1910 MVPBA Regatta
What They Will Do at Peoria, Ill., This Summer
A remarkable test of the free-for-all style of racing, with no limitations save the length over all, will be made during the Mississippi Valley Power Boat regatta in Peoria, under the auspices of the Illinois Valley Yacht Club, on July 4, 5 and 6.
Four 20-foot wonders, carrying from 60 to 120 horsepower each, have entered in the 40-foot free-for-all championship class. Under M.V.P.B.A. and Western P. B.A. racing rules any boat under 40 feet is eligible. That lets in the smallest of the flyers. These four little fellows will compete against boats like Hoosier Boy, from Rising Sun, Ind.; Independence II, from St. Louis; Courier from Buffalo; Red Top II from Bellevue, Ia.; and other 40-footers with unlimited horsepower, besides several 32-footers, notable among which will be the Syracuse Engine Company’s entry, the Reagen, from Davenport, Ia., and the Beat It, a Chicago free-for-all contender.
One of the 20-footers is entered by W. E. Hughey, of Bellevue, Ia., who will have four starters in all, making a whole race meeting himself. This little boat will carry six cylinders, 4½ by 5 each. It will be met by a St. Louis entry of unknown power, but designed and powered to beat MV, last year’s 20-foot champion. R. H. Truitt, of Chillicothe, has designed a 20-footer, for a Peoria syndicate, calculated to carry 120 horsepower, while William Carrier, of Peoria, enters a 20-footer with a concave hull, equipped with a six-cylinder motor.
One thousand dollars in cash besides the $1,000 Webb trophy cup goes to the winner of this race; $200 cash to second place. Merchandise prizes have been hung up for third, fourth and fifth prizes in the 40, 32, 26 and 20-foot classes. Cash in sums of $100 down to $50 will be paid for firsts and seconds.
Cash to the amount of $300 has been put up for a decorated boat parade on the night of July 5. This purse is cut ten different ways in order to allow prizes for that number of boats. This event, like the speed classes, is open to any recognized boat club owner in the world.
The result of these races will probably influence the making of racing rules for the whole country. Should the free-for-all style in every class prove as successful this year as it proved successful in the Western Power Boat Association’s regatta here last August, the St. Charles, Mo., Centennial regatta last October and the Burlington, Ia., M.V.P.B.A. regatta last July, there will never be any further question, at least in the Central West, over racing rules.
The Illinois Valley Yachts Club opened the season with a matinee of racing on Memorial Day; will run off the annual endurance race to Henry, Ill., a distance of 34 miles, on June 29; will stage the Mississippi regatta July 4, 5, 6 and the Western Power Boat Association’s regatta on August 30 and 31.
(Transcribed from Yachting, June 1910, pp. 544, 546.)
[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page — LF]