1940 APBA Gold Cup
Northport Bay, Long Island, New York, August 17, 1940

Gold Cup Stays In The East [1940]
F. W. Horenburger

Speed, Spray and Spills More R.P.M. [July 1940] Hotsy Totsy III Takes Gold Cup In A Walk Hotsy Totsy Wins in Race For Gold Cup Gold Cup Stays In The East More R.P.M. [Sept. 1940] Gold Cup Class Revisited : 1940

Despite the much publicized 90-mile record breaking boats which tried to take the famous Gold Cup, it remained for a beginner in this competition to complete the necessary heats to win. Sidney Allen of Southampton, Long Island, a member of the Montauk Yacht Club, had never driven any boat faster than a runabout. He had purchased Hotsy Totsy III from the estate of the late Victor Kliesrath, and the bill of sale was delivered to him only a day or so before the race. How fast Hotsy Totsy can go is still an unknown quantity, for it hardly seems that she was let out to the limit. Her best speed for 30 miles was just over 51 miles and her best lap 54.55. She had, however, something which the super-speed boys lacked, and that is reliability. She plugged along consistently and moved a step nearer the goal every time one of the faster boats dropped out. Her consistency and reliability proved their value since she took both the first and second heats and was still running in the third heat when the time limit expired.

The thirty-seventh race for the American Power Boat Association Gold Cup was conducted on August 17 by the Indian Harbor Yacht Club on Northport Bay, Long Island. The waters nearer Greenwich, Connecticut, home of the club, were less suitable for high speed racing so that the more sheltered location at Northport was selected. For weeks the weekend weather had been calm, without a trace of breeze. On the day of the Gold Cup race, however, a pretty stiff easterly wind brought rain and generally mean conditions. Just before the first Gold Cup heat was scheduled, a heavy shower soaked the entire area and its thousands of spectators on the fleet around the course and ashore. Since it is impossible to drive a fast boat in such a rain, the start of the first heat was postponed for a half-hour, and then again for an additional 15 minutes. Generally speaking, the weather remained clear for the rest of the program except for a few brief showers which passed before they interfered with the racing. After the last event the sun broke through and it cleared off in fine shape.

An excellent course of 2½ miles length had been laid out and buoyed. The U. S. Coast Guard then had placed a large number of buoys about the outer fringe to define the spectator fleet limits. So anxious were the spectators to get good vantage points that many boats were anchored about the course on the day previous. The U. S. Coast Guard had enlisted about forty large cruisers enrolled in the Coast Guard Reserve to take care of patrolling the course. One of these was stationed between each pair of the marker buoys and the remainder cruised slowly back and forth behind the lines to see that anchors held and also to tow disabled craft back to the pits. It was perhaps the first real test which the new Reserve personnel undertook, and they did the job in first-class shape. A few instances were reported where the reservists were so impressed with their importance that they were a little too officious, but that failing will, no doubt, be corrected. After all, the spectators at such an event are all willing to cooperate and resent being bossed about when there is no real need for it.

The race committee of the Indian Harbor Yacht Club, together with the officials of the American Power Boat Association, had organized all details in connection with the regatta in excellent style, so that all of the working crew were on board the committee steamer Fairview early in the morning. When the weather turned bad and a delay was necessary, the start of the first Gold Cup heat was advanced to 2:45 and promptly on time six of the Gold Cup boats crossed the starting line in a great roar of exhausts. These included Gray Goose III, My Sin, Notre Dame, Miss Syndicate, Tinker Toy and Hotsy Totsy III. So Long, which came all the way from California, could not get started due to moisture in the ignition system. Gray Goose III, the entry of George C. Cannon of New Rochelle, N. Y., the boat powered with three 225 cubic inch Lycoming motors and the holder of the one-mile non-supercharged Gold Cup record, jumped into the lead at the start of the first heat, thus demonstrating that she was as fast as any boat in the race. However, before she had gone 200 yards the stub shaft connecting the clutch with the over-drive gear on one of the motors twisted off, putting the starboard engine permanently out of service. In the remainder of the first heat and all of the second heat, and for the first ten miles or so of the third heat, Gray Goose was run on only two of her motors. In the third heat another of the stub shafts twisted off, leaving Gray Goose with only one of her three motors available, so she then withdrew. While Gray Goose’s maximum possible speed was reduced by fully 50 percent when her first engine went dead, yet the fact that she could run 70 miles with only two motors available speaks well for this boat and her Lycoming power plants.

