John M. L. Rutherfurd

In the World of Yachting: John M. L. Rutherfurd [1934]

To John M. L. Rutherfurd, who is admired by his fellow yachtsmen as much for his gracious personality as for his skill and sportsmanship as a driver of racing motor boats, speed over the water is meat and drink. As this is being read he is probably tearing up and down the inland waterways of Florida in his trim white racer, Imp, commuting between Palm Beach, his winter residence, and Miami; or tuning up the two new Packard engines which he recently installed in Imp to make her eligible for the forthcoming International 12-Litre races in Florida, and also for the future Gold Cup Class events.

"Jack" Rutherfurd started his racing career in the high-powered stock runabout classes and successfully barnstormed the coast from Massachusetts to Florida, entering every possible event. In the fall, when racing in the North comes to an end, he migrates to the South in order to get more of it.

Two of his better known stock racers are Becky and Why Not, both of which have garnered for her owner a large and varied assortment of silverware. Imp, the famous old Gold Cup racer, is the latest addition to the Rutherfurd fleet, and in her he has entered innumerable races, always with his equally skilled wife, Mrs. Maud Rutherfurd, riding by his side. He has not yet achieved real success with Imp, due largely to a troublesome engine. However, with her new motors and Rutherfurd's steady hand at the wheel, Imp’s wake will bear watching.

John M. L. Rutherfurd is a resident of Sands Point, Long Island, in the summer, and of Palm Beach in the winter. Among his many club memberships he counts the New York Yacht Club, the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club, and the Montauk Yacht Club.

(Reprinted from Yachting, February 1934)