1909 Monaco Regatta
The Monaco Race Meeting
Monaco, April 3rd.
No description of the Monaco races would be complete without some explanation of the surroundings. Monaco is a little principality of an area no greater than New York City, carved out of the Mediterranean shore of France, ruled over by a Prince and financed by the winnings of the tables at the world-famed Casino. Most of the land lies at an angle of 45 degrees or more, for the Alps dip into the sea and the city snuggles against their steep sides. The mountains, which stretch away to the north, shelter this little garden spot from the cold of Winter, and the waters of the Mediterranean roll under the soft breezes from the coast of Africa. Tropical flowers flourish on every spot where the rock is covered, and oranges, lemons, and flowers are to be seen growing everywhere. The Mediterranean is as blue as the sky, and the sky is bluer here than any spot on earth. The mountains to the north reach up fifteen hundred feet or more, and the sunlight is dazzling. In the town the streets zig-zag up the mountains and the houses cling to the cliffs in every available spot. The mountains form a crescent and in the hollow of the crescent is the bay or cove, for it is scarcely large enough to be styled a bay. Indeed, it is so small that yachts at anchor have to lie in rows moored fore and aft, and the steamer which brought Standard and Dixie had considerable trouble to turn with the assistance of tugs. The water is deep right up to the cliffs, and at the harbor mouth, where a breakwater is under construction, it is said to be over one hundred feet deep.
The exhibition of the competing boats which precedes the racing is held in a little, enclosed park at the head of the harbor and separated from it by only a narrow street. Two massive railways serve to convey the boats to and from the water, and in the exhibition grounds proper a big electric traveling crane picks them up and carries each to its destined place without difficulty. This year more than one hundred boats are on exhibition, and a motley crowd they are; but of them more later. The course over which the races are run is a big ellipse running down the shore to the eastward with one side close under the cliffs and with the long sides parallel to the shore and at right angles to the direction of the prevailing wind, so that for the greater part of the course the boats are running in a beam sea.
The Mediterranean always has a ground swell running, and on the side of the course next to the cliffs the back wash kicks up a nasty cross-sea, so that the conditions of the course are much the same as if the big races at home were run off Sandy Hook, or Boston Light. The conditions have gradually developed a type of boat that differs radically from ours--a boat which is wider in proportion to its length, has more stability and is much more strongly built.
All types are shown at the exhibition--some finely modeled and beautifully constructed, and some the reverse. One German boat bears a sign "Built in seventeen days," and she certainly looks it. The hydroplanes are very much in evidence this year but there is considerable doubt as to their practicability, especially as one or two made a quick exit from the water for repairs and both showed signs of structural weakness at the steps in the bottom. One, the Alla Va, of which great things are expected, cracked her side planking and broke her engine bearers as the result of hitting a sea. The "hydros" certainly travel very fast on smooth water but every time they hit a sea they stop as if they had reached the end of their rope. In several the steersman sits on a seat mounted on springs, for they come down hard and the water does not give even a little. The Duc, another hydroplane, smashed the planking under her motor and had to have it renewed. Quite a number of the hydroplanes have the motor `way aft, with the shaft running forward to a gear box, from which another shaft runs aft on an angle to the propeller. Under way, they all travel in fits and starts in a seawall. The most rational of them all is the Labor II, a Fauber hydroplane, which has a great burst of speed in smooth water, but which has a peculiar habit of burying bodily and stopping under certain conditions. Her bottom is a series of saw teeth at the side while the others have only one step. One "hydro" has her decks curved over like Trefle-a-quatre and looks as if she would run equally well either side up.
