1925 Dodge Memorial - Gold Cup Class Participation [August Running]
The Dodge Memorial Trophy Race
All of the boats entered for the Gold Cup Race were eligible for the Dodge Memorial Trophy, to be run in four heats of 12 miles each. It was run the following day, yet only five boats showed up and no more than four ran in any one heat. It was a gift to Baby Bootlegger, which won all four heats in speeds below what she was forced to do in the Gold Cup Race. Baby Shadow was out with a new engine, but it had not been worn in and she only ran two heats. She is a beautiful running boat in smooth water, but a bit of a sea bothers her, whereas Baby Bootlegger seemed to revel in a chop, and was not apparently slowed down by it at all.
If the two major events did not prove everything that the owners of the boats hoped for, there were other classes that did. The Miami Beach One-Design Class gave the spectators a real thrill every time the boats turned out for one of the four heats, and gave the owners and drivers a run for their money. Here was a class of little 18-footers, all identical and each with the same engine, a 6-cylinder Scripps, presumably adjusted to the same speed. When they jumped away at the crack of the starter's gun, ail in a bunch, they tore up the waters of Manhasset Bay as if a Gulf Stream squall had swept them. There were ten of these little beggars and they ran the 12-mile heats at better than 38 miles per hour.
Running as smoothly as if she were out only on a practice spin Teaser with her big Wright-Aero engines kept dropping the miles behind her in the 105-mile International race. She was nearly two-thirds of a lap ahead of Miss Palm Beach when she flashed across the finish line a winner.
(Reprinted from Yachting, October 1925, pp. 21-24, 64+)