1940 National Sweepstakes
Shrewsbury River, Red Bank NJ, August 24-25, 1940

Notre Dame Smashes Records in Speedboat Sweepstakes Race Tops III Takes Final More RPM Records Crash at National Sweepstakes

There was plenty of excitement on the Shrewsbury at Red Bank, NJ during the National Sweepstakes Regatta on August 24^th and 25^th. Few of the contests were at all close but new records were hung up in practically every event and prominent contenders for the National Sweepstakes and other trophies burned up the course in one heat only to break down complete in the next, all of which contributed drama.

The venerable Jack Cooper was again the man of the hour, winning not only the big Sweepstakes Trophy but the "225" championship in his sturdy Tops III. Tops was the winner and gainer her share of new records but Herbert Mendelson’s Gold Cup hydroplane Notre Dame certainly gained the honors as the most colorful boat on the water. Dan Arena sent her flying around the course to new lap and heat records in the first heat of the main event. In the second head, Notre Dame started off with the same furious dash but he bid was cut short coming out of the first turn when her bronze strut gave way and her propeller shaft broke, all in a twinkling. She reared up like a horse refusing a jump, smashed down again amid flying spray, and promptly began to settle, with water streaming in through a hole torn by the propeller and the shatter shaft log. Only the propinquity and prompt action of a Coast Guard patrol boat permitted her to be beached on the nearby shore before sinking. That was the climax, for afterward Tops III went on to win both remaining heats without difficulty with the principal attention of the spectators centered on what, precisely, had happed to Notre Dame.

The attack on the record books began early on the first day’s program, when Gar Wood, Jr., set a new standard of 54.174 m.p.h. in winning the even for Class C amateur outboards. Wood had a bang-up race of it with Clint Ferguson in the first heat but the latter capsized early in the second and from then on it was Wood’s victory. Soon afterward, Don Whitfield, of Upper Montclair, NJ, set a new mark of 37.527 m.p.h. in defeating a record field of ten others in the Midget Outboard Class.

On Sunday, Gar Wood, Jr., did it again, setting a new figure of 51.458 m.p.h. in taking Class B Amateur Outboard honors. A few minutes later, James Mullen, of Richmond, Va., was pushed to a new world record time of 58.785 m.p.h. in finishing only one length ahead of Ferguson for the Class F title.

The condition of the course and the atmosphere were as near perfect for record breaking as will ever be found — a slight ruffle on the water and cool, damp air to facilitate carburetion and to prevent excessive heating up of engines. In addition to Notre Dame’s new marks, practically every other inboard class on the course set new standards, Tom Chatfield, of Danbury, Conn., was ahead of the rest of the 91-cubic-inch field and pushed his Scoundrel at an unprecedented speed of 52.295 m.p.h. In the "135’s," Henry Davis, Jr., took two of the three heats with comparative ease, lolled around in second place in the third, and found that his Eight Ball III had set a new standard of 56.295 m.p.h. in addition to taking the championship. Other new marks were set by Hep-Hop, in the Class A runabouts (43.987 m.p.h.), and the perennial champion of the Class E runabouts, Hi-Ho II (53.57 m.p.h.).

As usual, the scrappy and numerous "225’s" put on the best show of all. Six of them went out to challenge three Gold Cup hydroplanes in the first heat of the Sweepstakes and two of them stuck it out throughout the whole 45 miles. In the "225" championship, the twelve starters crowded each other so at the first marker that Joseph Taggart's Tomyann II sideswiped the first course marker, threw her driver into the water and sank.

Notre Dame's performance in the first heat of the Sweepstakes was one of the finest ever turned in by a Gold Cup hydroplane. Arena had her out ahead going into the first turn and, with her 24-cylinder supercharged engine purring beautifully, no competitor even came close. Her fastest lap was run at 76.922 m.p.h. and she averaged 76.140 m.p.h. for the whole heat, both new records. Well astern of the Mendelson flyer, Lou Fageol's So Long, George Cannon's Gray Goose III, and the "225's" Tops III, George Schrafft's Chrissie IV, Tom Chatfield's newest Viper and Jack Wood's Miss Fireball, were having quite a scrap. So Long led this group most of the way but faded on the fifth lap and spluttered home in sixth place. The order of finish of the leaders was Notre Dame, Tops III, Gray Goose III, Viper III, and Chrissie IV.

After Notre Dame's spectacular demise, the second and third heats of the Sweepstakes were all Tops. So Long didn't appear at all, Gray Goose ran a lap and a half rather slowly and Cooper took the measure of the others without difficulty. In the third heat, only Viper and Miss Fireball came out to challenge Tops. Cooper took the opportunity presented by the comparatively clear course to attempt to beat Notre Dame's lap record, set the day before, but failed by less than one mile per hour. Viper went out and after that Cooper slowed down and toyed with Miss Fireball to the delight of the spectators. The standings for the big trophy, when it was all over, ran: Tops, Miss Fireball, Viper III, and Notre Dame.

The story was much the same in the "225" championship. Tops won the second and third heats without serious difficulty which, with a third in the first heat, gave her the trophy. The big surprise in this event was Frank Ripp's Meadowmere III, winner of the first heat. Ripp has been plugging along for years down near the middle of the fleet and his victory in the first heat and second place in point standing was both well deserved and popular.

Chrissie IV, Viper III, and Eaglet III were third, fourth, and fifth in point standing.

— R. G. Smith

(Reprinted from Motor Boating, October, 1940)

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