1910 Columbia Yacht Club Races
Hudson River, New York, NY, June 4, 1910

The active motor boat racing season in the vicinity of New York was inaugurated with the Race Day and opening of the Columbia Yacht Club on Saturday, June 4, at the club’s headquarters, Eighty-sixth Street and Hudson River. A number of new boats in both speed and cruiser classes made their appearance and added interest and uncertainty to the events.

The flag-raising took place at 2 o’clock, preceded by a gun salute and to the playing of the Star Spangled Banner by a band. The veranda of the club-house, the docks and lawn were alive with members and their guests to witness the power boat races. A large number also viewed the races from the decks of yachts anchored near by that had dressed ship for the occasion, and made a beautiful picture with the background of the Palisades.

The start and finish line of the races was directly in front of the club, the course for Classes 1, 2, 4 and 5 being a triangle, running down the river to about Seventieth Street and up the west shore to opposite Grant’s Tomb, thence back to the club—distance 5 nautical miles. Classes 1, 2 and 4 made two rounds and Class 5 three. The high-speed boats, Class 3, ran from the club to Ardsley and return, a total distance of 30 nautical miles.

The races were successful in every way, and the attention of all was particularly drawn to the starts of the cruisers and high-speed boats, which were very spectacular. In Class 1, Mr. Moran’s boat, Lady Betty, ran the entire race with broken tiller lines and had to be steered by standing up in the middle of the boat with the broken part of the line in each hand. Considering this drawback and the fact that she had a new motor which had not been run more than six hours, the winning of the event is certainly a credit to the way in which the boat was handled. Talequah, owned by M. H. Niles, of the New York Motor Boat Club, also made a good showing in the race. This boat is one of those that took part in the New York-Albany and return race last year.

Mr. George F. Baker Jr.’s well-known speed boat Vim repeated her performance of last year in the high-speed class by taking the first prize, and certainly ran a clean race, making the continuous run of 30 nautical miles without a stop against a field of strong antagonists.

The race committee consisted of S. Alling Halsey, chairman; W. W. Brickerhoff, Augustus W. Clarke, Russell Dart and J. O. Barnes. Following is the summary of the results:

Class 1—Open Boats Less Than 14 M,--10 Miles

Class 2—Dories—10 Miles

Class 3—High Speed—30 Miles

Class 4—Cabin Boats—10 Miles

Class 5—Semi-Speed—15 Miles

(Transcribed from Yachting, July 1910, p. 30)

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

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