1908 Hudson River Carnival

Motorboat Vision Lost

Was Equipped for Speed with Engine from Vanderbilt Cup Winner

When the carnival of motorboat racing opens to-day in the Hudson River off the anchorage of the Colonial Yacht Club, foot of West 138th Street, one of the fast boats that had been picked to give the international cup winner, Dixie II, a hard fight will be missing. This new craft was the Vision, but she is now supposed to be lying somewhere at the bottom of the sea off Long Beach. At least that is the best information that the owners of the boat, F. F. Goodman and W. B. Craighead, have been able to secure since the boat went adrift last Wednesday night while being towed to the city from Rockaway Inlet.

The boat presented some interesting combinations of hull and engine, and while she might not have been able to show her heels to Dixie II, the fact that her engine was the same that was in the Darraq, Vanderbilt Cup winner in the 1905 race, would indicate that her chances for speed were fairly good. The hull was designed by Charles Herreshoff about three years ago for the late Frank Croker, but since his death the boat has been laid up in Providence. It was purchased a few weeks ago, through Henry J. Gielow of this city, by the F. F. Goodman Company, which also purchased the old stock of Darraq automobiles.

The opening event to-day will be the championship mile speed trials, in which Dixie II, Artful, Den, Sparrow and Kittrois, with a few others, will be among the starters. The start will be made at 2:30 o'clock from a point off the Columbia Rowing Club, foot of 115th Street, and the race will be over a measured nautical mile course to the southward. The free-for-all races will be the feature to-morrow. Wednesday will be devoted to the long distance races, over a dozen cruising boats being entered for the sixty-mile run to Peekskill and back, while the racing craft will race to Poughkeepsie and back, about 145 miles. Both of these events will be started at 9:30 o'clock in the morning. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday the series of races will be held for the International, National, and Inter-State perpetual trophies. All of the races will be governed by the rules of the American Powerboat Association.

The treasury department has assigned two revenue cutters to patrol the course, and the committee has been informed that the officers intend to rigidly enforce all rules and regulations regarding the patrolling of the course during the races, and to prevent in every way any interference by other craft that may be present to witness the races.

(Transcribed from the New York Times, Sep. 21, 1908, p. 8. )

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