1953 President's Cup
Potomac River, Washington, DC, September 20, 1953
President's Cup Regatta = Power
Those who came to Washington on Sept. 19 and 20 to watch the East Coast debut of Slo-Mo-Shun V, expecting to see Stan Sayres' Seattle contender run away and hide from the competition, were disappointed. With the grim opposition presented by eight other unlimited craft, driftwood, and the wretched water conditions common to the Potomac River course, driver Lou Fageol had to battle from start to finish to collect enough points to capture the President's Cup.
In addition to Slo-Mo, the entries consisted of Joe Schoenith's Gale II, driven by Lee Schoenith; Miss Great Lakes, owned by Albin Fallon and driven by Danny Foster; George Simon at the wheel of his own Miss United States; Frank Saile's Miss Wayne, piloted by Doc Terry; Walter Kade, handling Horace Dodge's My Sweetie; Chuck Thompson in Jack Schafer's Such Crust III; Such Crust V, belonging to Liz Schafer and driven by Bill Cantrell; and Tempo, Guy Lombardo's old campaigner, with Phil Maresca driving.
At the start of the first 15-mile heat, Foster moved Great Lakes out front. By the first turn Fageol had worked Slo-Mo into position immediately behind Foster and there he stayed for the first three laps. Once, while trying to pass Great Lakes on the up-wind backstretch, the Seattle craft took off and remained airborne for several hundred yards. Somehow Fageol managed to bring her down safely. On the fourth circuit Slo-Mo passed Great Lakes and held the lead to the finish. Fallon's boat, running low on fuel, managed to take second ahead of Gale, Crust III, Crust V, Miss United States, Miss Wayne and Tempo which followed in that order. My Sweetie failed to finish.
Tempo and Miss United States, battered by the rough going during the first heat, dropped out of the remainder of the contest. In the second heat, Fageol shoved Slo-Mo into the lead before reaching the first turn and kept her there until he received the checkered flag. Great Lakes was put out of contention when a piece of drift knocked a large hole in her bottom and she had to be beached. Kade, who had been treated to several wild swerves by My Sweetie, on the second lap of the second heat caught one that tossed him violently overboard. The boat remained upright but Walter, after floating for long minutes in the path of the race boats, was rescued and hospitalized with shock and a broken foot. Second place in the heat went to Such Crust V, followed by Crust III, Gale and Miss Wayne.
Since President's Cup scoring includes fastest heat and fastest race bonuses of 400 points each, it was still anyone's race at this stage. Slo-Mo was on top with 800 points, but so high were the others' scores that Fageol knew he had to win either heat or race bonus points to be sure of victory.
At the start of the third heat, Thompson jumped to the front with Crust III. Fageol, on the inside, pushed Slo-Mo almost even with the Schafer boat as they reached the first turn. At this juncture Thompson wheeled for the first buoy, leaving Fageol no place to go. Lou simultaneously lifted his foot and rammed the large steel buoy. This combination catapulted him into the cowling, then smashed him back into the seat with a deep cut in his left thigh. Bleeding profusely, and giddy with pain, Lou made an attempt to catch Thompson for two laps-then settled ' into second spot.
Slo-Mos two 1st and one 2nd, plus a bonus for her record 90.708 m.p.h. over the 45 miles, gave her the trophy. Crust III took second and was credited with the best heat (93.918) and lap (95.490) . The others in the order of final standing were Crust V, Gale, Miss Wayne, Miss United States and Tempo.
Water conditions discouraged many boats of the smaller classes from leaving. the pits, caused a high proportion of casualties among the starters and kept speeds below normal. Winners by classes, were:
AU Outboard Runabout Ronald Zuback
BU Outboard Runabout Larry Reber
CU Outboard Runabout E. H. Hornberger
B Stock Outboard Hydro Arthur Harris
A Outboard Hydro Gil Petermann
B Outboard Hydro Al Harjes
C Outboard Hydro Emil Mayer
44 Inboard Runabout Lil Joe II Don Devault
48 Inboard Hvdro Jim Boy III-W. H. Harrison
PODH Kitty B IV Rodney Brogden
136 Inboard Hydro Wanton Duchess Billy Brown
135 Inboard Hydro Wabbit Twacks Roy Broyhill
266 Inboard Hydro Wee Tommy Tucker E. A. Aleksandrowicz
E Service Inboard Rbt. Vaughan Francis E. Walker
D Service Inboard Rbt. Skip H. M. Bickford
7 Litre So Long Ray Fageol
--W. Melvin Crook
(Reprinted from Yachting, November 1953)
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