1955 APBA Gold Cup
Lake Washington, Seattle WA, August 7, 1955

Gold Cup Regatta
Story and Photos by Kent Hitchcock, Technical Editor
[NOTE: Photos not yet available --LF]

Shift Favors Detroit in Stormy Gold Cup Detroit Takes Gold Cup Gold Cup's Return Celebrated in Detroit Detroit Steals Seattle's Pride Final Results Gold Cup Regatta Slo-Mo V's Flip : A Personal Memory Slo-Mo V : Another Perspective Video of Slo-Mo-Shun V Flip Jim Collier's Painting of the Slo-Mo-Shun V Flip

The Gold Cup is back in the trophy case of the Detroit Yacht Club. The plate for the 1955 winner reads: Gale V, Joe Schoenith . . . D.Y.C. The driver was Lee Schoenith, son of the owner. Lee didn't win one single first place, but he piled up enough points to take the coveted award home to Detroit.

The headlines from the Seattle papers tell the dramatic story of the bitter and confused battle that was waged for boat racing's most honored trophy. Thirteen big thundering Unlimited Hydros put in an appearance at Seattle to attempt to qualify for the world series of boat racing. Several challengers did not appear due to last minute mechanical trouble —including the highly regarded Canadian hydro Miss Supertest II which blew up a supercharger too late to get replacements from England for her Rolls Royce. The dueling started right with the qualifying trials.

Rules for the contest require that each contesting boat must turn three laps of the three and three-quarter mile course at an average of not less than 85 mph and that each driver who did not drive in the previous year's race must pass a driver's examination. Qualifying opened on August 1st, but it was August 3rd before the first official attempt was made. Band Leader Guy Lombardo's new Tempo VII with Danny Foster at the wheel was the first to qualify with a brand new qualifying record of 116.8 mph well above Slo-mo V's mark of 111.632 mph established last year. Tempo handled and turned like a dream and was immediately doped to be a real threat '*i the race. Next out was the "Old Lady," Slo-mo-shun IV herself, with Joe Taggart at the wheel. The Canton, Ohio, driver upped the qualifying record to 117.391 mph — turning one terrific lap at 119.575. The duel was on in earnest.

Third to try was Bill Cantrell in Joe Schoenith's Gale IV. Bill's "Seattle Jinx" was in rare form. It looked like he was on the way to a good hot average when the big Allison developed trouble. Back to the pits for repairs. Jack Schafer's Such Crust III with Walter Kade driving and a pair of Allisons thundering defiance was next to try the run. More tough luck—the "Big Train" pulled up in the North turn and Kade signaled for help. He was sinking. Prompt work by the Coast Guard patrol boats got her in to the pit floats where she sank just beyond reach of the shore crane. She was hauled out in a hurry and found to have a sizeable hole in the transom and missing the rudder.

Several trial runs were made by other challengers and out came Willard Rhodes' new Miss Thriftway, designed by Ted Jones —the same Seattle designer who started the Sayres monopoly of Gold Cup domination with his design of Slo-mo IV. The lake had kicked up under a brisk North wind when Driver Bill Muncey from Detroit brought Thriftway out on the course and Bill worked out a smooth and effortless 103.846 mph average. The moderate speed may have confused the public, but not the racing experts who recognized a smooth running outfit in far from perfect water and wind conditions.

The water was marvelous all day Thursday but it was all wasted until 6 o'clock in the evening. Everyone was making repairs. The driver's committee of Joe Schoenith, Joe Taggart, Lee Schoenith, Bill Cantrell and Referee Mel Crook passed their O. K. on three new drivers: Bill Muncey, Jack Regas and Marion Cooper, reserve driver for the Slo-mo team.

Frank Saile, Jr. put Miss Cadillac through at an average of 96.222 mph. Lee Schoenith in Gale V was next at 112.782. George Simon's Miss U. S. with Jack Bartlow driving sheared off a pin which allowed the prop to slide back into the rudder — more rapid fire repair to do. The Ted Jones-Kirn Armistead entry of Rebel Suh with Lt. Col. Russ Schleeh in the cockpit qualified at 106.187 mph. Schleeh, a jet pilot who had never driven a boat before trying out Rebel Suh at Seattle had trouble holding the spirited outfit in to the buoys on the turns. Night and day work was the order for the boats that still had to qualify — a test run for some and then more modifications.

The Howard Gidovlenko-Ray Crawford entry of Zephyr Fury with considerable aircraft design evident in her hull failed to run or handle to expectations. Sponsons were altered, a new strut installed and countless other changes but the owners finally gave up the battle. Co-owner Ray Crawford, winner of the Mexican Road Race and driver of his own Indianapolis car stated that we would be out again next year with a new one of conventional design.

