1951 Season Summary
Statistics
| Date | Event | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 2 | Steel Cup | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| 2 | June 30 | Maple Leaf Trophy | Windsor, Ontario |
| July 7-8 | Detroit Memorial [1st running - cancelled] | Detroit Michigan | |
| 3 | August 4 | Cambridge Gold Cup | Cambridge, Maryland |
| 4 | August 4 | APBA Gold Cup | Seattle, Washington |
| 5 | August 5 | Marine Derby | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 6 | August 12 | Seafair Trophy | Seattle, Washington |
| 7 | August 12 | National Sweepstakes | Red Bank, New Jersey |
| 8 | August 12 | Red Bank Gold Cup | Red Bank, New Jersey |
| 9 | August 12 | Lake Tahoe Championship | Tahoe City, California |
| August 18-19 | ?? | Buffalo, New York | |
| 10 | September 1 | Detroit Memorial [2nd running] | Detroit, Michigan |
| 11 | September 3 | O.J. Mulford Silver Cup | Detroit, Michigan |
| 11A. | September 9 | Harwood Trophy Race | New York City |
| 12 | September 23 | Presidents Cup | Washington, D.C. |
| 13 | September 23 | American Speedboat Championship | Washington, D.C. |
| 14 | September 30 | Imperial Gold Cup | New Martinsville, West Virginia |
| 15 | October 14 | Indiana Governor's Cup | Madison, Indiana |
| Date | Winner | Driver | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 02-Jun | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson |
| 2 | 30-Jun | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson |
| 3 | 04-Aug | Betty V | Vince Swing |
| 4 | 04-Aug | Slo-mo-shun V | Lou Fageol |
| 5 | 05-Aug | You All | Bob Rowland |
| 6 | 11-Aug | Slo-mo-shun V | Ted Jones |
| 7 | 12-Aug | Tempo VI | Guy Lombardo |
| 8 | 12-Aug | You All | Bob Rowland |
| 9 | 12-Aug | Fleur Du Lac | Max Collins |
| 10 | 01-Sep | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson |
| 11 | 03-Sep | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson |
| 11A | 09-Sep | Davy Jones | Jack Kraemer |
| 12 | 23-Sep | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson |
| 13 | 23-Sep | Gale II | Lee Schoenith |
| 14 | 30-Sep | My Sweetie (2) | Bill Cantrell |
| 15 | 14-Oct | Hornet | Marion Cooper |
| Winner | Crew Chief | Designer | Builder | Engine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/2 | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson | John Hacker | Les Staudacher | Allisons |
| 6/30 | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson | John Hacker | Les Staudacher | Allisons |
| 7/7 | [Postponed] | — | — | — | — |
| 8/4 | Slo-mo-shun V | Elmer Linenschmidt | Ted Jones | Ted Jones | Allison |
| 8/11 | Slo-mo-shun V | Elmer Linenschmidt | Ted Jones | Ted Jones | Allison |
| 8/12 | Tempo VI | Amp Orth | Arno Apel | Ventnor | Allison |
| 8/12 | You All | Bob Rowland | H. Lauterbach | Henry Lauterbach | — |
| 9/1 | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson | John Hacker | Les Staudacher | Allisons |
| 9/3 | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson | John Hacker | Les Staudacher | Allisons |
| 9/23 | Miss Pepsi (2) | Chuck Thompson | John Hacker | Les Staudacher | Allisons |
| 9/30 | My Sweetie (2) | Ed Mackenzie | John Hacker | Les Staudacher | Allisons |
| Driver High Points | — | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chuck Thompson | 666 |
| 2 | Lee Schoenith | 537 |
| 3 | Lou Fageol | 520 |
| 4 | Ted Jones | 410 |
| 5 | Bill Cantrell | 384 |
| 6 | Danny Foster | 258 |
| 7 | Walt Kade | 219 |
| 8 | Morlan Visel | 150 |
| 9 | Stan Dollar | 120 |
| 10 | Orth Mathiot | 120 |
| 11 | Roy Duby | 120 |
