due to being handicapped by a very heavy boat. At the National Anniversary Regatta on 26 January 1879 in the professional sculls, Laycock beat Trickett and then created consternation by showing Trickett, then world champion, the right direction to the winning post. Next for Laycock was a match with Rush on the Parramatta River the following April. The stakes were £100, and Laycock won that race by a length and a half. On 30 August 1879, Trickett won in another match with Laycock at the Parramatta River for £200 a side. A week later, Laycock defeated Rush again. At Balmain that year, on 9 November, Laycock placed third against Tricket and Edwards in the professional sculls. World Title Match Laycock raced Trickett on 29 August 1879 for the latter's world Title. This race for £200 a side had the extra dimension in that the winner was to be chosen to represent New South Wales against Ned Hanlan who was then champion of Great Britain and the United States. The course was again on the Parramatta River but for a distance of about . Laycock took an early lead but by four hundred yards Trickett had passed him and then won by 15 to 18 lengths. The time was 22m.38s which was then the second best time recorded in Australia. Trickett had used the recent invention of swivel rowlocks. At the Anniversary Regatta at Sydney on 26 January 1880, Laycock won the silver belt and gold medal which represented the title of Champion of Australia. He defeated McLeer and Sullivan who finished second and third respectively. Laycock was then challenged by Pearce, a professional waterman, to row over the Championship course on the Parramatta River for £100 a side. The innovation consisted in the stipulation that the race should be contested in ordinary waterman's skiffs. Pearce won that March 1880 contest as Laycock encountered difficulty with this type of craft. On 29 May 1880, Laycock competed at the inaugural Sculling Championship of Victoria in Melbourne. The prize was a £50 challenge cup and a sum of money. The trophy had to be won three successive times, being held for two years against all comers. Laycock, who was given 3 to 1 odds, won this event by a length against five other scullers. Soon after Laycock sailed for England, and lost no time in arranging several races over the Thames Championship Course,