Breathless, the entry of J. Philip Murphy of Oakland with son Jay in cockpit was first to qualify on Friday — averaging 95.093 mph. Scooter Too the entry of Industrialist Henry Kaiser of Lake Tahoe with Jack Regas doing the driving averaged 94.362 mph. The Kaiser boat, just completed and much in need of testing and adjustments, had a flock of backers in the large visiting California contingent. Kaiser explained: "This boat really be-longs to the employees . . . They helped build her in their spare time. She is a real family project. Miss U. S. with owner-driver George Simon who placed second in the 1954 Gold Cup qualified his outfit at 102.092 mph.

Seattle papers of August 4th carried the news that Referee Mel Crook had banned the flying starts through the span of the floating bridge. This tactic was started by Lou Fageol in his first race in Slo Mo. Last year Wha' Hoppen Too, milling around for the start with the rest of the field, nearly clipped Fageol as he came out from under the bridge at better than 150 mph. Crook's ruling was made in the interest of safety as provided for in the A.P.B.A. rules. The newspapers and radio made a big to-do out of the ruling and the inference was that Crook had "sold out" to the Detroit contingent. Friday morning Crook resigned as Referee with the statement that the pressure applied to him over this incident made his position untenable. Up jumped the Devil. The Committee announced that Stanley Donough would replace Crook as Referee, subject to O. K. from the A.P.B.A. Racing Commission. Donough immediately announced that he would rescind Crook's starting rulings if he were approved. The Detroit and California drivers informed the press via radio, newspapers and television that they would not start the race if the starting ruling were rescinded. It was a mad merry mixup with Race Committee meetings constantly. Donough was approved as Referee but the ban on the flying start from the bridge was upheld by Committee action.

The next battle occurred when the driver's committee announced that Lt. Col. Russ Schleeh, driver of Rebel Suh, was barred because of inexperience. The Rebel Suh and Thriftway teams immediately announced a boycott if Schleeh were barred. This hassle raged for 24 hours. The meeting of the Gold Cup drivers recommended that Schleeh be permitted to drive.

Peace was restored and Saturday arrived on schedule with excellent weather. Rebel Suh, just out testing, broke the quill shaft which drives the blower, and the outlook was dark. The Slo-mo team with plenty of parts and man power helped the Ted Jones crew get her going again. Fageol came out for a test run in Slo Mo V, the first since he was injured a week previously when he was nearly tossed out of the boat when he hit a cruiser wake at better than 160 mph. It was a surprise to the committee when he appeared on the course on Saturday morning to test out the "V" ... He ran a couple of fast laps at 109 and then very nearly "lost the boat" when she slid and caught on the South turn. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon Fageol came out to qualify. He turned in two laps at the identical speed of 117.391 mph and then came the most sensational flip on record. "Lead Foot" Lou was blistering the back stretch at well over 160 mph when the "V" came off the water a quarter of a mile from the North turn. A careful driver would have backed off and put the outfit back on the water, but not Fageol. He kept the pressure on and the big job finally took off—clear up and over in a complete "loop-the-loop." Fageol was hurled from the cockpit at the top of the loop and dropped into the water like a rag doll — arms and legs at every angle. The "V" came down almost flat — but a bit by the transom, throwing a burst of spray into the air as the boat hit the water — and then continued on toward the Floating Bridge without a driver The automatic throttle took over and the outfit came to a stop . . . Two teen-age youngsters in an outboard patrol boat were first to reach the injured driver . . . . they held his head above water until the C.G. patrol boat arrived. Marvelous rescue work — he was on the patrol boat in 50 seconds after the crash occurred and three and one-half minutes later was turned over to the ambulance crew on the dock. Fageol regained consciousness several times and took oxygen on the way to the hospital where he was given a blood transfusion and emergency treatment. Preliminary examination showed four broken ribs, a punctured lung and possible back injuries. Slo-mo V showed little damage to the casual inspection. The rudder was gone and half of the transom ripped out, but she probably was well wracked and strained. Sayres announced at once that no attempt would be made to repair the boat in time for the race. The Slo-mo team was down to one defender — the "Old Lady." Comment in the pits wondered why Fageol risked the boat, the Gold Cup and his neck . . . when anything over 85 mph would have qualified the boat.

The roads to the course and the spectator area around the pits were jammed — an estimated 2000 people camped on the beach in their "staked out claims" to reserve space for the races. Sunday morning . . . THIS is the day of the big race . . . Wow! Seven in the morning and the SPEED and SPRAY crew of Peg and Kent Hitchcock, Elgin and Pop Gates and Katie and Bill Lane fought their way through a few hundred thousand spectators to the pits and the press barge. Official passes helped, but it was still a battle. Night and day the Such Crust crew had labored to repair the "Big Train". Walter Kade brought her out on the course and she sailed through the qualifying laps with the greatest of ease. The field was complete: eleven boats . . . Miss U. S. took a trial run and trouble developed. Owner George Simon asked for 30 minutes delay, but then discovered that the trouble was too deep seated to be repaired in a hurry and the boat was withdrawn.