The classification of the boats is a new one adopted last year, and with the exception of the two racing classes all the boats are classified according to the bore of the cylinders and a maximum and minimum weight for the boat in running condition. This means that the motors cannot have more than a certain bore for four cylinders with equivalent area for two, three, six or eight cylinders, but the stroke is unlimited. This has led to some freak motors; for instance, one four-inch diameter and ten-inch stroke. This particular motor, the Sizaire-Naudin, in a hull of the same name, is a single-cylinder and is said to give 28-hp. at 1600 r.p.m., at which it is run. The propeller is geared down. This motor is the same make and size as that used in the Voiturette race last Summer and which drove a little car 65 miles an hour. It is said to drive the hull 15 knots an hour. The first and second series cruisers are supposed to be family boats--boats capable of carrying a reasonably large party safely in any weather, which can be beached and used for general utility purposes; but they fall far short of meeting these conditions, for they are racers pure and simple. The third, fourth, and fifth series are also cruisers by courtesy, but except in the fifth series they scarcely come under this title, as they also are built with speed as the first consideration. They are, in fact, high-speed runabouts, though some of the fifth series could be used for cruising if the crews were satisfied to put up with great inconvenience. Nearly all of the hulls--racers and cruisers alike--are double planked with longitudinal systems of framing and mold frames of sawn oak only. The planking on some of the racers is as much as 1/2-inch thick, and apparently no especial effort has been made for lightness. In the smaller boats, the cruisers of classes one and two, single planking is used, but oiled silk is stretched over the frame before the planking is put on. One of the prettiest boats in the small racer class, which corresponds to the old eight-meter class, is the E-N-V, a Saunders hull fitted with a 60-hp. E-N-V, eight-cylinder V motor. The framing on this boat is about 3/8 inch square, doubled, two diagonals, making the framing practically a basket. The planking is mahogany 3-16 inch thick, and the total weight is 10 cwt. On trial she has done 22.5 knots and looks like a winner in her class. Her most serious competitor is the Duc, a hydro referred to before, whose owner, by the way, uses the same motor for two hulls, transferring it between races. When not aboard the Duc the motor drives the fifth series cruiser Chanteclere, which is the racer Grand Trefle of last year, renamed and fitted with a smaller motor and now termed a cruiser. Among the small boats are several built of steel, and one has a three-cylinder motor with cylinders staggered, one vertical and one on each side inclined 30 degrees. Quite a number are entirely innocent of any method of reversing except oars, which are a part of the equipment of most of the boats. The Motogodille, or "motor hung on the tiller," using the motor as a rudder, is also represented. but it doesn't seem able to reach any great speed.
In the second class of cruisers--those up to 6.50 meters, or not quite 22 feet length, equipped with motors of not over 3½-inch bore--several look very promising. Mais Je Vais Piquer II, a little Swiss boat, which won in her class last year, is a finely built hull with double diagonal planking, both layers of mahogany. She is framed longitudinally, with only one or two transverse frames in her entire length, and has a form in which the sides are rounded over into the deck; the diagonal planking gives her a queer appearance but she looks very strong. Labor Gregoire VII and Gobron are also very good pieces of work, and those who have seen them outside in the heavy seas which have been the rule for the last few days, say they are very business-like and seaworthy. One of the English third series cruisers, Gyrinus II, has an odd snub-nosed bow with a beaver-tail stern and a splash board worked nearly three-quarters of her length from the bow, about six inches above the waterline. She was launched today but was leaking badly because of her long drying out on the cars coming down from London. She has a Thornycroft motor and propeller. In the fourth series of cruisers Spa Gallinari is the only one which really deserves the title, according to my idea. She is a trunk cabin boat in appearance, but there the similarity ends, for there are no cruising accommodations below, the motor occupying all the available space while the cockpit is without seats. In fact, she also is a narrow racer, with the motor under a trunk cabin instead of the usual motor hood.
In the class with the new Dixie II and Standard are the boats which attract the most attention and in which interest centers. In raising the length limit to 50 feet, the cost has enormously increased, and the result has been a cutting down of the number of competitors. This year besides our boats, there are four others here ready to start. Of these, Wolseley-Siddeley II attracts the most attention because of her fine, business-like appearance, her high finish and the enormous power she carries. Wolseley-Siddeley II is a 50-footer built by Saunders, the builder of the former Wolseley-Siddeley and Daimler II. She is about 6 feet wide and has a fine flaring bow and her greatest breadth just aft of amidships. She is equipped with two twelve-cylinder motors of about the same size and type as those used in last year's boat. They give from 600 to 650-hp. and her designer wears an expansive smile when questioned as to her speed. The English think her a sure winner. Of equal power and size is the Panhard Levassor, winner of last year's Grand Prize, when she showed a speed of 33 or 34 miles an hour. She is built of mahogany, double planked about 1/2 inch total thickness, with longitudinal frames, and has a form forward very similar to Wolseley-Siddeley II. Her after body, however, is much flatter and wider than the other boat, but both have bows with what would be considered excessive flare at home. Panhard has new motors fitted this year, two, four-cylinders of 150-hp. on each shaft, or 600-hp. in all. this gives her fifty per cent more power than last year and her builders seem very much pleased with her trials. Alla-Va is a hydroplane of the single-step type, mahogany hull and shovel nose, equipped with two 150-hp. Brazier motors. Her smooth water trials were said to show 38 miles but her sea speed is problematical. The German competitor is of smaller but unknown power and is said to be semi-submarine when under way, so she can hardly be reckoned as among the first flight. She looks the "rush job' from end to end. The new Dixie II is one of the best looking boats here and is a credit to her builders. Her hull is double planked up to the water line and is of a slightly different form from the Dixie II, which held the cup. The keel line, aft, has been dropped and the stern slightly flattened. The same eight little funnels carry up the exhausts, but the motor is further aft and the cockpit is much smaller; in fact, just big enough for Captain Pearce. She looks small beside her competitors but has created much interest and comment because of her reputation at home and because of her light construction and narrow beam. Fortunately or unfortunately, she carries the number "23," but that has no significance over here. Standard also has created a great deal of comment because of her great size and enormous motor and her general look of power. She was too big to get into the exhibition enclosure and lies along the derrick used to unload her. She, too, is looked upon as a dark horse and there are all sorts of comments on her. But this is to be expected, for we are butting into a game that is new to us, and we are new to our competitors.
