1948 National Sweepstakes
Navesink River, Red Bank, NJ, August 21-22, 1948

Aljo V Takes National Sweepstakes Speed-Boat Honors on North Shrewsbury
Van Blerck Craft 2d In Final Heat
Aljo V, With 700 Points in 2 Days, Annexes Sweepstakes Prize at Red Bank
Lynn's Lahala Runner-Up
Speed Boat Auerbach Trophy Victor – Also -- Z-Z-Zip Wins -- Mishaps Mark Event
By Clarence E. Lovejoy Special to The New Yom Times

Red Bank Regatta Set for Aug. 21-22 Van Blerck’s Speed Boat Triumphs in Opening Heat of National Sweepstakes Aljo V Takes National Sweepstakes Speed-Boat Honors on North Shrewsbury National Sweepstakes at Red Bank

RED BANK, N. J., Aug. 22 -- Instead of any one boat running, away with the cups, bowls and silver plate trophies, the two-day Red Bank regatta wound up tonight, as gray skies and the rumble of approaching thunderstorms began to darken the North Shrewsbury River, with three speed craft sharing top honors.

Aljo V, the red 225-cubic-inch class entry, of Joe Van Blerck Jr. of Freeport, L.I., added a second place in today's second and final heat to the winning first heat of yesterday to carry off the Sweepstakes crown. with 700 points.

Two gold cup class rivals had to play second fiddle in the curious scramble of the featured event Guy Lombardo's Tempo VI encountered more starting and battery trouble, and when it was seen the Allison-powered favorite could not hit the starting line on -time, Lombardo took over the steering wheel of Harry Lynn's LaHaLa from Lake Hopatcong.

He pushed the accelerator down to the floor boards to win the second heat at a speed of 88.91 miles an hour and attain second place in the scoring.

LaHaLa's regular driver, Norman Lauterbach of Ventnor, N.J., had a good deal of consolation, however. In placing second twice yesterday and once more today, LaHaLa piled up 904 points to capture the Emil Auerbach trophy and might have gone on to take the' Red Bank Gold Cup free-forall at the twilight end of the program except for a typical speedboat regatta accident.

Near the end of the ten miles a propeller blade sheared off and then the other blade and the wheel's hub tore loose to crash through the LaHaLa's hull. A Coast Guard picket boat on duty for such emergencies took LaHaLa in tow and beached her in shallow water to avert a complete sinking.

As a,, consequence, the free-forall went to a 225 craft, Z-Z-Zip, owned and piloted by Sid Street Jr. of Kansas City, Mo., with a speed of 65.124 m.p.h. Street earlier captured the 225 event on better elapsed times, although his point score of 700 was the same as Merlyn Culver's, Yankee Doodle from Dayton, Ohio.

A succession of accidents began soon after mid-day- when Pancho, driven by Leston W. Cloak, president of the American Inboard Association, with Harold Singer as mechanic, came out from the pits just in time to be smacked by Fred Schmusser's Class F outboard hydroplane from Richardson Park, Del., just emerging from the adjoining outboard pits.

Schmusser, knocked cold by the impact which badly damaged his hydroplane, might have drowned if Singer had not dived into the Shrewsbury to haul him to safety and start him toward first aid at a local hospital. Schmusser will be able to race again, but his hydroplane will need major repairs.

In the Class F event for outboard hydroplanes, Lawrence Buedel of Essex, Md., side-swiped Skiff Connor’s craft 'from Baltimore, eliminating both of them.

In the first heat of Class C, Harold Curry Jr. of Richmond, Va., capsized and in the Class B race, Emil Mayer of College Point L. L, was catapulted into the water on a curling wave that also threw his motor into the river while his craft continued on right-side up.

Vic Scott of Forest Hills, who it always a dangerous competitor when four-cylinder outboards come out from the pits, carried off the Class F event, an open race for both amateurs and professionals, with 700 points. He triumphed in the first heat and placed second in the final behind Byron Shannon of Audubon, N. J.

Frank Desmond of Bernardsville, N.J., scored a victory in the Class B event for amateurs, not -because he won either of the heats but because his two second places totaled a winning 600 points, He trailed John Schoolcraft Jr. of Schenectady, - N. Y., in the first five-mile test and Thomas Von Mello Jr. of Taunton, Mass., in the second.

In windjammer events, Herb Cox of Red Bank led the Lightning meet ahead of Lloyd Lawrence of Fair Haven and Charlie Allaire of Red Bank. The Comet Class honors went to Dave Hodgens of Red Bank, With Hank Miltenberger of Red Bank the runner-up and Jack Melko of Perth Amboy third.

 

1	Tempo VI, Guy Lombardo. Freeport. L.I., 76.044 m.p.h.
2	LaHaLa, Harry Lynn, Lake Hopatcong, N.J., 75.282
3	Blitz II, John M. Bogie, Saranac Lake. N.Y. 55.532;
4	Pearl IV, Henry Sieck, Long Island City. N.Y. 55.044.

Point Standing

 

1	Z-Z-Zip
2	Blitz II
3	Aljo V
4	Chaz II, Charles Klein, Long Beach, L.I.

MPH: 65.124

(Reprinted from the New York Times, August 23, 1948)

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