1930 Palm Beach Yacht Club Regatta
Lake Worth, Palm Beach, Florida, February 21-22, 1930

Palm Beach Starts the Season
Fine regatta staged by Palm Beach Yacht Club, February 21 and 22,
breaks all records for attendance and interest
By W. F. Crosby
Photos by Rosenfeld

The first big regatta of the 1930 season was held by the Palm Beach Yacht Club on February 21 and 22. Magnificent weather prevailed during the two days and it was not until the final heat had been run and the committee was starting for shore that a tropical downpour swept in over Lake Worth.

The Palm Beach Yacht Club, handicapped seriously since the hurricane of two years ago, staged a great come-back and at the dinner given after the close of the regatta, great enthusiasm was evident on the part of both members and visitors. The 1931 regatta, according to present indications, will even eclipse the fine races held this year.

As usual, the 151 cubic inch class hydroplanes were the center of attraction, a great many of these sporty little racers being present. Several new boats, including Sparrow V, Elmer Johnson's new Hadley creation, showed some remarkable running. Sparrow V is particularly interesting because of her monel metal bottom. She has mahogany sides and deck but everything from the chine down is highly polished monel metal, which undoubtedly had much to do with her easy wins in the supercharged class. In winning these two heats Sparrow V secured a leg on the new Royal Poinciana Trophy.

The Commodore Lynn S. Nichols Trophy was awarded the same boat as a permanent memento of the event. Chris Ripp won second place and Gibson Bradfeld came in third.

In the 151 cubic inch limited class hydroplanes. Gibson Bradfield's Buckeye had things all her own way, winning both heats and thereby gaining a leg on the Colonel E. R. Bradley Trophy and a permanent award of the Palm Beach Mercantile Company's Cup. Frank Ripp won second place and Chris Ripp, third. Thunderbolt IV was giving Bradfield a close run in the second heat when she caught fire and was partly burned.

The outboards were out in force and furnished some keen competition. The flag starts of the Mississippi Valley Power Boat Association were used with Commodore Jack Hess handling the red and white banners in a businesslike way. The class B races were run off the first clay and when the smoke cleared away from the two heats it was found that J. Daniels had won the Hotel.Royal Worth Trophy for first place, J. T. Milliken, Hatchs' award for second and B. E. Lamb, the Hopkins-Carter award. It was during these heats that an interesting "side race" took place with J. R. Thomson, Jr., of THE RUDDER, defeating Commodore Paul Carlisle of the Florida Outboard Motor Association. The commodore was forced out of the first heat by engine trouble but Thomson managed to finish both heats, thereby winning a considerable prize from the commodore much to the amusement of those who were in the know."

A special match runabout race for boats over 30 feet in length was won by Edward Moore with an average speed of 37.815 miles an hour for the 10 mile heat.

A goodly array of outboards turned out for the class C races and during the first heat a pretty fight developed for first place. Travis "Peanuts" Chestnut managed to have the greatest number of points and was given the Palm Beach Post award. T. T. Milliken was second.

Adriatic, Wooster Lambert's fast Hackercraft, was easily the winner of the less than 200 horsepower runabout class, cleaning up in all heats and thereby winning the West Palm Beach Auto Association Cup. This boat was the winner of the same class last year. She was driven by Henry Farnsworth. The winner's average speed was 42.959 miles an hour.

Dick Upsal walked away with all the honors and both heats in the class D outboard race by driving his exceedingly fast West Palm Beach Baby to first place in both heats, despite some difficulty in the last lap of the last heat. His boat is owned by T. T. Milliken and averaged in the first heat 45.362 miles an hour and in the second heat a little less. Upsal was awarded the Commodore A. I. V. Wilson Trophy. B. E. Lamb of Jacksonville was second with his Brunnhilde and J. T. Milliken third with another boat similar to the winner.

In the race for runabouts of over 200 horsepower C. M. Perry was given a leg on the jack Dempsey Trophy and a permanent award in the Central Farmers Trust Company Cup, with Wooster Lambert's Adriatic a close second in both heats and E. R. Jones' runabout in third place.

The cruiser handicap race for THE RUDDER Trophy proved to be exceedingly interesting in that the boats were run four times around the two and a half mile course on the first day and their times carefully taken. On the second day the slowest boats started first, the speediest being the last, the distance separating each at the start being based on the distance that they had finished apart in the previous race. In the final heat the cruisers drifted down on the line; David McCullouch's A.C.F. 38-footer was first over followed in 1 minute and 12 seconds by Kenneth G. Smith's Cora S. a boat exactly like the one just mentioned. Exactly 22 seconds later Frank P. Huckins' Fairform Flyer started and 1 minute and 14 seconds later Maggie, owned by Henry O. Rea. Unfortunately Rea missed a buoy on the first turn and had to turn around and come back, losing the race by just about the amount of time he lost during this maneuver. The three leading boats gradually drew closer together until, finally, Cora S. passed the other A.C.F. boat with the Fairform Flyer close on her heels.

Since only a 2% variation in time from the previous clays run would mean disqualification, the race developed along the lines of the boat which could run closest to its previous day's time. The order at the finish was Cora S., owned by Kenneth G. Smith, first; A.C.F., owned by David McCullouch, second and Fairform Flyer in third place. Maggie was far astern due to her mishap in the first lap. All three of the leading boats were close together with Fairform Flyer rapidly overhauling the two leading boats: Thus; THE RUDDER Trophy, a handsome Waterbury clock and barometer set, was given to Kenneth G. Smith, owner of Cora S., while David McCullouch won the Palm Beach Times Cup and Frank P. Huckins won the George W. Fowler Cup. Announcement was made at the dinner later on that THE RUDDER would give another trophy to be raced for under similar conditions next year.

The dinner, this year, was held in the spacious basement of the Palm Beach Yacht Club with Commodore A. I. V. Wilson presiding and past commodore Jack Hess acting as toastmaster. An excellent dinner was served, the visiting race men being received with one of those really enthusiastic Palm Beach welcomes. Toasts were exchanged, and past commodores and prominent race men were heard from. During the dinner a silent toast was drunk to Commodore William J. Connors, whose memory will always remain with the Palm Beach Yacht Club.

Summaries Palm Beach Yacht Club, February 21-22, 1930

(Reprinted from The Rudder, April 1930)

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