1955 Presidents Cup

Potomac River, Washington DC, Sept. 17-18, 1955

Tempo VII Wins Presidents Cup

Proving herself tops in the field of nine of the nation's top unlimited hydros, Guy Lombardo's Tempo VII, driven by Danny Foster, pounded out a hard-earned victory in the 24th running of the Presidents Cup Race at Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17-18.

Observance of the new A.P.B.A. six boat maximum on unlimited class starting fields required that the contenders be split by lot into two qualifying lights. Drawn for the first section of he first heat were Philip Murphy's Breathless, piloted by the owner's son Jay; Lee Schoenith at the wheel of his lad's Gale V; Bud Saile driving his Miss Cadillac; Willard Rhodes' Miss Thriftway, steered by Bill Muncey; and Tempo. Foster dominated this first qualifying round, winning with ease over Thriftway, Gale V, Cadillac, and Breathless, which finished in that order. In the process Tempo cracked two existing records, both set a year ago by Bill Cantrell in Gale IV. Foster's fourth lap speed of 103.647 wiped out the standing lap mark of 98.4 and his rate of 100.709 for the 15-mile heat topped :he old standard of 95.775.

The line-up for the second qualifying section of the first heat consisted of Horace Dodge's Dora My Sweetie, driven by Don Wilson; Joseph Schoenith's Gale IV with Bill Cantrell in the cockpit; the Dossin Bros'. Miss Pepsi, steered by Chuck Thompson; and George Simon driving his own Miss U.S. This one turned into an easy touch for Pepsi which won at an average of 95.643, followed by Miss U.S. and Dora. Gale IV was unable to finish.

As required by the rules, a redrawing was held for the second heat. Oddly enough, this resulted in the same groupings as before, except that Breathless shifted groups. Miss Pepsi again won her section, at a shade better than 99 m.p.h. She was trailed, in order, by Gale IV, U.S. and Dora. Breathless did not finish.

At the start of the second section Tempo stalled in the early stages of her run to the line. Before Foster could fire her up, the fleet had made a good half lap. At the finish it was Gale V out in front, trailed by Thriftway, Cadillac and Tempo.

With the two heats completed, Pepsi was top boat with 800 points. Gale V had 625, Thriftway 600, Tempo 569, and Miss U.S. 525, Dora and Cadillac were tied at 394 but the advantage and the coveted sixth spot in the third heat went to Cadillac by virtue of the lesser elapsed time.

All the six eligibles commenced their starting run for the third heat unusually early. Most of them sensed their error and hung back, but George Simon broke for the line fast and put Miss U.S. over a good 4 secs, before "clock zero." Close on his tail came Chuck Thompson, pushing the high point holding Miss Pepsi in close pursuit.

Foster was caught in the pack of those making a fair start and drove into the first turn blinded by spray. This hindrance to vision caused him to miss a marker. By the time he had re-rounded it, Tempo was a very poor last. But Danny seemed more intent than ever to get in front. Driving like a demon he slowly closed the gap between Tempo and the leaders. He caught Cadillac on the third lap. Gale V on the fourth, and Thriftway on the fifth. Only two boats led Tempo over the finish line—Pepsi and Miss U.S. — but both of these had to'be scored "DSQ" for their premature starts.

As a finale to the two-day program there were run two heats for the William Rogers Memorial Trophy. Vying for this beautiful award were Breathless, Dora, Miss Pepsi and Miss U.S. The crowd all but universally expected Pepsi to walk off with both heats handily. Their surprise was audible as Jack Bartlow put U.S. over the start first in both heats and, driving as though the throttle were stuck full open, was never headed. His speed for the first heat was 100.297; for the second, an even 100.

Winners in the other classes were:

--- W. Melvin Crook

(Reprinted from Yachting, October 1955)