1907 Hudson River Water Carnival
Motor Boat Races On Hudson River
Over Three Dozen Craft to Compete in Big Annual Carnival Week
Mile Trials Hold Interest
Dixie Entered for the International Cup -- Long Distance Races and Reliability Tests
The annual race week carnival of the Motor Boat Club of America on the Hudson this week will be the one event in motor boat racing of the year. The elaborate plans of Jamestown and other points announced early in the year have almost all failed of communication. The motor boat owners have apparently not wanted racing and regatta after regatta has been a dismal failure. The Motor Boat club has gotten together the biggest entry list that it has ever had, has included all the events that are likely to prove attractive to motor boat owners, and if it fails of success in the end there will be reason to believe that there is no chance to resuscitate the sport.
There are upward of three dozen boats named to start in the various events in the Hudson carnival.
The mile trials against time are expected to be the big feature of this week. They are to be held on Tuesday morning with eight boats nominated to compete. These include E. J. Schroeder's Dixie, holder of the British International Cup, won in England this year, as well as the American championship and the record for the fastest mile in competition; J. A. Anderson's Irene of Philadelphia, Jacob Siegel's Xpdnc, L. F. Leland's new Italian boat equipped with a Zust engine, Walter Ferguson's fast White Fox, J. H. Hoadley's Den II, H. N. Baruch's Skedaddle, and Charles J. Swain's Sparrow.
The International Challenge Cup races will be the most interesting. These races will occur on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Dixie, Den and Irene are entered, while it is expected that Alamo, the Texas boat, will also start. All four are likely to race in the open free for all without time allowance, while no allowance is made in the International races. In all other contests the boats will receive allowances according to their ratings.
For the National trials there are two entrants -- Xpdnc and Skedaddle -- the two being boats of over forty feet length, while the Inter-State trophy, boats of under thirty-three feet length, there will be a number of promising boats.
There is the other event that will attract considerable attention -- the Reliability trials on Monday.
The week's programme calls for: Monday -- Reliability trials; Tuesday -- Mile trials in the morning and free-for-all in the afternoon; Wednesday -- Series races for all classes; Thursday -- Series races; Friday -- Series races; Saturday -- Long distance races to Poughkeepsie for speed boats, to Peekskill for winners, dory races in afternoon.
(Excerpts transcribed from the New York Times, Sep. 22, 1907, sect. IX p. 2)
[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page — LF]