1956 APBA Gold Cup Race
Detroit River, Detroit MI, September 1, 1956
Boating Body Holds Hearing on Gold Cup
Washington, DC, September 16 [1956] (AP) — Willard E. Rhodes of Seattle charged tonight that his speedboat, Miss Thriftway, was disqualified in this year’s Gold cup races because Detroit regatta officials were determined to keep the coveted trophy in their city.
Rhodes and his boating associates testified along with Gold cup committee witnesses at an American Power Boat Association hearing on the hotly contested race verdict.
Miss Thriftway apparently won the cup at Detroit two weeks ago but was disqualified for allegedly smashing a buoy in the last heat. The victory went to Miss Pepsi, a Detroit boat owned by Roy Dossin.
W. Melvin Crook, head of the investigating committee, said the association’s inboard racing Commission would probably render its decision early next week. The hearing group will pass along its recommendations privately to the sixteen-member commission.
John Carter, chairman of the race committee, said he ordered the disqualification on the basis of eyewitness accounts, testimony of stake boat observers, films and an examination of Miss Thriftway.
He said on edge of the craft was streaked with orange paint, the same color as the buoy, and the bottom of the hull section bore apparently fresh scratches.
Robert gill, an official observer, Hugh Cameron and Robert Drott, spectators, and Robert McElory, a non-competing driver who watched the race from a near-by hotel room, each said they saw the boat strike the buoy.
Thriftway’s driver, Bill Muncey of Detroit, stated he "definitely did not hit a buoy."
Rhodes said motion pictures of the incident proved Thriftway missed the marker.
(Reprinted from United Press International, September, 16, 1956)
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