A new safety committee has been named to help the Gold Cup Contest Board establish more rigid qualifying rules for drivers and boats. This was one of the aftermaths of this year's Gold Cup Regatta at Seattle when there were fatalities for the first time in the history of the 47-year-old Gold Cup. Orth Mathiot of Portland, Ore., and his mechanic, Tom Whittaker, were killed when their boat, Quicksilver, went to the bottom.

The Gold Cup Contest Board has increased the qualifying speed for trials from 65 to 75 m. p. h., has increased the minimum overall length of Gold Cup craft from 10 to 20 feet and has standardized the lap length at three miles with a minimum of five buoys on each turn of a Gold Cup course.

The present Gold Cup Contest Board includes Horace E. Dodge, R. Stanley Dollar, Walter J. Dossin, Albin F. Fallon, Charles P. Hanley, Howard Hughes, Henry J. Kaiser, Charles Klein, Guy Lombardo, Daniel J. Murphy, D. Cameron Peck, Chester S. Ricker, George Sarant, Stanley S. Sayres, Jack Schafer, Edward J. Schoenherr, Vincent Turner and Morlan Visel. New names added are Jerry Bryant of Seattle and Joseph Schoenith of Detroit. The new Safety Committee comprises Messrs. Sayres and Dodge and three drivers and designers, Bill Cantrell, Chuck Thompson and Dan Arena.

[Reprinted from the New York Times, September 2, 1951]