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Monaco, April 4.
This is another of the brilliant days that seem to be the rule rather than the exception in this part of the world, but there has been a strong breeze blowing for several days, so that the race for the second series of cruisers had to be postponed from morning to afternoon, and the afternoon's race for small racers carried over till tomorrow. Outside the long ground swell, with small surface waves, made every boat that stuck her nose out of the harbor bow to it, and all but a very few went out only far enough out to turn around and then scooted back to the more sheltered waters of the harbor. a large steam yacht that went out made very poor weather of it, and one little French cruiser took the harbor mouth too fast and jumped from the crest of a wave entirely clear of the water. One often hears of a boat's jumping clear, but this is the first time the writer has actually seen the full length of the keel with the shaft below it. She hit with a bang that hid her in spray and her engineer shut down and made a quick turn for home. The two ship ways from the exhibition grounds have been kept hard at work all day as boat after boat came down and rattled off for a trial spin. Some of the hydros took the waves with such a bang you could almost see the teeth of the crews coming loose. Of course, they may not have been running all out, but their speeds were disappointing. it is a wonder that there were not a number of accidents, for the harbor is too small for fifteen to twenty small boats to be racing about helter skelter, but their pilots avoided collisions which many times seemed imminent. Wolseley-Siddeley II took a leisurely run out to sea for three or four miles with about ten or twelve people aboard. At her slow speed she took the seas grandly and seemed perfectly at home. Dixie II also took a cruise out to sea. She traveled faster than Wolseley Siddeley II, and came into the harbor mouth at high speed, running like a sewing machine.
At ten o'clock, the starting time for the Class 2 cruisers, several went to the starting line, but as there were no warning guns they ran back into the harbor. At three the wind had gone down a bit but the sea was still bad. The conditions were about the same as those of the day when the International race was postpones at Huntington last year. Most of the little fellows considered discretion the better part of valor and stayed in, but seven, the Mais Je Vais Piquer II, Labor II, Gregoire VII, Excelsior-Buire IV, Les Trais Louers, Gobron and Jean-Antoinette, hopped over the big rollers and disappeared down the shore in clouds of spray. They actually disappeared at times for, from the breakwater, it was impossible to see them between the waves. One or two rounds of the course were enough for all but three, and one after another they came into harbor. Mais Je Vais Piquer, Labor III and Gregoire VII stuck it out to the finish in the order named for the prize money and these boats all finished well strung out. Mais Je Vais Piquer was clearly the fastest and ran a very consistent race, making her rounds one after the other in eleven to twelve minutes.
The times were very good, considering the sea, the size of the boats and the motors. Mais Je Vais Piquer covered the course of 31.05 miles in 1:35:33, Labor III in 1:49:2, and Gregoire VII in 1:43:46, which is not bad going for a 22-footer with a four-cylinder, 3½-inch bore motor in a heavy sea. last year there was considerable comment on the length of the course and the records made, so this year the committee in charge stated that eight times around the course is about fifty kilometers or 31.05 miles. This means that they are doing all that is humanly possible to set out floating buoys by ranges but that they don't guarantee accuracy. It also means that the speeds made this year cannot be considered as bona fide records.
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Monaco, April 5, 1909.
The weather conditions this morning all pointed to smoother water, for the South wind which has been blowing for several days had shifted to the West, and lost most of its force; only enough remaining to half extend the flags which are a part of the decorations in honor of the regatta. At 9:30, the hour set for the start of the cruisers of the first class, most of the fleet of the racers and cruisers were outside taking trial runs and testing the strength of the sea. As compared with yesterday, the water is a mill pond, but there is a long ground swell that makes them all dip more or less. The scene from the lofty Tir aux Pigeons, or "pigeon traps," was fine. On this artificial promontory directly in front of the Casino and overhanging the sea, are erected the judges' stand, the starting signals and press stands. The method of starting differs from ours--a five-minute gun is fired and a black ball dropped. At each minute thereafter another ball is dropped, and with the last comes the starting gun, which fires a bomb straight up in the air, making a second loud report and a cloud of smoke. The competitors start down the course between either two of the three buoys marking the end of the ellipse and run around the course leaving all buoys to port.