The five minute gun . . Such Crust III refused to fire off ... they found the trouble too late . . . a 50¢ ignition switch had failed to start a $50,000 hydro . . . THERE THEY GO! Slo-mo-shun IV was first across the line, but Gale V broke into the lead . . . Gale IV was next and then came Cadillac and Tempo VII. Scooter Too was the tough luck baby ... hit a milk bottle on the run to the line and ripped a two foot hole in the bottom. Regas saved the boat with a fast run to the beach where the Kaiser entry was taken off the bottom by the salvage barge.

Tempo hit something on the North turn and the jolt blew off the gas cap and spilled high test into the bilge . . . a spark fired off the volatile mixture and Driver Danny Foster was burned on the arm. He was forced to withdraw and make a run for the pits. Slo-mo passed Gale V on the South turn of the third lap and held a nine second lead at the start of the 4th lap. From this point on positions did not change much although Breathless was lapped by the three leading boats. Both Slo-mo and Gale V broke the heat record set up by the Dossin Brother's Miss Pepsi in 1951. Slo-mo's new heat record was 103.159 mph and she also set a new lap record of 107 mph in the first lap. The Committee pulled a colossal boo-boo and permitted the field to run 9 laps before giving the leader the checkered flag.

SECOND HEAT . . . Miss Thriftway and Gale V broke fast at the start with Such Crust III in the third position and Slo-mo fourth. Everybody was screaming . Thriftway led by five seconds at the third lap and increased her lead to 12 seconds in the fourth as Slo-mo passed Such Crust. Bill Cantrell's Seattle jinx got into high gear on the first turn. The rig threw a rod and that was all for Bill. Slo-mo after passing Such Crust gained rapidly on Gale V, but Muncey in Thriftway was clinging to a 24 second lead in the fourth lap and went on to win with a healthy margin. Breathless and Cadillac were both lapped by the leaders. The best lap was 105.47 by Thriftway in the third lap.

THIRD HEAT . . . Taggart thrilled the crowd with a "Sunday School" start passing Miss Cadillac at the starting line. Gale V was second in the front straightaway but gave way to Miss Thriftway in the South turn. This was a real battle as Walter Kade jammed Such Crust ahead of Thriftway on the back stretch to take over third spot. Slo-mo IV held her lead to the 6th lap with Such Crust fighting off the constant pressure from Miss Thriftway. Half a million spectators cheered when Muncey poured on the coal and passed Such Crust in the back stretch of the 5th lap and took out after Taggart in Slo-Mo. At the 6th lap the challenger was just one second behind and as Muncey was making his bid to take the lead — Taggart pulled off the course with the hull smoldering due to a break in the exhaust system. Right here is where Muncey made his big mistake. With the heat in the bag, he apparently forgot that he needed 35 seconds to beat out the Gale for the 400 point bonus on total elapsed time. He elected to save his outfit for a sure finish and backed off on the pressure.

Muncey thought he had it all cinched and after completing an extra lap pulled up to the official barge for the victory celebration. The committee announced absolutely nothing and the show went on. A half million people screamed their delight that another Seattle boat had brought home the bacon — television cameras ground out the celebration on the official barge — Muncey was called on to talk over a dozen assorted radio networks. His crew arrived from the pits. He kissed his wife a dozen times for the photographers and then was thrown in the water as the traditional ceremony that goes to all winners of a great aquatic event. THEN CAME THE BLOW! The P.A. system that had been quiet for the past 30 minutes suddenly came to life with the announcement that the Committee would announce the official results of the race in 30 minutes . . . Oh what a let down . . . to this moment and sometimes afterwards — there had been no announcement of the official elapsed times of the race . . . Television cameras were packed away . . . newspaper reporters had filed their final stories . . . radio networks were signing off the air . . . and then the rumor crept out . . . Gale V had saved her time over Thriftway and the trophy would go back to Detroit ... CONFUSION REIGNED .. .

The rules of the Gold Cup contest are different than those of any other boat race in the world. The Gold Cup is a contest of 90 miles of racing and the fathers that wrote the rules for scoring placed a premium on both speed and endurance. A 400 point bonus is awarded to the boat that makes the fastest heat BUT that boat must complete all three heats to collect that bonus. Slo-mo IV ran the fastest heat but could not collect the bonus as she failed to finish the 90 miles. A bonus of 400 points goes to the boat that completes the 90 miles in the least elapsed time. This is the item that upset the apple cart. Lee Schoenith in Gale V didn't win a single heat but he completed the 90 miles 4 and 53/100th seconds faster than Bill Muncey in Miss Thriftway. That 400 points was the margin of victory...

Here is the way the points totals wound up:

(Gale V awarded bonus points for covering the 90-mile race distance in the shortest elapsed time.)

It was a terrific show . . . Stan Sayres says that he "might" retire . . . The Navy's fantastic Blue Angels and maximum performance pilot, Ed McKellar, Lt. (j.g. ), flying Gruman F9F8 Navy Cougers put on an intermission show that had the half million spectators wilting in their seats. This was a day of days for boat racing . . . Money, Marbles or chalk says that the Slo-mo team will be at Detroit next year to try and return the famous old cup to the Seattle Yacht Club.

(Reprinted from Speed and Spray, August 1955)

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