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Kermath Powered Cruisers and Chris Craft Furnish Thrills at Detroit Regatta |
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Fast Time Made at Detroit Regatta |
1925 Detroit Regatta
Detroit Yacht Club Trophy and Detroit 150-Mile Sweepstakes
Fast Time Made at Detroit Regatta
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In spite of the fact that Detroit did not have the Gold Cup to race for this year, the big three days' regatta held by the Detroit yachtsmen was just as successful as the races held on the Detroit River in other years, and proved just as popular with contestants and spectators alike.
The big race of the series, which was wisely reserved for the last event on the program, was the 150-mile Sweepstakes Race, an endurance contest of the first magnitude. Ten boats started in this event, but after the first few laps it was seen that the race had narrowed down between Packard Chriscraft II and Baby Horace III, a new Crouch-designed Bier. Miss Detroit VII would have had a chance had she not gone out on the sixth lap. Packard Chriscraft, driven by Col. J. G. Vincent, won the event at an average speed for the 150 miles of 55.65 miles per hour. Baby Horace III finished only 12 seconds behind her, making nearly the same speed over the long course. Lady Cleveland, owned by J. H. MacDowell, was third, the only other boat to finish the long race. After the race, Packard Chriscraft ran an extra lap of three miles at a rate of 59.4 miles an hour.
The highest speed made during the regatta was in the Governor's Trophy Race and was made by Miss America III. She averaged 57.7 miles per hour for the entire race and her best lap was at the rate of 63.9 miles, which, it may be said, is considerably below her maximum speed.
The two other events for high speed boats were those for the Detroit Yacht Club Challenge Cup, which was won by Nuisance, owned by Mrs D. D. Cromwell, and the race for the Chriscraft boats. J. Potter in No. 18 won the first heat of this latter event and W. A. Kittle, driving No. 29, won the second and third heats.
They are always strong on cruiser races at Detroit and this year was no exception. The Sallan Trophy Race brought out a fleet of twenty-nine boats to race over three heats of 25 nautical miles each. The winner turned up in Speejax, owned by C. D. Cutting, with 141 points, while Jean A, owned by W. E. Adams, was second with 139.
The Motor Yacht Trophy Race proved easy for F. S. Salter's Miss Marilyn II, which took all three heats. It was over a 25-mile course and Miss Marilyn's best average speed for any of the heats was 23.7 miles per hour. She was powered with two six-cylinder Hall-Scott engines.
Then there was a special Kermath Trophy Race, the prize being put up by Jack Farr, open to all Kermath-powered cruisers. There were fifteen starters, and while Henrietta III made the best time over the course, Scott Matthews in his Matthews-38 was lucky on the draw and got the winning ticket.
The Main Sheet Trophy for outboard motor boats was run in three divisions, the prize going to the contestant making the best time for two miles of the race. A flashy little craft owned by Lloyd Helton, and named Wayward, won in Classes A and C, and took the Main Sheet Trophy. She made the remarkable speed of 13.02 miles per hour.
(Reprinted from Yachting, October 1925, pp.49, 69)
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