The interest in the small cruisers was not widely enthusiastic and only a handful were watching the start from around the judges' stand. The class of boats racing this morning vary in size from 16 to 20 feet, all with a single-cylinder motor of not over 100 millimeters bore. Naturally the speed was not high and the onlooker here, as at home, wants speed.
The field of starters was large but many of them dropped out after a round or two, as they saw they had no chance for prize money and might not finish before the race was declared off. Within a round or two it was a sure thing, barring accidents, for Sizaire et Naudin with Lanturlu-Lion second, but the accident came to the latter. She commenced dropping stitches and finally stopped. She is equipped with a Lion motor of about 4-inch bore and 8-inch stroke, and it takes two men to turn her over. In the roll of a sea this is impossible so she accepted a tow. Sizaire et Naudin won, with another boat equipped with a Voiturette motor, second, and the rest of the field over two hours behind. The winner's time was 1:43:13 for 31.05 miles--not bad going for a boat under 20 feet long. The little chaps sliced through the rollers in a businesslike way, and the speedy ones seemed to have less trouble than the slower ones.
Nearly everyone here takes plenty of time for lunch, and the afternoon race is timed to prevent indigestion. To one boat the interval proved fatal, for the german 50-foot racer, Prinz Heinrich, met with disaster and sank while out on trial. She was the boat built in seventeen days, and evidently was not strong enough to stand the strain. Accounts differ as to the cause of her loss; anyway, she has joined the fleet that decorates the bottom in this neighborhood, and if an earthquake ever causes the water to recede a lot of very fine motors will be recovered. Prinz Heinrich was equipped with two 150-hp. Benz motors on the same shaft.
During this time Dixie and Wolseley were both out, the former going around the course in just over eight minutes and the latter cruising far out, but going faster apparently than Dixie.
By two-thirty the grounds around the judges' stand and every available terrace behind it were crowded with people, who came to see what improvement in speed had been made in the big racing class, slated to run fifty kilometers for the Prix de Monte Carlo and a goodly cash prize list. By starting time the breeze had increased in force a trifle and a small cross sea topped the ground swell, making it almost as bad as the East River between the two bridges, said by "Fighting Bob" Evans to be the most dangerous sheet of water in the world. Captain Pearce told me before the race that he would be very much surprised if he won.
Four boats lined up for the start: the hydro Alla-Va, Panhard, Dixie and Wolseley. The wise ones picked Wolseley as the winner, based on her trials and the way she appeared when out yesterday. All but Dixie circled around the starting line, and she lay out at sea with silent motor awaiting the signal! At gun fire Alla-Va jumped away, followed by Panhard a hundred yards back and Wolseley hanging on to her flank. Dixie lay rolling in the sea, but as soon as the others started her motor roared and she was after them, but only crossed when the others were a good quarter of a mile down the course. For half a mile or more she tore through the water, rolling and yawing badly, and then Rap closed her down and for the rest of the race she ran dead slow. Meanwhile Panhard and Wolseley had overhauled Alla-Va and were fighting it out, Wolseley gaining slowly till, at the far turn, two white spots rounded the buoys side by side, and coming down the home stretch Wolseley pulled away and passed the mark four seconds ahead. it was a stirring sight, one that made you catch your breath, to see these two magnifi- cent boats speeding toward one, almost neck and neck and both rolling in the beam sea. Panhard's greater breadth held her more steadily, but as they jumped the seas together, both were almost hidden. Wolseley made the wider turn and as she rounded she rolled out, but the roll was easy and the recovery quick. Her wave hugged her side closely and through the clear sheet of water that rose above the gunwale one could see the white streak made by the cooling water from the cylinders. Her helmsman's head showed above the coaming forward, and she went through and over the seas easily and without excessive white water. Panhard, on the other hand, kicked up more spray, but her sixteen cylinders kept her close to her flying antagonist. Her helmsman stood erect back of her long motor hood, with a glass screen as protection, and a cloud of steam hugged her stern through which the exhausts were run. As she took each wave her wide flare threw it well away from her, and the spray fell astern. The difference in the position of the steersman permitted Wolseley to run a truer course and each round she gained a trifle, till at the finish ten seconds only separated these two evenly matched boats. Dixie looked like a pygmy beside them. When they finished Dixie was on her fifth round but she kept at it, but, oh! so differently from the form of the real Dixie II. When she passed no cloud of spray adorned her sides, and one missed the purr of her motor. In fact, one would think she had a four-cylinder motor instead of an eight, so clear and distant was each exhaust.
