distinctive features of the British race. It
provokes a spirit of manliness, a generosity of mind and a love of fair
play.
If all conditions are made out clearly and fairly, a beaten crew
invariably accepts the verdict in a gallant and a chivalrous manner.
After a race, no such remarks should be heard from the beaten crew as
an offer to double or treble the stakes and pull again or words of
similar character, showing either that the beaten crew cannot accept
their defeat in a spirit worthy of the name of British man-of-war {504}
men, or that owing to the conditions of the race not having been
clearly defined, some misunderstanding has arisen which has naturally
engendered a bitter feeling in the minds of those who have just
suffered the poignancy of defeat.
The training and practice which are necessary to put the boats' crews
of men-of-war into that state of condition in which they may reasonably
expect to win a race, must to a large extent cultivate those habits of
discipline which are so essential for the comfort and efficiency of our
great Service.
Admiral Sir George Tryon, while he was commander-in-chief in the
Mediterranean, and while I was in command of the _Undaunted_, caused a
boat to be specially built to race my boat. We had six races, all of
which the _Undaunted_ won. The _Undaunted's_ racing boat was built
flatter in the floor than the ordinary pattern of Service boats. One
of the races with Sir George Tryon's boat was rowed in a whole gale of
wind, over a course of four miles. The _Undaunted's_ boat was
half-full of water, and three of the knees of the thwarts were broken,
when she crossed the line. This kind of racing is extremely heavy
work, for the Service boats are massively built in order to carry
weight, such as guns, stores ammunition. The oars are so heavy that
there is nearly as much labour involved in lifting the oar from the
water and coming forward as in pulling it through the water.
The admiral-superintendent's boat at Malta was never beaten. She was a
beautiful boat, built by Maltese, and manned by a splendid Maltese
crew. I raced her with my crew twice, once when I was captain of the
_Undaunted_, and again when I was second in command in the
Mediterranean (with flag in _Ramillies_), and lost the race on both
occasions. In the second race, the Maltese, having the inside place
resorted to the well-known manoeuvre of steering us off all the way up
to the buoy and then turning sharply to round it.
While stationed at Alexandria during the time of my command of the
_Undaunted_, we used to have a regatta open to all comers, any boat and
any rig, every Friday. The {505} Arab boats used to enter. Their
great sail area and flat bottoms gave them a great advantage in
running, or on the wind; but they could not tack. They were obliged to
wear in a beat to windward, because their sail dipped before all. I
beat them twice with a copy of Captain (now Admiral) Fitzgerald's
racing rig, in the launch. A Service launch is of course built for
heavy work and for carrying loads, such as supplies and ammunition.
The Service rig has one mast, with mainsail and staysail, called the De
Horsey rig. Captain Fitzgerald stepped the single mast aft, and fitted
a bigger spar forward, equipped it with a big dipping lug, abolished
the staysail, and used ballast. The object of the De Horsey rig was to
give a sail equipment with as little gear as possible. Captain
Fitzgerald's object was to race; and I may take this opportunity of
saying that I consider Admiral Fitzgerald to have been the finest
boat-sailer whom I have met in the Service.
When he was commander of the _Agincourt_ in the Channel Squadron, he
won the first Admiral's cup presented in the Navy, in 1872. In that
year, Admiral Sir Geoffrey Hornby gave a cup to be sailed for by the
boats of the Channel Squadron, being the first admiral to present a
cup. The conditions, as described by Admiral Fitzgerald in his
_Memories of the Sea_, were: "Any sails, any rig, any shaped false
keel, but no sinking ballast; that is to say, the boat must float when
full of water; and there is generally a handicap for size."
While I was commander of the _Thunderer_, I fitted the steam pinnace as
a racing boat, taking out the engines and boilers and equipping her
with a big cutter rig. The boat had a yacht section, but was without a
heavy keel, so that I had to ballast her heavily. She went very fast
in a light breeze, but when a puff came she would heel over and take in
water. In case of accident, I ballasted her with a length of chain
cable, shackled to ringbolts on her bottom, the other end made fast to
a rope and a buoy. Rear-Admiral William Dowell, who was then second in
command of the Channel {506} Squadron (afterwards Admiral Sir William
Montague Dowell, G.C.B.), challenged me to a race in Portland Harbour.
Admiral Dowell sailed in his six-oared galley, which carried a private
rig of two dipping lugs. I was confident of beating him, but the
admiral knew better. He knew I should have to ease my sheets when the
breeze freshened. At first I went away from him, but when I was just