Onion II (1910)


Onion II Makes a Remarkable Season’s Record

A speed boat that made a remarkable record in a season’s racing events is Ira A. Kipp’s 32-foot speed boat Onion II. All of these events were held in northern waters, on the Sat. Lawrence River, and adjacent localities, and from the first victory at Kingston, Ont., May 24th, to her concluding race at Gananoque, September 6th, her performance was uniformly notable, winning first place in nearly every event she entered.

At Kingston, May 24th, against Three D’s, a speed boat widely heralded as a sure winner, and Highball, ofg Brockton, properly known ass the champion of Canada, Onion II won by one mile in a very high sea.

At Gananoque, on July 1, Onion II won easily in the handicap event held on that day. Later, on August 11, at the same place, she entered the morning handicap race, and took record place; in ther afternoon race, of the same day, Onion II came in first, in a race open to all boats of the 32-foot class. Again at Gananoque, on September 6, Onion II won the handicap event. At Clayton, N.Y., on July 5, Onion II won the race open to all boats up to 30-foot length. Again, on August 3, she won a similar event.

At Alexandria Bay, on July 17, she finished first, but exceeded the time limit in the handicap event. At the same place, July 24, she finished first, but again exceeded the time in the handicap. Again. At Alexandria Bay, August 7, in the race open to all boats up to 37½ feet in length Onion II lead nearly all the way, but when close to the finish line, a slight accident kept her from finishing.

At Frontenac, July 31, she won easily in a race open to all boats up to 32-feet length. At Frontenac Point, August 13, she blew out a plug and lost by 20 seconds. On the following day in the handicap race, she won by 2 minutes 20 seconds, getting decision over another boat that tied on corrected time, but which refused to run the race over again.

At Frontenac, on August 21, Onion II raced for the Commodore’s Cup, and handicap, to be won three years, open to boats up to 40 feet in length, and won.

In May Irwin’s Novelty Race, held August 12, and open to all boats, Onion II again asserted her superiority.

Onion II is powered by a Scripps motor, six cylinders and is rated by the makers at from 50 to 60-hp. The uniform showing of this racer throughout the season is a tribute to the remarkable performance of the Scripps motor.

(Transcribed from MotorBoat, Mar. 10, 1910, p. 74.)

[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page --LF]


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