At the finish Wolseley received a great ovation--greater even than Panhard, the home boat, and she well deserved it. it was a good race between Wolseley and Panhard. Last year Wolseley defeated Panhard in the first race only to suffer defeat in the Grand Prix later. The sea was too much for a hydro and Alla-Va retired into the harbor after Dixie had passed her at the end of the first round.
As to Dixie. There are no excuses to make. She was fairly beaten. Our boats are totally unsuited for heavy weather racing, and that's all there is to it. No sane man, and least of all one as cool-headed as Captain Barclay Pearce, would attempt to drive a boat so narrow and tender as Dixie at high speed in a long ocean roll coming in broadside.
Standard is up on the quay having some alterations made in her hull. Her motor is so much more powerful than was expected when she was designed that she is very cranky. Her crew say the testing brake let go at 560-hp. and neither they nor anyone else knows how much more it gives. On trials before the races here she rolled down to her gunwale before she was fully opened up, and it was thought best to hip her out before putting her into a race. Twenty or thirty French and Italian workmen are jabbering on the job, which it is hoped will be finished by Wednesday night.
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Monaco, April 7, 1909.
The programme for today's races included the event for the smaller racers, postponed from the first day, in addition to the regular scheduled events. Again the sky is cloudless. The long dead swell which they say here is caused by winds well out to sea, and which never lets up, still prevails.
The morning race was for cruisers from 21 to 26 feet, and practically all the boats entered came to the starting line. The maximum and minimum weights allowed are governed by the bore of the cylinder, that is, if a builder chooses to use a motor of maximum bore he must load his boat to the maximum weight. If he chooses a motor of smaller bore he may deduct from his running weight according to a published table. This rule is international throughout the principal countries of Europe and was arrived at after prolonged discussion, the clubs participating binding themselves to be governed by the rule for three years.
The rule is worked out to bring all the boats to an equality, and they are carefully weighed before being put in the water. So far the rule has worked very well, bringing close finished except where a design was especially bad or some outside influence such as a faulty motor, put a boat out of the running. It allows ample latitude in design and gives a good combination of hull and motor, its deserved advantage over one not as well worked out. The fact that boats from several countries, built widely apart, can be brought to a common basis for competition and make close finished proves the value of the rule and its popularity is attested by the large entry list and the preponderance of the private owner over the motor manufacturer and boat builder among all the different classes. Indeed, this feature of the 1909 meet is more commented upon than any other, and here at least, the public seems to have taken hold and left the professional in the minority.
The field for the morning race numbered twelve boats, and with the exception of the winner, which clearly outclassed her field, there was enough changing of positions to keep up the interest and to make the picking of the boats for places difficult. Gyrinus II, the little Thornycroft flyer, jumped away into the lead, and held her position without effort being held back, apparently, as soon as her pilot knew he had the race safe. Brabanconne worked up into second place in the third round, and had to retire. Then ExcelsiorBuire V, and Fleur d'Eau had a duel over several rounds for this position, resulting finally in its capture by Fleur d'Eau, due to her competitor's missing fire on one cylinder. This race brought out the first of the Fauber hydros, but the sea was too much for it and it finished fourth. this loss, to a certain extent, was due to bad steering, for her pilot evidently tried to dodge the seas and his course was serpentine. She did not jump out as far or come down as hard as the two-step hydros, and altogether made much better weather of it. Several of the slower boats quit when they saw there was no chance of prize money, and two of these should never have started in such company, for they were really boats which fulfilled the spirit of the conditions and were bona fide cruisers of family boats.
During the noon hour Wolseley came out for a spin and went straight out to sea for half an hour at fine speed. I learn on good authority to-day that Panhard was "all out" yesterday and Wolseley had some up her sleeve, for the French contingent are looking for heavy weather, thinking their boat will stand a better chance because of the greater breadth. The English are jubilant over their victories and the French correspondingly depressed.
