1951 APBA Gold Cup
Lake Washington, Seattle WA, August 4, 1951

Nation’s Top Racers To Invade Seattle
From July 29 to August 12 fast boats will compete for the Gold Cup, Seafair and PMB Trophies

The 1951 Gold Cup Remembered Sayres Readies Boat for Defense of Gold Cup in Seattle Race Nation's Top Racers to Invade Seattle New Slo-Mo-Shun May Be Ready For August Races Can They Beat "Slo-Mo-Shun IV"? Are the Big-name Racing Boats Challenging with Revised Hulls? Just Two Boats Qualify Set Speed-boat Record 100 mph Record for Dossins' Craft Miss Pepsi Chief Threat in Gold Cup "Slo-Mo V" Roars to Gold Cup's Fastest Win Slo-Mo-Shun V Wins Gold Cup At Seattle Pilot and Mechanic Killed As Gold Cup Race Boat Sinks Cup Racer Called a "Runaway" Boat Gold Cup Rules Changed Safety Committee Named Death at Seattle Quicksilver (from This is Hydroplaning) Statistics

Seattle’s Lake Washington will be the lodestone for the fastest racing craft in the world the first two weeks in August when three outstanding trophies will be raced for by the inboards. These are the Gold Cup, Seafair, and Pacific Motor Boat trophies.

The course for these three events have been laid out by the Gold Cup committee of the Seattle Yacht Club and Greater Seattle, Inc. Roughly, the races will be run between the Lake Washington bridge and the Bailey Peninsula (Seward Park).

Trials for the unlimited hydroplanes in the 44th competition for the Gold Cup, the nation's top racing classic, will be from July 30 to August 2. Then on Saturday, August 4, the Gold Cup race will be held.

It will be a grueling 90-mile test of men and boats, run in three heats of 10 three-mile laps.

Defending the cup will be Stanley S. Sayres' Slo-Mo-Shun IV. Piloting the boat this year again probably will be Ted Jones, designer of the world's fastest boat.

The first boat to challenge Slo-Mo-Shun IV's title in the Seattle event was Guy Lombardo's Tempo VI, which will come to Seattle from its Freeport, Long Island, berth. Second entry was Gale II, a new boat owned by J. Lee Schoenith.

Other possible entries include a new Hacker-designed craft, the Quicksilver, owned by Orth Mathiot of Portland; My Sweetie, owned by Horace Dodge of Detroit; the Dossin brothers' Miss Pepsi; Jack Schafer's Such Crust I and II; the rebuilt Why Worry of Bill Cantrell, now owned by J. F. Pearson and sporting the new name of Miss Spring Lake; and Morlan Visel's Hurricane IV from Los Angeles.

On Sunday, August 12, the big unlimiteds will race for the Seafair Trophy over a five nautical mile course which will extend down the lake past Seward Park nearly to Mercer Island. This is a new trophy sponsored by the Seattle Seafair committee of Greater Seattle and intended to be a perpetual trophy.

This race will be run in three heats of four 5 nautical mile laps. It is intended to be somewhat similar to the Harmsworth course. The Harmsworth Trophy, which Slo-Mo-Shun IV won last year, will not be raced for this year as there were no foreign challengers.

Also being raced for this year in Seattle for the first time is the Pacific Motor Boat Trophy, a perpetual challenge cup dedicated in 1923. This will be run in three 10-mile heats on the 1⅔ mile course and will be open to all inboards except the unlimited class.

In addition to the three top events, there will be championship races over the course for the 48, 135, and 225-cubic-inch inboards on August 4.

Working out the details on this program for both the accommodation of the racers and the spectator boats is the Gold Cup committee, headed by Jerry Bryant and assisted by Lin Ivey. Other members are Kenneth Metcalf, Thomas Gleed, Phil Smith, Art Shorey, Latham Goble, Frank Morris, Paul Morris, Stanley Donogh, Conrad Knutson, Ross Merrill, Stanley S. Sayres, Lawrence Calvert, and Paul Brown.

With the decision of the Seattle Park department to build a ramp and a road at the Mt. Baker Boat House, adjacent to the race course, plans have been perfected to accommodate all boats at this site. Two Navy cranes will be on shore for lifting boats from the water to their trailers. Five wooden ramps will be built for launching the smaller craft. A building is available for first aid facilities, communications, and desk work that is a part of this tremendous nautical undertaking.

A log boom will be set up on the eastern side of the course to accommodate some of the many spectator craft which will come to view these racing spectacles.

In addition to the inboard events, a full schedule of races for outboards is being set up for all classes on Lake Washington and Green Lake. A 100-mile outboard marathon is planned around Mercer Island, Lake Washington.

Pacific Coast professional outboard championships are scheduled for August 5 and regional stock utility championships August 11, all on Green Lake.

(Reprinted from Pacific Motor Boat, July 1951, pp.20-21)

Hydroplane History Home Page
This page was last revised Thursday, April 01, 2010 .
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated. Email us at wildturnip@gmail.com
© Leslie Field, 2002