| 12 | Horace Dodge | 90 |
| 13 | Al D'Eath | 66 |
| 14 | Guy Lombardo | 60 |
| 15 | George Davis | 35 |
| 16 | Lyle Ritchie | 30 |
| 17 | Joe Van Blerck | 20 |
| 18 | Andy Marcy | 0 |
| 19 | Max Collins | 0 |
| 20 | Bob Dawson | 0 |
| 21 | Roland Flanagan | 0 |
| Built | Boat High Points | Team Points | — | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1950 | Miss Pepsi (2) | 1035 | — |
| 2 | 1951 | Gale II | 954 | — |
| 3 | 1951 | Hornet (3) | 795 | — |
| Why Worry (4) | — | (15-00) | ||
| 4 | 1951 | Slo-mo-shun V | 600 | — |
| 5 | 1950 | Slo-mo-shun IV | 450 | — |
| 6 | 1949 | Delphine X | 438 | — |
| 7 | 1948 | Hurricane IV | 360 | -8 |
| 8 | 1948 | My Sweetie (1) | 240 | (7-390) |
| 9 | 1948 | Such Crust | 201 | — |
| 10 | 1951 | Quicksilver | 180 | — |
| 11 | 1951 | My Sweetie (2) | 150 | — |
| 12 | 1949 | Gold'n Crust | 135 | -11 |
| 13 | 1940 | Gale I | 112 | -12 |
| 14 | 1938 | Tempo VI | 80 | -13 |
| 15 | 1939 | It's A Wonder | 35 | -14 |
| 16 | 1951 | Guided Missile | 0 | — |
| 17 | 1950 | Dee Jay V | 0 | — |
| 18 | 1948 | Fleur Du Lac | 0 | — |
| 19 | 1950 | My Darling | 0 | — |
| 20 | 1951 | Chesapeake Cat | 0 | — |
| 21 | 1938 | Fury | 0 | — |
The question of Slo-mo-shun IV versus Miss Pepsi was complicated by the debut of Slo-mo-shun V and the construction of three point prop riders by Bill Cantrell and Dan Arena.
Slo-mo-shun V was a little wider than Slo-mo IV and was built for competition rather than straightaway runs. The new Cantrell boat - Hornet - was picked by the designer to be his mount for the Gold Cup over My Sweetie who showed an ability to finish within hailing distance of Slo-mo-shun IV at the end of the season. The new Arena boat Gale II was to be run by the Schoeniths who had not distinguished themselves in 1950.
There was renewed hope for Such Crust I since she had been set .up to run with a surface propeller and had another 800 horsepower with her new Rolls-Merlin engine. Danny Foster who had won two race in 1950 was still in her cockpit.
Miss Pepsi had no trouble from anybody in the first two races and was a strong favorite to win the Gold Cup especially since she was the fastest qualifier by 7 m.p.h. at 100.500 including a lap at 104.247 m.p.h. Such Crust I although turning in a less than scintillating performance in the initial two regattas was next at 93.348 doing one lap at 97.035 m.p.h. which was about what Pepsi and Slo-mo could do in competition. Hornet with no starts and little running time was not impressive in qualifying.
Prime defender turned out to be Slo-mo-shun V who was third on the qualifying ladder at 91.370, but was able to turn three laps at 103 m.p.h.with Lou Fageol at her helm. Original driver designer Ted Jones hurt his hand before the contest causing him to wear a hand brace on his right hand. Fageol was named driver of the unproven in competition Slo-mo-shun V before the race. Jones moved to Slo-mo-shun IV whose function was to run as safety boat in case the rabbit entry Slo-mo V came to grief.
Slo-mo-shun V got out in front in heat one, was closely tailed by Miss Pepsi until she went dead after four laps and then went on to lap the field. Hornet was next followed by Slo-mo-shun IV who had trouble getting by Gale II to finish third.
In the second heat Slo-mo-shun V again got out in front and was trailed by her sister ship Slo-mo-shun IV for several laps after Miss Pepsi went dead in the initial turn of lap 1. Hornet, now driven by Danny Foster, moved up on the IV and went by in a middle lap to finish second. Slo-mo-shun V was first and Slo-mo-shun IV was third.
