1946 National Sweepstakes Regatta & Auerbach Memorial Trophy

1946 National Sweepstakes Regatta & Auerbach Memorial Trophy
North Shrewsbury River, Red Bank NJ, August 17-18, 1946

Lombardo's Entry Speedboat Victor
Tempo VI Scores in National Sweepstakes at Red Bank
Two World Marks Set
By Joseph M. Sheehan

RED BANK, N. J., Aug. 17 [1946] — Guy Lombardo's Tempo VI, Gold Cup winner of 1939 and 1941 under the name of My Sin, had things pretty much her own way here today in the first fifteen-mile heat of the title race of the fourteenth annual national sweepstakes regatta. The victor beat four rivals with several notches of speed in reserve as motor boating's biggest competitive show returned to the North Shrewsbury River after an absence of five years.

Tempo's triumph was accomplished with such consummate ease that it remained for a trio of the smaller fry among the banner turnout of more than 200 starters to provide the thrill of a long noisy day for the estimated throng of 30,000 that jammed the points of vantage to look on from wharfside, riverbank and hundreds of pleasure craft a that lined the ,course.

Two world records were set, with the attack on existing standards concentrated in the 151-cubic-inch inboard class, where C. Frank Ripp of Rockville Centre, L.I, set a mark of 54.054 miles per hour in the first five-mile heat, only to have Edison Hedges of Atlantic City push that into discard with a sensational 59.133 clocking an hour later.

The other record was set by Don Whitfield, Montclair, N. J., who returned 37.641 miles per hour with his midget outboard.

With her powerful engine completely rebuilt and her sleek mahogany hull touched up with brilliant red trim and otherwise renovated since her acquisition by the popular bandmaster from Zalmon G. Simmons, the Greenwich, Conn., sportsman who had retired from racing, Tempo VI had a breeze in what her new owner hopes will prove a successful tune-up for the Gold Cup race at Detroit on Labor Day. .

Of twenty-five nominees for the national sweepstakes, open to inboards of unlimited power, only three 225-cubic-inch craft and one 151 turned out to contest the issue with Tempo VI, which was built to Gold Cup specifications with a piston displacement of more than 700 cubic inches. Barring a breakdown, they did not figure to keep close to Lombardo's entry.

At the wheel himself, the maestro took no chances of a casualty. He laid off the gun at the start and worked to the front gradually. Tempo VI swept into the lead at the end of the first two-and-a-half mile lap and, with Lombardo nursing her along carefully at three-quarter throttle, never was headed.

The nearest thing to a challenge came on the second lap when Buckeye Baby, driven by Gibson Bradfield of Barnesville, Ohio, closed up a bit, but Tempo VI opened out again. For the rest of the way, Lombardo was content with the comfortable 300-yard advantage he gained in this spurt.

Tempo VI covered the course at an average speed of 82.5 m.p.h, well below her potentialities. But there was no reason to step up the pace. Buckeye Baby held second and Robert A. Bogie of Brooklyn brought Blitz II home third. Ripp's Bay Head IV, the 151 in the field, did not finish. Neither did Albert Brinkman Jr.'s Seabiscuit, which beat the gun and broke down on her penalty extra lap.

Jack Cooper of Kansas City, 1940 winner with Tops II, was on the course warming up before the race with his new 225 streamliner, but returned to the pits with engine trouble before the five-minutes gun barked. He may decide to give it another try tomorrow, when the final two heats will be contested.

In the other unlimited event, for the Judge Emil Auerbach Trophy, Joseph Van Blerck Jr., of Hewlett, L. I„ the season's big winner among the 225 with his Aljo, wound up the first two heats in a tie with Bogie, each registering a first and a third. Aljo took the first ten-mile heat, returning 57.398 m.p.h. while Blitz II was clocked in 54.282 in leading the second.

Buckeye Baby won the first five-mile test of the three-heat closed 225-cubic inch class series for a special trophy donated by President Avila Camacho of Mexico, being clocked at 61.843 m.p.h. Bogie's busy Blitz II, tackling the heaviest schedule of any entrant, was next in line.

Since he had fouled a buoy while leading in the first heat, Hedges' record-breaking time in Uncle Sam II in the 151 competition brought him only second prize, Ripp's Bay Head IV taking top honors by virtue of a first and a second in the two heats.

Driving Uncle Sam I, Hedges assumed the lead in the 135 interstate championship series by taking the opening heat. Cooper won both races of the 91 cubic-inch class with his Tops Pup, recording 49.479 m.p.h. In his first heat.

Outboard victors were Bob Chalmers Jr. of Williamsville, N. Y„ in Class A amateur; Ed Brautigam Jr. of Chester, Pa., in Class A professional; Clarence Collins of Norfolk, Va., in Class C amateur; Claude Smith of Atlanta, in Class C professional, and Paul J. Birbarie of Branford, Conn., is the, midget division. Whitfield, the midget record-breaker, finished second to Birbarie on points.

Auerbach Memorial Trophy,

First Heat (ten miles) — Won by Aljo, Joseph Van Blerck Jr., Hewlett, L.I.; second, Malt and Hops, J. Hanley, Providence R.I.; third, Blitz II, Robert A. Bogie, Brooklyn, NY; fourth Buckeye Bullet, Lou Butler, Zanesville, Ohio; fifth, Crissie V, George Schrafft, Newton, Mass. Time — 10:27.4. Speed — 57.398 mph.

Second Heat — won by Bogie; second, Yellow Jacket, Ray Gassner, St. Petersburg, Fla.; third, Van Blerck; fourth Hanley. Time — 10:03.2. Speed, 54.262 mph.

National Sweepstakes
Unlimited Class

First heat (fifteen miles) — Tempo VI, Guy Lombardo, Freeport, L.I.; second, Buckeye Baby; third, Blitz II. Seabiscuit and Bay Head IV did not finish. Time — 14:23. Speed — 62.5 mph.