1948 Cambridge Gold Cup
Choptank River, Cambridge MD, August 14, 1948

Lynn's Boat First in Gold Cup Event
Takes Maryland Race on 800 Points Although Unable to Start Final Heat
Special to the New York Times

Cambridge, Md., Aug. 14 [1948] -- What was to have been a special Gold Cup curtain raising race today in advance of tomorrow's Cambridge Yacht Club annual speed boat regatta fixture turned out to be pretty much of a fizzle when the only finisher at the end of ninety miles was Henry Sieck's Pearl IV, a 225-cubic-inch craft from Rockville Centre, L.I.

Guy Lombardo of Freeport, sponsor of the new event, was forced to withdraw his rebuilt and repowered Tempo VI early in the third lap of the first thirty-mile heat. The choppy Choptank River proved too rough for his Allison-powered boat and the bouncing split and then tore loose his exhaust line and made emergency repairs impossible during the intervals until the second and third heats were gunned.

Harry Lynn, the Lake Hopatcong and St. Louis textile tycoon, entered his new Lahala, recently finished by the Arno Apel Yard at Ventnor, N.J. and also powered for this summer's Gold Cup events with an aircraft Allison. But, with Norman Lauterbach behind the steering wheel, Lahala was unable to get started for the third thirty-mile heat although her point score total of 800 for winning the first and second heats was sufficient to capture the Cambridge Gold Cup.

Pearl IV was credited with 700 points for winning the third heat as the only starter and finisher and placing second in the second heat behind Lahala. Pearl IV did not finish the first heat, withdrawing on an early lap on the roughened course.

Lynn's Lahala was clocked at 33:35 in the first heat for a thirty-mile average speed of 53.731 mph and on the first five-mile lap turned in a speed of 71.713. Lahala's second heat speed average was stepped up to 57.143. In the third lap Pearl IV, without competition, was timed at 47.368 mph.

The summaries

First Heat, Thirty Miles -- Won by Lahala, Harry Lynn, Lake Hopatcong, NJ; Tempo VI, Guy Lombardo, Freeport, LI, and Pearl IV, Henry Sieck, Rockwell Centre, L.I., DNF. Time -- 33:35. MPH -- 53.731.

Second Heat. Thirty Miles -- Won by Lahala; Pearl IV second; Tommy Boy, Joe Palmer, Arlington, Va., DNF. Time -- 31:46. MPH -- 57.143.

Third Heat. Thirty Miles -- Won by Pearl IV. Time -- 38:00. MPH -- 47.36.

The Point Score: Lahala, 800; Pearl IV, 700.

(Reprinted from the New York Times, August 15, 1948)

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