1922 Chicago Pageant of Progress Regatta
Lake Michigan, Chicago IL, August 3-6, 1922


The Chicago Pageant of Progress Regatta

Speed enthusiasts from all parts of the country gathered on the waters of Lake Michigan at Chicago on August 3rd, 4th, and 6th to decide the supremacy of speed craft. There were some 30 boats present for the races. A circular course of two and a half miles was laid off inside the breakwater just north of the Municipal Pier, which afforded splendid opportunities for viewing the races. Thousands watched the races each day and there is no doubt that this event has done much to interest the public in motor boat racing.

The chief event was the Great Lakes Speed Boat Championship for he Harry Sinclair Trophy. This was won by Miss America, "Gar" Wood's famous flyer from Detroit. He won all three heats of the race while Sheldon Clark's Miss Chicago raced second in each day's race. Miss America won by 2/5 of a second on the first day and Baby Sure Cure in third place, was only 3/5 of a second behind the winner. On the second day Miss America made one lap of the course in two minutes and 12 seconds — a world's record of 68.2 miles per hour.

Paul Strasburg's Baby Sure Cure, of Detroit, provided some more spectacular racing. In the Free-For-All on the first day she established a record for single engined hydroplanes by doing the 2½ mile circular course at a speed of 65.5 miles per hour and her average speed for the 15 miles was 61.6 miles per hour. In tuning up on the second day she made a sharp turn at a 65-mile clip, turned a side flip and hit the water bottom up, thus putting her out of commission for the rest of the regatta.

In the 151 Class Margaret III, owned by L. E. Selby of Pekin, Ill., won the races on all three days. R. Lee's Miss Illinois from Dubuque won the first two day's races in the 215 Class but did not finish in the last day's race and P. D. Q. VI, which had placed second in the other two races, won. Ethel X won the first day's start in 320 Class with Van Dyke III in second place. Van Dyke III won the second and third races with Ethel X finishing second in both. Peggy, F. W. Schram's boat from Milwaukee, won the first race for the 705 Class but had to be content with second place in the next two races when W. B. Wilde's Meteor III from Peoria won. In the 1300 Class Oh Min! Harry Parsons' Cleveland boat, took the first two races and Meteor III came out and won the last race. Baby Sure Cure, owned by Paul Strasburg of Detroit, won the first race in the Free-For-All Class with Miss Chicago in second place. The latter boat won the second and third races.

The success of the regatta and the great number of boats on hand is due in a large measure to the work of Commodore Sheldon Clark and his efficient regatta committee. When Commodore Clark gets "het up" over any event, that event is bound to "go big," and no stone was left unturned to make these races the biggest of any to be held in American waters this summer. With him on the committee were Robert Tarrant, J. W. Sackridge, both vice chairmen and Geo. Schaeffer, secretary, together were a number of other speed boat enthusiasts who live all the way from New York to Iowa and they pulled together strong.

(Reprinted from Yachting, September 1922, pp.119-120)


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