Heading into the final heat the point score was Slo-mo-shun V (800), Hornet (600), Slo-mo-shun IV (450), Hurricane IV (296), Gale II (264) and My Sweetie (198). Although only Hornet and Slo-mo-shun IV could overcome Slo-mo-shun V's point total by winning the final heat, Hurricane IV, Gale II, and My Sweetie along with the aforementioned two were eligible for bonus points and thus could still take the regatta. There were 800 unanswered bonus points available for the fastest heat and the fastest race.
Slo-mo-shun V was a shoo-in to win the final with Miss Pepsi out. The V had about 6 m.p.h. on the field and with a 3½ minute elapsed time advantage virtually could lose the Cup only by a failure to finish. Since Slo-mo-shun IV was 150 points behind Hornet and 38 seconds behind the latter in time, it would be difficult for her to win the race by taking the final heat if Slo-mo V went dead.
At the start of the third heat Hornet tried to block the trio of boats making their start from under the floating bridge. Slo-mo-shun V avoided the block, but Hurricane IV suffered some grief. At any rate Slo-mo-shun V led the field into the first turn followed by Hornet and Slo-mo-shun IV another under the bridge starter. When Hornet died, Slo-mo-shun IV moved up to second. Slo-mo-shun IV then struck out after her sister Slo-mo-hun V. At the end of the first lap it was Slo-mo-shun V, Slo-mo-shun IV, Hurricane IV, My Sweetie and Quicksilver.
Gale II had not yet started. In the second lap Hurricane IV developed trouble and headed for the pits. Slo-mo-shun V continued to lead followed by Slo-mo-shun IV, My Sweetie and Quicksilver. Gale II was just starting the heat. In the third lap Quicksilver was going after My Sweetie for third place, but nosed in and flipped her driver and riding mechanic out, killing them both.
In due course an effort was made to stop down the heat, but the leaders were not halted until the eighth lap. Slo-mo-shun V was far out front followed by Slo-mo-shun IV and My Sweetie. Hurricane IV as mentioned above dropped out and Gale II caught fire.
Unlike Slo-mo-shun IV in 1950, Slo-mo-shun V's victory in 1951 was overwhelming. The only boat that could run with her - Miss Pepsi - could not finish a heat. Slo-mo-shun V's fastest lap at 97.560 puts her in the same class as Miss Pepsi and Slo-mo-shun IV in 1950.
Slo-mo-shun IV was about 5 m.p.h. slower in lap speed than expected. It was reported that she was driven as a safety boat, but she was not close enough to get the job done in the event of a Slo-mo V failure unless she got a break from her competitors. Her driver Ted Jones' right hand was injured, but you drive a boat mainly with your left hand. It would appear that Slo-mo-shun IV was not mechanically sound for the defense of her championship.
Lou Fageol drove the IV the next weekend in the Seafair Trophy and was nearly 4 m.p.h. faster than Slo-mo V in lap times. The IV clearly defeated V in the second heat and would have taken the first heat, but for #5 sneaking by when some trailing boats were encountered.
In the final heat Slo-mo-shun V beat IV down the last back-stretch to win by less than a second-about her margin in the first heat. Despite the design improvements in Slo-mo-shun V, her sister Slo-mo-shun IV was a very formidable adversary.
Neither Slo-mo went east and Miss Pepsi had little trouble with the opposition in the Ford Memorial in which she had an eight m.p.h. advantage and the Silver Cup in which she had a 12 m.p.h. on the field. In the latter regatta she renewed her membership in the top contender club by doing a 3 mile lap at 98.089 m.p.h. At the Presidents Cup she apparently had only a 3 m.p.h. margin, but swept all three heats anyway.
As before the season the question still remained whether Stan Sayres of Seattle or the Dossin Brothers of Detroit had the faster boat. If we go on lap times Miss Pepsi was quicker by lh m.p.h. If we decide the issue on the race course, Slo-mo-shun V was superior.
[Statistics from Greene, V.1, except for Harwood Trophy]