1959 Harmsworth Trophy
Detroit River, Detroit, Michigan, August 25-27, 1959

Harmsworth Bid Due for Maverick Maverick's Driver Confidant Engine Error Gives Canada Lead Sad Stead is Ready to 'Open Up' Victory Drive Began in 1951 US Loss Good for Boating Canada 4th Nation Maverick Crew Grim in Defeat Harmsworth Trophy won by Canada Statistics

International power boating’s most important race will begin today on the Detroit River when the U.S. boat Maverick defends the Harmsworth Trophy against the challenge of Canada’s Miss Supertest III.

Behind the wheel of the Maverick will be 34-year-old Nevada rancher Bill Stead, who has climbed to the top of the highly competitive field of hydroplane racing.

In The Detroit News Sports Quiz, conducted yesterday by staff members Harry LeDuc, Larry Middlemas and Paul Preuss, the soft-spoken Stead gave his impressions on the upcoming duel.

• You lost to Miss Supertest last month in the Detroit Memorial Regatta. Is your boat performing better now?

"Much better. It’s a new boat, you know, and we were experimenting here before. That was a poor performance (two seconds and a third in the three heats). Now it’s running excellently. You can see that by the way we won the Gold Cup in Seattle a few weeks ago. Of course, Supertest may be much better, too."

"I think of the Harmsworth as strictly between two boats, not two drivers. Some of the driving tactics that we consider proper in a bigger field might be questionable here. Because of the international prestige of the Harmsworth, I wouldn’t think of doing anything that would cheapen the victory. If I have the faster boat, I’ll win. If Bob Hayward (Supertest’s driver) has the faster boat, he’ll win."

"Yes, that’s true. But maybe you’ve noticed, most races turn into two-boat affairs. Usually two boats are better than the rest and pull away from the pack. Of course, the start and first turn will be just as important as in any other race."

• How about the spectator angle? Will two boats put on as good a show as, say, the Gold Cup or Silver Cup?

"Maybe not, if one boat is much faster than the other. There’s too much at stake to slow up and make a race of it. In other races, if a couple of drivers know they have the best boats, they may say, ‘Let’s give the people a show.’ That is, we’ll still race, but the driver who gets in front will be satisfied just to hold the lead without building up a big margin. Here, if I can pour it on, I’ll do it."

• Will you make your own start in the race or will you base it on what Miss Supertest is doing?

"I’ll definitely make my own start. The two boats undoubtedly accelerate differently."

• Hayward had Supertest out on the river late yesterday practicing runs with the sun in his eyes. Have you done the same?

"The sun hasn’t bothered me in any of the late afternoon races, like the last heat of the Gold Cup. I wear an Air Force smoked-glass face mask, and it cuts down reflections."

"It’s true I’ve never driven anything longer than a 30-mile heat, but I did three of them in one day to win the Gold Cup and felt fine. I could have gone another one."

• The Yachtmen’s Association could have awarded the Harmsworth race to any site it chose. Are you satisfied with the Detroit River?

"It makes no difference to me. I’ll always go along with what the majority wants."

"I wouldn’t say more difficult, but it is different. It’s the only course with a wide turn at one end and a very narrow turn at the other end. Anyplace else, the turns are the same. But as I say, it makes no difference. It’s the same course for both boats."

"I’m not worried. The roughest water we’ve seen this year was at Lake Coeur d’Alene (Ida.). Five boats were damaged and three drivers went to the hospital. We led all the way and set a course record."

• While we’re discussing rough water — Miss Supertest weighs about 1,000 pounds more than Maverick. Will that give the Canadians any advantage if it’s rough?

"Not necessarily. Sometimes a heavy boat can pound too much in rough water. Look what happened in the last Harmsworth in 1956 when Col. Russell Schleeh won in the Shanty. Bill Braden ended up in the hospital after the rough ride he had in the old Supertest."

• Maverick has run more than 200 miles in competition this year, while Miss Supertest’s only race was the 45-mile Detroit Memorial. Do you have an advantage there?

"I think so. You need competition. You can’t learn what your boat can do, just running around by yourself. But the Canadians have only one boat and couldn’t afford to have something happen to it. We had to race even to be picked to represent the U.S."

"Oh, the Gold Cup. It means much more in the United States. But internationally there’s more prestige to the Harmsworth. It’s a great honor to defend the trophy for this country."

"Yes. We’re going all out for the Harmsworth now. Originally, Waggoner (owner William Waggoner) told us to skip the Silver Cup here this Saturday. He was afraid we might hold something back because of another race coming up."

"Yes, we will, after all. He changed his mind, but he still said forget the Silver Cup until this race is over. We’ll also go to Buffalo (Sept. 5-6), but we’ll skip the President’s Cup at Washington and the race at Madison, Ind."

"Waggoner won’t go there because there have been bad crackups. Maybe we’ll skip Coeur d’Alene next year, since Jack Regas was hurt."

• Let’s get back to comparing the Harmsworth boats. What are some of the changes you have made since you were here in July?

"We’ve done a lot of work on the underside, changing the rudder, experimenting with design, adding a spoiler fin, moving the center of gravity. The boat has been completely rebalanced."

"I could use another 10 or 15 miles an hour of peak speed on the straight-\aways. We’ll get it eventually. It usually takes a year to get the maximum performance out of a boat."

"That’s tremendous. I just ran away from everyone on the turns in the Gold Cup."

"It’s a good high-performance boat with a good engine and a good crew. This is the third boat the Thompsons (J. Gordon and his son Jim) have owned, and they’ve been learning more with each one."

• Maverick is one of the few boats to continue using an Allison engine. The Canadian boat, as well as many American boats, use Rolls Royce power plants. Are you satisfied with the Allison?

"We’ve won more races at higher speeds than any other boat this year. Supertest’s engine is higher powered than the Rolls used by American boats, but I think we have enough to match it."

"Just about anything except turning over and ripping all the decking off. Even if the boat should sink, we probably could get it ready again. We have three engines, one for each race. We brought special plywood for patching the hull, our special band saws, other tools and so on. It takes only an hour and a half to change engines."

"Seven men, four paid and three volunteers. Ricky Iglesias, our crew chief, used to work for Ray Crawford at Indianapolis. Bill Newman builds our engines."

"More important than the driver. Most races are won in the work they do beforehand. I just prove whether they were right."

• Most races are run in heats of 15 miles except the Gold Cup which has 30-mile heats. Each Harmsworth race is 45 miles. Do you expect any fuel problem?

"No. We built the boat with the Harmsworth in mind. We carry 200-gallon tanks."

"It’s a strange thing. I thought this might be their year in the Gold Cup. Detroit has good boats, and its drivers are better than any we have in the West. They just don’t seem to get the breaks."

• Now that you’ve taken the Gold Cup to Lake Mead, do you think it will be a good race there?

"It should be. There’s a lot of money in that Las Vegas area. Water conditions usually are good, although it’s too hot to run in the summer. That’s why the Gold Cup will be in October."

"I used to fool around with Chris Crafts and the like on Lake Tahoe. In1949 I bought an old unlimited from Stanley Dollar. In 1952 I bought Morland Visel’s old Hurricane."

"No. I’ve got too many business commitments to go running around the country racing boats all the time."

(Reprinted from the Detroit News, August 25, 1959)

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