It was quickly apparent that the field of six was divided into two groups. Notre Dame and My Sin were running along at speeds generally between 65 and 70 m.p.h. The others were noticeably slower and ran between 45 and 50 m.p.h. It has been frequently demonstrated that the race is not always to the swift and a great groan went up from a hundred-thousand throats when Notre Dame broke down in the midst of the twelfth lap with only about a mile and a half still to go and with a commanding lead. My Sin, on her last lap also had difficulties and stopped not far from Notre Dame. Tinker Toy, driven by Gar Wood, Jr., had dropped out during his eighth lap, leaving Hotsy Totsy, Gray Goose III and Miss Syndicate in the running. Sidney A. Allen, driving his newly acquired Hotsy Totsy in his first big race, crossed the finish line about 10 seconds ahead of Miss Syndicate, much to his own surprise and that of everyone else. Gray Goose, running on only two engines, was about half a minute behind. The average speed of the three who finished ran between 44½ and 45½ m.p.h., which is very slow for boats of their reputed ability.

It was reported that My Sin broke a shaft. Notre Dame had damaged her rudder and control mechanism by the breaking of a cross arm, and her pit crew made frenzied efforts to correct the trouble. Tinker Toy had stopped from overheating due to loss of oil pressure. When the second heat was called, My Sin ran slowly for two laps and went out reporting that her magneto had shorted and her strut was out of line. Tinker Toy started but did not complete one lap.

The race developed between the three old reliables, Hotsy Totsy, Miss Syndicate, and Gray Goose III, running with only two engines. They cruised around the course at a comfortable 50 to 52 miles speed with Miss Syndicate rarely exceeding 44 after the first two laps. Gray Goose III stayed just a few seconds behind Hotsy Totsy and they cruised the 30 miles only 12 seconds apart at speeds slightly over 51 m.p.h. Miss Syndicate was a poor third, over seven minutes behind the leaders, which represented just about two laps distance.

The third heat again developed into a three-boat race, with Notre Dame, Hotsy Totsy and Miss Syndicate in the running. My Sin and Gray Goose III had started with the others and My Sin and Notre Dame were having a real hot contest at a speed approaching 70 miles, with Notre Dame constantly in the lead. My Sin seemed unable to overtake her, although there were times when it seemed likely. It all ended in the sixth lap when My Sin went out again. Notre Dame continued alone and finished the 12 laps in 27 minutes at a speed of 66.65 m.p.h., the fastest 30-mile heat of the entire contest. The crew of Hotsy Totsy and Miss Syndicate, apparently in the belief that their position was secure, did not recall the rule that requires all boats to finish within 9 minutes of the first boat. They loafed along and were doing only 36 to 40 m.p.h. when Notre Dame had long since finished. At the end of the 9-minute period they were flagged off with two laps still to go. Both drivers realized it made no difference in their standing, as Hotsy Totsy with 800 points was secure in her position with the others out of the running. Thus ended the fond hopes of all but one of the seven Gold Cup contenders to have his name engraved on the medallions of the famous trophy. The victory of Sidney Allen, racing under the colors of the Montauk Yacht Club, gives to him and the club the privilege of determining the site of the next contest. It is, of course, too early to say whether they will elect to hold the next race at Montauk.

More spectacular in their running, and decidedly more consistent in their performance, were the 225 cubic inch hydroplanes. These raced over two five-mile heats alternating with the Gold Cup boats. Ten fast hydroplanes started in each of the heats and put on an excellent show. Speeds were in most cases between 60 and 65 miles, and the spirited racing among the leaders had the crowds on their feet constantly. Of the ten starters in the heats, all finished without any breakdowns whatever. In the first heat George F. Schrafft of Newton, Mass., driving Chrissie IV, got out in front after a poor start. Jack Cooper, champion of the class, in Tops III also had to pick his way through the fleet. Thomas Chatfield in Viper III seemed to be the winner and fought off the attack of Tops III and Chrissie until they were going around the last turn. Viper swung out a bit wide and both Schrafft and Cooper swung inside of Viper and opened up to beat Viper to the finish. Chrissie finished first, with Tops III and Viper only a few seconds behind at a speed approaching 65 miles.

The second heat was equally exciting. In this Chatfield in Viper again got away to a good start and was first across the line in the first lap. Jack Cooper, however, was watching him closely and passed him before the finish to win the second heat. Chrissie took third in this heat. The final position is determined by points, so that Jack Cooper won the event with a second and a first place and a total of 700 points. George Schrafft secured second place with 625 points for a first and a third, while third place, with 525 points, went to Thomas Chatfield in Viper with a third and a second place. The other seven contestants finished both heats in the same relative positions, indicating that they were doing their best throughout, and were placed in the order of the ability of their boats.

The final event of the day was a race over five miles for unlimited runabouts. Four started and finished and David Gerli in his runabout Gen IV had no difficulty in winning, as his speed was about 7½ miles greater than that of the second boat. Gerli covered the five miles at a speed of 55.97, a new world record for Class K runabouts, and second place went to Ali Baba, driven by Norman R. Frey, at a speed of 48.49 m.p.h.

(Reprinted from Motor Boating, September 1940)

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