1909 Fourth of July Regatta
Happy Heine Winner
Crosses Line First in Four-Mile Motor-Boat Race
Time Is 11 Minutes 9 Seconds — Two-Mile Race Won by Kinney Mac In 6 Minutes 34 Seconds
Despite the rain and threatening cloud banks, the Willamette Motor Boat Club held a series of races on the Willamette River yesterday afternoon, which are said to be the most successful events of the kind ever given here.
Three races were run, but one of these was a disappointment, and that only because one of the boats entered was found to be troubled by her engines and was forced to withdraw before the course was finished. The other races were highly satisfactory.
D. Mecklin's Kinney Mac won the first race by covering the two-mile course in 6 minutes and 34 seconds, while J. Scareth's Jug won second honors. R. Jameson's Lonesome crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified because of having beaten her tryout time, which made her ineligible for this class. The Sterling was also entered in this race, but shortly after starting a sparking coil broke, and she had to leave the course.
Several fast boats started in the Class C event, which furnished keenest competition. This race was won by Captain Milton Smith's Happy Heine, navigated by Otto Ranft and Al Klingbeil. The time of the Happy Heine over the four-mile course was 11 minutes and 9 seconds. Siegfried brothers' Augusta took second honors in this event.
The Happy Heine was then matched in a special event with Dr. C. B. Brown's Vixen, but the latter craft broke down shortly after the start and had to retire from the course.
George Kelly, commodore of the Motor Boat Club, was absent, and the races were conducted by a committee composed of George Kinnear, A. Fleming, Dr. W. V. Spencer. D. Mecklin and L. M. Meyers. A meeting of the club is called for July 12, when the club will discuss the special tax levied against motor boats and other river craft.
(Transcribed from the Morning Oregonian, July 6, 1909, p. 16.)
[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page — LF]