The first event of the afternoon was the postponed small racer class and was won by Liselotte for the Germans, though her hull was French-built and was none other than the former Sea Sick, now equipped with a Mercedes motor and in the hands of a private owner. E.N.V., the Saunders flier, did not come to the starting line. Another Fauber hydro took second position, and one of the numerous family of Ricochettes took third, and Duc, a similar model, fourth, finishing after the third race had started. The hydros certainly made a poor showing against the normal form. In this race the Fauber hydro demonstrated its superiority over the two-step type. Among the absentees was a very interesting proposition. i hardly know in what category to place it--the Motorscaphe--a combined aero and hydroplane. An hour before starting time, twenty workers were working madly to get it ready, up in ne of the balloon sheds. It is an aeroplane with two pontoons lashed to the bottom stringers, and it is designed to lift out of the water when in motion. It is propelled by a seven-cylinder revolving motor and an air propeller, and to all accounts it has never flown or run yet. What it would do in a roll of a sea and a breeze can only be guessed at.
Liselotte has lost some of her speed with a smaller motor, but still is very fast, her time figuring out at about 28 miles, and her hull is apparently as good as ever.
The second afternoon race for the 12-meter cruisers brought out a field of ten, including one two-step hydro which would require quite a stretching of the imagination to classify as a cruiser. Strangely yet, she won, showing seemingly that with a maximum cylinder bore a hydro can compete successfully; ut by the starting time the wind had dropped entirely and the sea was only an oily roll. The start was the best as yet, the boats being well-bunched, with the old winner, Calipso-Mors, in the lead. At the end of the first round Delahaye-Nautilus IX was in the lead with Calipso-Mors second and Spa Gallinari third, and then the trouble began. First Calipso-Mors was in trouble and quit, after a round, Spa Gallinari stopped for a rest, and one after another retired. Misfortune seemed to strike this class, and at the finish the hydro was in about the same position as the America on that famous occasion over half a century ago when "there is no second" was spoken. There was a second, but a very poor one, for Alex-
Mercedes limped across the finish and stopped, a cloud of burnt oil coming from under her hood. The third boat to cross was Megevet-Piquer IV, a Swiss boat, which ran a very consistent, if not speedy, race. Her hull is an enlargement of Mais Je Vais Piquer. There may have been a fourth but "the shades of night were falling fast," etc., and no one waited to see.
Dixie swung idly at her moorings all day. Rap polished her up--it was the only thing he could do, he said, and the work on Standard proceeded slowly and noisily, for if you tied the workmen's hands they couldn't talk or work, and they couldn't work without talking. To-day the chief engineer of one of the French torpedo boats at anchor in the harbor called upon Mr. Hayden and offered the services of his men to assist in the work. It was a fine piece of international courtesy. There are two Italian torpedo boat destroyers at anchor in the harbor also, and every day one of the boats, French and Italian alternately, go out and patrol the course to be on hand in case of serious accident. I am told on good authority, confirmed by my own nose, that several of the boats have castor oil as a lubricant in place of the more common mineral oil. It is said to be especially valuable for high speed work, quite common in application and cheap in price. It smells bad enough to be good at any price.
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Monaco, April 7.
The morning's race for the largest size of cruisers brought out only three: Lorraine V, which is Lorraine Dietrich renamed; Tele Mors, a very handsome double skin hull, and Chanticler, the old hull of Grand Trefle, fitted with a Brazier motor. The race lacked interest except as a regularity test, s it was a pro- cession from the start. Chanticler walked away from her field and lapped Lorraine on her sixth round. Chanticler is one of two hulls driven by the same motor, the other being the Duc, and the change from one hull to the other is made in less than one and one-half hours. Both boats are fitted with universals on the line shaft, and it is only a question of bolting down. M. Brazier, the motor manufacturer, stated to-day that Duc was not let out yesterday, being only run to qualify for the championship of the sea tournament. This event, which formerly was run off among the racers, is over a course of about 124 miles, but as speeds have increased and larger, stronger motors are used it has been found impractical for the racers to carry sufficient fuel, and the event is now closed to the racers and opened to the cruisers.
