1951 APBA Gold Cup
Lake Washington, Seattle Washington, August 4 & 12,
1951
Can They Beat Slo-Mo-Shun IV?
That stirring question and many others will draw a quarter-million fans — and more — to Seattle from July 29-August 12 to see the USA’s greatest assemblage of high-revving boat racers …
Gold cup. Seafair Trophy. Pacific Motor Boat Trophy. Outboard Championships. Record-shattering mile races. For 15 days, hinged around the official Seafair, August 2-12, Seattle, will have the greatest concentration of speedboat racing ever seen.
Wild imaginations can hardly estimate the people all over the glove who will have heard about, or followed intensely, the events on Lake Washington — the lake already made famous by varsity crew racing.
It’s the greatest racing program ever held along the Pacific Coast. It will draw more thrilled spectators than the Yankees ever drew for a World Series. There’ll be more people lining shore and log-boom than ever packed a Kentucky Derby.
There is enough anticipation in what’s coming up to thrill everyone. There will be the nation’s finest racing hulls. Unlimited in class, they wil shoot the works to try and unseat the famous champion, Slo-Mo-Shun IV. Can they do it? How much more speed will they get out of their revised hulls? Will the "Slo-Mo" team shoot the works and lay that throttle open wider than ever before in an official race? Will owner Stanley Sayres have his new racer ready and thus have two entries in the race? All these conjectures being built up around these great events are adding to the racing excitement.
Gold Cup
Saturday, August 4, will be a highlight day of all time for Pacific Coast racing. It will be the 44th running of the famed Gold Cup race for unlimited hydroplanes. The first time held on the Pacific Coast. It will draw a big entry list of famous eastern boats and drivers competing against western stalwarts.
The Gold Cup is the same race that was won last year at Detroit by Seattle’s Stanley Sayres and his record-breaking Slo-Mo-Shun IV.
Coming right back this year to try and unseat the Sayres’ entry will be most of the famous racers. As this issue went to press, the complete entry list was not jelled. Guy Lombardo, with his Tempo VI, of the same line of boats in which he tried for world records several years ago on Southern California’s Salton Sea, is a definite starter.
Gale II, a brand new boat, will be brought out by J. Lee Schoenith. She has several key features in advanced design. Horace Dodge will have My Sweetie, and possibly a second entry. F.W. Pearson is expected with Miss Spring Lake. Well-known driver Bill Cantrell is to be on hand with one of these entries.
For a long time there had been a question that Jack Schaeffer of Detroit would have one or both of his classy racers out for the Gold Cup. At PMB presstime he had filed his entry.
His two boats, Such Crust I and II have been modified and steeped up for the ’51 season. New Rolls Royce engines have replaced the Allisons in both boats and deliver more horsepower.
These boats were racing in the International Maple Leaf events at Detroit, July 1, when Such Crusdt I blew a rod clear through the engine. Reports of the race indicate that "II" has been changed in name to Golden Crust [sic, Gold’n Crust]. Many changes have been made in the boat, itself.
Schoenith tuned up his two boats, Gale I and II, in the same Maple Leaf events. The Gale II is the new Dan Arena-built boat. The why Worry with Bil Cantrell at the wheel lost a rudder doing 140-mph. How much fast Why Worry will go still is a moot question, but there is no doubt that all the Slo-Mo-Shun challengers will be faster this year.
The Pacific Coast will be cheering Morlan Visel’s Hurricane IV, which has gone through some changes to make her a tougher competitor.
Orth Mathiot, the towboat man from Portland, Ore., with years of speed racing and development to his credit, will pep up the racing with his Quicksilver. He has indicated that he doesn’t expect to outrun the champion on the straightaways, but has served notice that his Quicksilver will be driving a tough race.
Henry Kaiser, the shipbuilding and auto man, has two high-powered boats, and will at least have Hot Metal in the race. She’s a big metal craft, loaded with power, and capable of upsetting the field.
Besides all these key-owner names, the crews and drivers will be interspersed with men like Dan Arena, Lou Fageol and Ted Jones, fellows who build, design and race these fastest of all boats.
(Reprinted from Pacific Motor Boat, August 1951, pp. 8-10)
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