1952 Orange Bowl Regatta
Foulke to Get Trophy
William N. Mansfield of Miami, chairman of the Orange Bowl Marine Committee, is in charge of a unique speed boat ceremony to be held Wednesday at luncheon at Toots Shor’s to honor the first award of the new Baker Palladium trophy. This will be presented to Franklin Foulke of Essex, Md., who won the new prize for the first time on Biscayne Bay, Dec. 28, 1952. At that time the trophy had not been completed.
Made of pure palladium, one of the precious metals in the platinum group, it is valued at $7,500 and is described as the costliest trophy in power boat competition. The donor is Charles Engelhardt of Newark and the basic idea is to make it the perpetual symbol of an international "Grand Prix." One of the invited guests Wednesday will be Denise Darcel.
Foulke, a speed boat daredevil and a former dirt track auto driver, regards the two days of Dec. 28 and 29 as containing the biggest thrills of his racing career. In addition to winning the Baker Palladium trophy with his 266 cubic-inch hydroplane Sagana XIII, he qualified for Gulf’s 100-mile-an-hour-club on a time trial straightaway at a speed of 114.48. The next day his wife, Mrs. Mildred Foulke, became the first woman to drive faster than 100 miles an hour. She was clocked at 111.28 and they became the first husband and wife team to qualify for the 100-mile-an-hour-club. They have won some 525 trophies and have broken thirty-seven inboard records.
[Reprinted from the New York Times, May 31, 1953]
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