The afternoon race also brought out a small field and was in the main uninteresting. The programme stated that the event was open to French boats only, and over here the nationality of the motor fixes the nationality of the boat. Its purpose was an elimination trial to choose three boats to represent France in the Grand Prix. it was entirely successful as an elimination, for only three finished, and the third crossed the line just before the time limit. The fact that Panhard was a sure winner made most of the entries prefer to remain at anchor and the starters simmered down to Panhard, E.N.V., the little English Saunders flier equipped with a French motor, and three hydros. The E.N.V. is a calm water boat and it is not up to her appearance in speed, so she retired at the end of the second lap, leaving Panhard to go around the circuit smoothly and majestically while the three hydros slapped their way after her. Pan- hard ran like a clock, taking things comparatively easy but still going better than 30 miles an hour, and apparently going without effort. She is a wonderful boat and a credit to the country. The hydros made a pretty race, being very well matched and changing the lead constantly. For the first few rounds Rico- chet XXII got around the buoy first with Delahaye on the outside trying hard to make the turn, and Fauber cutting inside every time, only to be overtaken and passed once they straightened out. On the eleventh round Ricochet had some trouble and Fauber made a spurt into first place, Delahaye giving up the struggle to get around. The latter is one of the shovel-nosed, two-step type, and even though fitted with a centerboard forward, she has to slow down or she cannot turn at all. on her thirteenth round Fauber was in trouble and drifted around for some time but refused aid and finally got under way, finishing just before the time limit expired. Ricochet XXII plugged along and took second place. She is equipped with a 90-hp. E.N.V. motor, the same as the little Saunders, and is considerably faster than the latter. Panhard's speed was given out as 56.74 kilometers or 35.18 miles an hour.
Dixie went out for some time to-day and came nearer her old form than at any time this year. She ran down the outside of the course several times with Panhard, but at considerable distance from her and held her without difficulty, turning to starboard when Panhard turned to port and returning for out to sea. Mr. Schroeder, who has been ill ever since he arrived, started for home to-day with full confidence that his crew will do their best.
***
Monaco, April 8.
To-day's event, the Championship of the Sea, corresponds very closely in purpose and length of course to our race from New York to Poughkeepsie and return. Here the course is about 125 miles or thirty-two times around the circuit, while the home race is a straightaway event, only one turn and the distance about 140 miles. Both events are designed to show the endurance of the competitors at high speed, but the race here has the added element of bringing out the seaworthiness of the boats taking part, if the weather happens to be rough. The racers are always in sight and pass the grand stand, so to speak, at frequent intervals, so the interest is maintained to a greater degree, though the course is so long as to be tiresome, both to spectators and crew.
The weather is ideal, warm and bright, and the sea fairly calm, the wind very light, and only the ever present swell and heave of the water to make the boats dance a little.
Every boat here which was eligible was entered, and twenty-five started, though many had no show of winning, and started only to swell the entry list. The usefulness of putting an 18-foot one-lunger against a 45-footer with a Grand Prix motor must have been evident to the little fellows, but they went in and made a round or two just for sport. The race really lay between the boats of the fourth and fifth classes with all odds in favor of the latter, but as it turned out, the fourth-class boats carries off more prizes than did the largest class.
It was almost a foregone conclusion, barring accident, that the order of finish would be the same as in the fourth and fifth-class races, and so it turned out, Chanticler winning the long, hard grind with minutes to spare, and a record free from stops and remarkable for regularity.
For a long time second place was in doubt, the struggle being between Tele-Mors and Spa Gallinari, but the greater regularity of the former and the final breaking down of the latter, gave the place to Tele-Mors. Nearly every round saw some of the boats drop out, either through trouble or discourage- ment because of position. Some of the little fellows put up a game fight and only gave up when they saw that they could not finish before the time limit expired. One boat carried a lady, the wife of the owner, but the motor tired quickly and the boat was towed home. Lorraine V, a former winner, came to grief early, and Tele-Mors committed a breach of the rules which would have resulted in her disqua- lification at home by crowding her team mate the Mors-Calipso, on the turn, so that the latter was com- pelled to turn inside the course to avoid hitting a mark boat.
The hydros failed to make a good showing, though Labor Fauber would have undoubtedly held out except for motor troubles. At times she showed remarkable speed, passing her competitors without trouble only to fall behind again through missing fire. She appeared to-day with splash boards on each side about half way up from the water line, put on to prevent her rooting, and they certainly seemed to remedy the defect to a great extent. All the hydros took a terrible pounding and clearly demonstrated their unfitness for sea work.
Chanticler, the winner, is a fine, able, runabout with ample freeboard. Indeed all the cruisers are compelled by the rule to have an abundance of this, and it makes them very able. A comparison of the time made by Chanticler and that made by X.P.D.N.C., in the Poughkeepsie race, as yet unbeaten, is all in favor of the former, which, while she is slightly larger, has also considerably more displacement.
Megevet Picker ran with great regularity and was never in trouble.
The alterations to Standard were completed in time so that she was placed in the water about noon and went out for a trial this afternoon. it is now possible to keep her on her feet, but the consequent loss in speed may spoil her chances. At any rate, she can now be opened up, which was impossible before.
***
Monaco, April 9.
