Tempo VII, 1955 Seattle

1955

G-13 Tempo VII ( USA )

Owner - Guy Lombardo ( N.Y.& Fla.)
Designer Builder - Les Staudacher
Length - 28ft
Beam - 12ft
Hull - 3 pointer
Colours - mahogany deck with blue & gold
Power - V12 Allison
Weight - 5,400
Driver - Danny Foster

Winner of President's Cup; Silver Cup; Copper Cup; International Cup N.C. & Madison Cup

 
 

56

Drivers - Bill Cantrell & Roy Duby

Best finish - 4th

Tempo VII

"Tempo VII, owned by band leader Guy Lombardo, was built in 1955 by Les Staudacher. She measures 29 feet, has an 11-foot beam and is powered by an Allison. In 1955 she won the International Cup, the Silver Cup, the Governor's Cup, the President's Cup and was National High Point Champion. She raced out of the New York Yacht Club. She was sold to Chuck Thompson of Detroit who renamed her Short Circuit. She now competes for him as Miss Detroit."

(Reprinted from This is Hydroplaning by Paul Lowney [1959])

Short Circuit (2), 1957 Seattle

57

U-99 Short Circuit (2)

Owner & Driver - Chuck Thompson (Detroit)
Colours - yellow hull with coral pink

Winner of the St. Clair race

Thumbnail of Short Circuit U-99 (II) (4986 bytes)

"Formerly Tempo VII, she was built in 1955 by Les Staudacher. She is 29 feet long, has a 12-foot beam and is powered by an Allison. In 1957 she won the International Trophy Race at St. Clair. She is the second Short Circuit owned by Chuck Thompson of Detroit, and is now running as Miss Detroit."

(Reprinted from This is Hydroplaning by Paul Lowney [1959])

short_circuit_1_thumb.jpg (7844 bytes)
"These pictures were taken at the Roostertail facility where the Gale boats were pitted. They used to tow them quite a ways to get out to the river, as you can see in the one Short Circuit photo. At that time, Chuck Thompson usually pitted his boat at Kean's Marina on race days.  The other boats were generally pitted at Memorial Park.  Eventually, all the boats were pitted at a new facility at Waterworks Park, adjacent to the Roostertail restaurant and marina."

—Ron Van Proeyen

 

short_circuit_2_thumb.jpg (9402 bytes)
short_circuit_3_thumb.jpg (6959 bytes)

Miss Detroit (3), Buffalo 1958

58

U-99 Miss Detroit (3)

Colours - mid-season, reversed paint job
Driver - Chuck Thompson

Best finish - 3rd

59

Driver - Chuck Thompson

Winner of the St. Clair race

60

Detail - molding at sponson joints
Driver - Chuck Thompson

Winner of President's Cup

 

61

Driver - Chuck Thompson

Best finish - 2nd

62

U-8 Miss D.C.

Owner - Francis Racioppi (Wash. D:C.)
Driver - Jim Fyle

Best finish - 10th

St. Regis, 1964

63

U-8 St. Regis

Owners - Francis Racioppi & Norm Manson
Colours - white & red with black letters
Driver - Jim Fyle

Best finish - 6th

 

64

Driver - Jim Fyle

65

Florida Lady

Owner - Ed Cantrell (Florida)

69

T-1 "Turbine - 1"

Hull - rebuilt for test-bed for Turbine G.E. T-38

 

1980's

Boat rescued by Ross Therrien from a New York junkyard in 1982; restored at the Bear Mountain Boatworks in Oakville and rebuilt for Museum [Guy Lombardo Music Centre] in London, Ontario, Canada.


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