1953 Silver Cup
Detroit River, Detroit MI, September 7, 1953


Six Boats To Race At Detroit Today
Slo-Mo-Shun V to Use Power Steering, New Feature, in Silver Cup Classic
By Clarence E. Lovejoy, Special to The New York Times

bullet Bartley Sr. Wins On Detroit River
bullet Six Boats To Race At Detroit Today
bullet Gale II Takes Silver Cup Regatta as Slo-mo-shun V is Forced Out
bullet Statistics

DETROIT, Sept. 6 [1953] — Tomorrow's Silver Cup race here for speed boats of limited size and power will have a brand new push-button feature.

For the first time in regatta history a craft will have power steering similar to an automobile. This new mechanism was rigged on the stern transom of Stanley Sayres' Slo-Mo-Shun V today for trial runs by her driver, Lou Fageol, and his alternate, Joe Taggart.

Why no other of these super-speed creations have tried this feature, it is hard to say. Boats capable of better than three miles a minute on straightaways frequently need almost superhuman strength on the part of the driver.

Sayres said tonight this was especially true in the ranges between 90 and 110 miles an hour where the torque pulls the strongest. He calls the new device a Chrysler power assist.

Five Heats Listed

Five twelve-mile heats Monday afternoon for the Silver Cup will put Slo-Mo V with its Rolls-Royce Merlin engine against several Detroiters and one Canadian.

The three-mile laps will be raced in front of the Detroit Y. C. This is America's largest yacht club with 3,000 members. It has three long piers into the Detroit River producing berths for the cruiser fleet.

Most of the entrants had test runs today and the first heat at 1 o'clock is expected to bring out from the pits the following:

Such Crust III, powered with two aircraft Allisons, owned by Jack Schafer and driven by Chuck Thompson.

Such Crust V, single Allison, owned by Schafer, driven by Bill Cantrell.

Gale II, single Allison, owned by Joseph Schoenith, driven by his son, Lee Schoenith.

Miss Great Lakes II, single Allison, owned by Albin Fallon, driven by Danny Foster.

Miss Supertest, single Allison, owned by J. G. Thomson, London, Ont., driven by Bill Braden, Watertown, Ont.

Engineering Clinics Held

Speedboat owners, drivers, mechanics and officials crowded sessions today of a morning and afternoon boat engineering clinic, moderated by Harold Youngren, former chief engineer of Ford Motor Company.

One of the topics was jet propelled and jet turbine speedboats and whether Great Britain might use one in what may be her challenge next year for the Harmsworth Trophy, held by the United States since 1920.

Douglas Knowles of Continental Aviation and Engineering Company, led a lively discussion about these engines which are lighter, smaller and more powerful than the conventional piston engines.

Other speakers u the clinic were Earl Twining of the Champion Company on spark plugs; Kenneth Hollister of the Texas Company on lubrication; Paul Engstrom of Gray Marine Motors on manifolds: Martin Headman of Western Gear Company on gear box design, and Robert V. Kerley of Ethyl Corporation on fuels. Ted Jones, designer and one of the early drivers of Slo-Mo-Shun but now with Kiekhaefer Corporation, also spoke, thrilling the audience with details about the design and construction of the Slo-Mo fleet.

The Yachtsmen's Association of America, which sponsors Harmsworth races, held a breakfast meeting presided over by Senior Vice Commodore J. Lee Barrett. Other speakers were Edward Bodkin and Leonard H. Thompson.

[Reprinted from the New York Times, September 7, 1953]


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