1910 Harmsworth Trophy
One Boat Race
The first trial race to decide a trio of motor boats to defend the Harmsworth Trophy, which is now held by the Motor Boat Club of America, , was run off yesterday over a ten-mile course in Huntington Harbor. The cup was brought to this country from England in 1907 by the victory of the motor boat Dixie.
The trial was a disappointment for hundreds of yachtsmen who made the trip to Huntington Harbor, as only one boat was at the time at the appointed starting hour. The Restless came up to the line at 2 o’clock, and after a two-hour wait for the other racers the boat was sent over the course alone. She was evidently held in check, as her time for the course only averaged 28 miles per hour, while on other trial trips she has traveled much faster.
After Restless had finished her first round a long, low red racer was towed into the harbor, and soon was the centre of attraction. There were many surmises as to her identity, but the only marking on her was a big question mark on each side of her cutwater. All the yachtsmen present were expecting to see her operated under her own power, but they were disappointed. She has all the earmarks of an exceptionally fast boat, and undoubtedly will be heard from in a day or two.
There will be two more trials to-day and to-morrow, and there will probably be no lack of entries on the last day, as a good many of the fast ones are being held back so that the crews of machinists can have more time to smooth up the engines and get the boats in perfect condition before putting them to the trial.
The real cup race will be on Saturday, when the American team selected, will compete against three specially built English boats which arrived yesterday on board the liner Minnetonka. The boats are the Pioneer, owned by the Duke of Westminster, the Zigarella, owned by Daniel Hanbury, and the Maple Leaf II, owned by Mackey Edgar. All these boats are capable of thirty-five miles an hour, and it will be necessary for the American team to extend themselves to the utmost in order to keep the trophy, which is the blue ribbon of motor boating, in this country. The one American boat that there is anything definite known about is the Dixie II, owned by F.K. Burnham of New York, and she has repeatedly made thirty-seven miles an hour in previous races, and it is reported that she is capable of over forty miles when opened up to her limit.
[Transcribed from the New York Times, Aug. 16, 1910, p. 8.]
(Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page —LF)
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