1907 Cowes Regatta
British Motor-Boat Club
The British Motor-Boat Club also began its meeting at Cowes yesterday. Starters were fairly numerous, 19 boats in all competing on the day's programme. The first race for the Dewar Challenge Cup (a cup value 10 pounds presented by the club for the first boat winning on the M.M.A.. rating), and prizes of 5 and 3 pounds attracted four starters. These were Lord Howard de Walden's Daimler I and Daimler II, which stood down for the rating prize; Mr. J. M. Gorham's Quicksilver, and Mr. Fred May's Defender, the last-named boat taking 10 1/4 minutes allowance on its rating from Quicksilver. The course of 27 nautical miles was laid from the committee boat (Mr. O. D. Coll's ketch yacht Xebec), moored off old castle point, East Cowes, to the No. 7 R. W. Check Fairway buoy off Ryde, and back to the starting line; three times around. Daimler I led across a second after gun fire, followed by Quicksilver and Defender five lengths astern, and Daimler II, a long way behind. The last-named boat, however, steered by Mr. A. J. Fentiman, soon hauled out a long lead, and finished nearly 15 minutes ahead of Daimler I, its nearest antagonist, which was running very badly. Even Daimler II was by no means running very well, for it took 3min. 23sec. longer to cover the course than it did to Dover--the British International Cup course last Friday, which was eight miles longer. Its total time was 1hr. 20min. 48sec. Quicksilver finished nearly three-quarters of an hour layer, and easily succeeded in giving away the allowance to Defender, which finished 12min. astern. The lap times were:
| First Round | Second Round | Third Round | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daimler II (winner) | 27min. 36sec. | 27min. 35sec. | 25min. 37sec. |
| Daimler I | 31min. 3sec. | 32min. 36sec. | 30min. 11sec. |
| Quicksilver (winner club cup) | 50min. 14sec. | 40min. 7sec. | 33min. 6sec. |
| Defender | 53min. 30sec. | 27min. 11sec. | 42min. 26sec. |
(Excerpts transcribed from the Times of London, Aug. 6, 1907, p. 10.)
[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page. — LF]