1907 Lake George Regatta
Lake George, NY, 1907


The Lake George Regatta
by G. Waring Stebbins

The power boat races on Lake George this year were particularly interesting because of the winning for permanent ownership of three valuable cups. One of these, the "Town Topics Cup," valued at $500, having been raced for six years was secured by G. Waring Stebbins of Brooklyn who won it last year with his Carol I, and this year with his new boat Carol II. LeGrand C. Cramer of Troy, with his autoboat Wininnish, won the Broesel Cup for the second time and may now hold it for all time. The third, a new cup established this year by the Hotel Sagamore, for a "long distance race for automobile boats" was also won by Wininnish, and this being an annual cup, becomes Cramer's property.

Wininnish is 40 ft. long, 6 ft. wide and is planked with polished teak wood. She was built on 1906, and engined by a 6-cylinder 6in. x 6 1/2in. Speedway Motor, giving about 80 H.P. at full speed. She is in no sense a racing machine, but has comfortable accommodations for eight people. Her record speed of 25.65 m.p.h. is therefore the more creditable. Her rating is 93.56.

Carol II is 35 ft. long, 4 ft. 9 in. wide, and is engines by a 4-cylinder buffalo, with cylinders 5 3/4in. x 6 3/4in., giving 40 H.P. at full speed. She is planked with polished mahogany, and is an admirable fast boat of medium power.

Her rating is 75.64 and her record on the straightaway is 17.07 m.p.h.

Bunny has a canoe stern and is planked with mahogany. Her engine is a regular Simplex 4-cylinder, 30 H.P. Her dimensions are approximately 37 x 5. Her rating is 71.75, and her record is somewhat over 16 m.p.h.

The Sagamore Cup race was held on July 31st and was run under the auspices of the Regatta Association. The course was from the Hotel Sagamore to Temple Noe Island at Hague and return, thirty-two miles. The entries and results are as follows:

 
 

Start

Finish

Time

Pickie

11:30:25

1:45:31

2:15:06

Bunny

11:39:17

1:48:05

2:08:48

Shooting Star

11:52:13

DNF

 

Ottogo

11:59:05

DNF

 

Wininnish

12:02:04

1:38:25

1:36:21

The Ottogo which was a very new boat, had trouble with heated bearings, and Shooting Star had difficulty with the circulating pump. All the boats stopped on the course for one thing or another save Bunny which ran a fine race, but could not overcome her handicap. Wininnish stopped nearly nine minutes with ignition troubles. Her net running time was about 1 hour 28 minutes, or nearly 22 miles per hour.

The race for the Broesel Cup on Regatta Day, Thursday, August 15th, was twice around a five-mile triangle in Hague bay and the three contestants ran a beautiful, faultless race. The splendid Wininnish won in the fast time of 25 minutes over a course with five turns. The elapsed time of the Shooting Star, the second boat, was 34:10, and that of Bunny which finished third, 37:34.

There were eleven entrants for the "Town Topics Cup" race, and all save one came to the starting line. The handicaps ranged from over seventeen minutes to less than one minutes, Carol II being scratch boat. The contest was four miles only, and that called for fast work for Carol to overcome the handicaps and mow down a field of nine boats, but she ran a perfect race and came across the line five minutes ahead of her nearest competitor. Her elapsed time was 14:51, while that of Media II owned by L. De F. Cone, which came in second, was 20:42. The third boat, the Owl, took 27:22 to cover the course.

All races were conducted by the Lake George Regatta Association, run under the rules of the American Power Boat Association, of which it is a member, and the courses at Hague are accurately surveyed.

The rowing, canoe, and four-oared barge races had excellent entry lists and were splendidly contested.

(Transcribed from Yachting, October 1907, p. 215. )

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


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