A secret harbour Regatta in the 1940s

The

Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Navy held Regattas while in Canadian and foreign ports. During the Second World War, great efforts were made to protect the locations and movements of allied ships at St. John’s Harbour.

Ordinarily, press coverage of these events was prohibited. References to the sailor sport could be made in the press, but ships names, ports and personnel could not. This was a security measure to prevent the enemy from getting port locations and tracking the movement of allied ships. Despite the concern, rowing competitions were held while in port as recreation and to lessen anxiety.

The method of organizing these events was simple and attracted little attention. After days patrolling the North Atlantic and frequent confrontation with enemy submarines, the corvettes and destroyers would enter St. John’s Harbour and tie up at one of the jetties located on both sides of the harbour. Soon after settling into position, a signal would flash from ship to ship announcing a challenge to crews to a rowing contest.

These events were contested in whaleboats with each carrying a coxswain and a crew made up of six rowers who were all stripped to the waist. The average British whaler used was a 27-foot long clinker built boat and constructed of sand elm in England. For sailing purposes, they were yawl rigged and fitted with a deep keel.

In pulling races, three of the oarsmen pull on the starboard side and two on the portside with the coxswain on the rudder. Sometimes, the cutter was used for racing. This cutter carried a 13 man crew including the coxswain. It was 32 feet long with a flat stern unlike the whaler whose aft lines are sharp.

Non-participants watched from the decks and according to reports, there was a lot of betting. Among the sounds common at these events was the shouting from the decks of “Lower away!” or “Start the falls.” This signalled the lowering of the boats. The crews lined up and started at the sound of the firing gun. News of these events sometimes made the newspaper, but pictures were not permitted and the port where the races took place could not be mentioned.

Bill Bennett, a veteran of the war, recalled that sometimes contestants even gave up shore leave to participate or watch the contests.

There was a different category for the officers to compete. John B. Flynn, born at Bar Haven and a resident of St. John’s, was in Malta after it had been bombed by the Germans. He recalled these events and participated in one at Malta. Flynn served in the Royal Navy during the war.

Whaler racing is not the easiest of sports to participate in, but it was an effective means of keeping the sailors in top physical shape. Visiting servicemen also competed in local soccer and baseball games. Almost 40 years later, a crew at the Royal St. John’s Regatta turned to using whale boat rowing in training for the races at Quidi Vidi.

The Smith-Stockley crew trained in a whaler for their record-breaking Regatta in 1981.