Wolseley-Siddeley II won easily in the Grand Prix International, which took place under ideal weather conditions this afternoon. The British boat, with Noel M. Robins at her wheel, covered the 100 kilo- meters in 1:55:03 3/5, covering the sixteen rounds with remarkable regularity. The only other boat to finish was Liselotte-Tellier, and her time was 2:15:34. There were seven starters, viz: Panhard- Levassor, Fauber-Labor-Motobloc and Ricochet XIII, representing France; Dixie II, America; Liselotte-Tellier, Germany; Nibbio, Italy, and Wolseley-Siddeley II, Great Britain. At the gun, Wol- seley shot over the line in fine fashion, followed by Dixie, the Panhard and Liselotte close together, with the others scattered astern. Wolseley completed the first round 22 seconds ahead of Panhard, with Dixie one minute behind, the others apparently hopelessly in the rear. On the second round Panhard had trouble, and at the end of the fourth round it was apparent that she was in serious difficulty. Wol- seley was running splendidly, and her steersman made the turns at full speed. An interesting moment came at the end of the fifth round, when Dixie, gradually creeping up on Panhard, caught her on the turn from Tir Aux Pigeons. The two racers sped around the buoy amid cheers from thousands of throats. Shortly afterwards Panhard, which made the turn with remarkable ease, again headed off Dixie. The latter, however, did better on the straightaway, and soon showed a clean pair of heels to the French entry. At the end of the eleventh round the result seemed settled, as Wolseley had a lead of nine minutes and Dixie was two minutes ahead of Panhard. At this time all the others were out of the race but Liselotte. After finishing the thirteenth round Dixie astonished all by going full speed for port, though apparently in perfect condition. Two minutes later Panhard came to a stop and just at that moment Wolseley, having lapped Panhard Twice, ran by, winner of the race. Later, inquiry brought to light the fact that Dixie had broken a water-circulating pump, and had covered the last round on seven cylinders. Panhard-Levassor was in bad shape, a connecting-rod had broken and passed through her bottom. She was taken in tow and sank just as she reached the slipway. This left Liselotte to finish second without contest. At six o'clock this evening Gobron caught fire out in the bay. The flames, however, were extinguished by the pinnace Fromerin, which hurried to the rescue.
***
Monaco, April 10.
The weather to-day is perfect, and forty boats turned out for the cruiser handicap. Chanticler, the scratch boat did not start. The winner was Cyclamen, of the fourth class of cruisers. She covered the 31.05 miles in 2:28:52. The second prize was captured by Excelsior-Aster, and the third went to Nautilus-Anzani II. The Odette, E.L.B., Alex-Mercedes, Lorraine IV, Brabanconne, Fleur d'Eau. Labor III, Delahaye-Nautilus VIII and Moko finished in the order named.
In the consolation race, for cruisers which had not won prizes amounting to 500 francs during the meeting, there were nineteen starters, of which six finished the race. The winner was E.L.B., a large cruiser; second Lanturlu-Lion, Lorraine VI, Moko, Brabanconne, and Delahaye-Nautilus, in the order named. Panhard-Levassor was sent to Paris by railroad this afternoon. Dixie II will not start in the nautical miles and kilometer races. She and Standard will be shipped to America as soon as possible.
***
Monaco, April 11.
The final events of the Monaco meeting took place to-day. The first was for the cup of the Prince of Monaco, valued at 10,000 francs. The prize was won by the French hydroplane Duc, although she beat the time of Delahaye-Nautilus XIII by only one-fifth of a second. Duc covered the mile and a kilometer, total distance 2850 meters, in 2:45 2/5. Wolseley-Siddeley II, the only other boat to start, was a poor third, time 2:52 2/5. From the start the two hydroplanes fought it out furiously. At half the distance the Duc led by half a length, but at they neared the mark Delahaye-Nautilus apparently closed the gap, and when the buoy was passed, it was generally believed that the race had ended in a dead heat. The Duc is a hydroplane, built by Despujols, equipped with a Brazier motor of 130-hp. In the mile and kilometer race for cruisers, Delahaye-Nautilus IX proved a winner. She covered the distance in 4:53, with Tele-Mors second. The weather to-day is absolutely calm, therefore extremely favorable to hydroplanes.
(Transcribed from MotorBoat, May 10, 1909, pp. 35-43. )
{This lengthy article, perhaps the best one so far about Monaco, is the first using the now-common term "hydro" referencing the hydroplane design for speed boats; also, this is the first account to my knowledge of what we now are familiar as a lane violation occurring on the turn of a course. M. M. Whitaker was certainly a very entertaining and effective writer - GWC}
[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page —LF]
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