1905 St. Lawrence River Y.C. Regatta

St. Lawrence River Power Boat Races

The power boat races of the St. Lawrence River Y.C., at Alexandria, Monday, August 28th, were all that could be desired from a spectacular standpoint. The start and finish were off the Thousand Islands Hotel, a prominent point on the river, and in full view of the crowd of spectators who turned out for the occasion. The program called for two races: Class A, open to all boats 40 ft. or under of any recognized yacht club; Class B, for boats of 35 ft. and over. At the last moment a special race was arranged for Roma, Papoose and Flip.

Standard was reported disabled and unable to get ready in time, while T.Z.R., in Class A, was unable to compete, owing to a broken base of the engine.

The principal event of the day, the race between Panhard II, Radium and Vingt-et-Un II, was spoiled, owing to Radium and Vingt-et-Un II breaking down.

Radium and So Long, both of which blew up at the Chippewa Y.C. race, were on hand with new engines. Both A. R. Peacock, owner of Radium, and George Hasbrouck, owner of So Long, bought boats with similar engines, installed them in their boats, and were ready at the starting time, quite a creditable performance. Both these boats were blown up by the use of ether in the gasolene. Mr. Hasbrouck stated that he put 7 ounces of ether to 18 gallons of gasolene, while in the case of Radium the engineer put in 2 ounces to 20 gallons. The builder of the engine, unaware of this, put in another 2 ounces, with the result that both boats were put out of commission. It seems to be quite common on the St. Lawrence to report to such methods, to get a few extra revolutions. In one case the writer learned that one individual used picric acid regularly in the gasolene when speeding his boat.

The first race, Class A, between Roma, Flip and Papoose, was started at 2:55 p.m. Flip was first across, closely followed by Roma, with Papoose about a length behind. All got away in good shape, and soon disappeared down the river. These three boats made a very good race and Papoose, steered by her owner, and engine handled by Mr. Barber, the builder, finished first, but was protested by Roma for having turned a buoy on the wrong side. As the buoy was more or less a range the error did not amount to much, and Papoose would have won easily anyhow, but the committee had no alternative than to allow the protest, and Roma was awarded first place, Flip getting second prize.

Rochester and So Long in the second race, Class A, put up a very poor performance. T.Z.R., the other entry, failed to show up, and when the gun was fired Rochester was some distance from the line and was handicapped 34 seconds. Quite unfortunately a cylinder gasket blew out on the fourth cylinder and Rochester came in slowly, without finishing a round. So Long, having practically a walk-over, finishing at 5:17:18.

The start in Class B, Panhard II, Radium and Vingt-et-Un II at 4:17 p.m., was perfect. All got over the line with the gun, close alongside of each other and inches apart.

Radium soon dropped back, and when last seen Panhard II was leading slightly. Radium was not expected to do anything startling, since she was leaking, and the canvas which had been pasted on after the Chippewa accident hung off in large pieces. At 4:36 Panhard II finished the first round, making the turn in fine style. Just 1 minute and 5 seconds later Vingt-et-Un II turned and went after Panhard. Nothing was seen of Radium, and later she was seen in tow on the opposite side of the river, headed for the owner's boathouse. Panhard II completed the second round at 4:55, followed shortly by Vingt-et-Un II, disabled and in tow of a small launch. On the third round after leaving the home buoy, Panhard II stopped and floated about for 5 minutes, finally got going, and finished the race at 5:41:14.

About 4 o'clock it began to rain hard and many of the spectators left the course. Those fortunate enough to own or to be invited on board the many yachts about, remained for the finish, and Panhard II got a royal salute as she dashed over the line, her exhaust cracking like a gatling gun.

The races were managed by W. B. Hayden, of the committee, and were run off without a hitch. Summary:

First race--Class C
Boat, owner Start Time
Roma, Louis Hunt 2:55:00 1:42:50
Papoose, Fitz Hunt 2:55:00 1:41:45
Flip, W. H. Beebe 2:55:00 1:44:10

 

Second race--Class A
Boat, owner Start Time
So Long, Geo. Hasbrouck 3:10:00 2:07:18
T.Z.R., A. B. Richardson disabled  
Rochester, W. J. Graham did not finish  

Roma protested Papoose for turning wrong side of buoy and wins first prize

Third race--Class B
Panhard II, Louis Masannet 4:17:00 1:24:14
Radium, A. R. Peacock did not finish  
Vingt-et-Un II, W. S. Kilmer did not finish  

 

(Transcribed from Power Boat News, Sep. 9, 1905, pp. 442-443 )

[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page. — LF]