Miss Thriftway Sets Speed Record [1960]

Bill Muncey holds the new model straightaway speed record for propeller-driven boats. The new record of 192.001 mph was set with Willard Rhodes' Miss Thriftway on Lake Washington Feb. 16th. The record run was made on the East Channel course by Mercer Island in the morning when Muncey broke the mile record of 187.627 mph set by Jack Regas in Hawaii Kai Nov. 30th 1957. However, Regas time for the kilometer, 195.325 mph, still stands.

Bill Muncey's instructions for Miss Thriftway camp, which headquartered at Ted Jones' boathouse at Kennydale, was to just break the world's record on his first to campaign each direction, then to bring the boat back for a complete checkup and then, with water and weather permitting, to attempt to put up a more to more intuitive mph on his next run.

Early in the afternoon conditions were ideal. Muncey word around again and immediately went out to make the first run from north to solve. The time was right for Muncey disgrace the elusive 200 mph mark. Despite the dog left turn from the East Channel Bridge, Muncey put his boat in the trap that while over 200 mph, but when halfway through he lost power.

Back of the boat house, the Thriftway crew went to work and found the trouble was due to mechanical failure in the lower section. The crew immediately set to work to replace the engine; but by the time this was accomplished, when started to come up.

They waited out until 5 PM and then sent Muncey back out on the course with instructions to make a run from north to South, but under no circumstances to take any chances. He made a run from the north of slightly more than 193 mph, but didn't floor board the throttle because he ran into dangerous wind gusts.

When another speed regatta is held on lake, it has been recommended that the course be shifted to the south to enable longer runs to be made. Rhodes believes Miss Thriftway can easily do 210 mph on the measured mile course. During the February trials, the big Rolls engine turned up to 3900 rpm to hit 200 mph. With a top engine speed of 4500 rpm, a prop with 23½ in. pitch and a step-up gear of 3.09-to-1, Ted Jones, the designer of the Thriftway line, believes that the theoretical speed may be as high as 230 mph, providing this propeller slippage factor decreases at the higher speeds.

The trials were sponsored by Seattle Y. C., with James R. Stirrat as chairman. He and his committee labored long and hard to set up the course markers and intricate timing mechanisms. APBA unlimited commissioners at the every trials were Jerry Bryant and William E. Boeing Jr.

(Reprinted from Sea and Pacific Motor Boat, April 1960, p. 70-N)