1933 National Sweepstakes

Navesink River, Red Bank, New Jersey, August 12, 1933

El Lagarto Wins the Sweepstakes

The National Sweepstakes Trophy was the major prize in competition at the Regatta of the Red Bank Regatta Association on August 12. This race designed for competition among single-engined speed boats of all kinds was intended particularly to provide some additional competition for boats of the Gold Cup Class. Entries had been promised from at least four well known Gold Cup boats although at the last minute only two appeared ready to run. These were El Lagarto owned by George Reis from Lake George, and Imp now owned by Jack Rutherfurd. Entries had been promised from Miss Columbia and Miss Philadelphia but neither appeared at the starting line. Other boats taking part in this race were a peculiar hydroplane called Bus-Skee owned by Walter A. Buskee of Lake Hopatcong; Me-Too a Liberty powered Gar Wood runabout, owned and driven by William Berri of the Columbia Yacht Club, and Betty III formerly the Detroit Sweepstakes winner, Rowdy, owned by W. F. Cook of Lake George. Of these El Lagarto might be described as the defender, since she held the Sweepstakes trophy by virtue of having won it a year ago.

The race consisted of three heats of fifteen miles each. These were spread over the program so as to give an opportunity for refueling and servicing between the heats. The first heat saw the five boats get away together in a beautiful start and El Lagarto soon jumped into the lead followed by Bus-Skee and Imp. Imp presented the greatest threat to El Lagarto as she was equally fast. Unfortunately she never finished the first heat, being forced out on the fourth lap by mechanical trouble. Her mishap left El Lagarto without serious competition and she was able to finish all three heats more or less as she pleased. Bus-Skee was the next fastest of the entrants and had no trouble in placing second in the first and second heats. Me-Too took third place, while Betty III was also forced out of the running in the first heat during the fourth lap.

Except for the absence of Imp, the second heat was more or less a repetition of the first. Betty III had remedied her troubles and was again in the running although she never did get up to full speed and finished a poor last. El Lagarto stayed just far enough in front of Bus-Skee to assure him of the heat and at no time was it necessary to open her engines up. The third heat varied the routine slightly in that George Reis allowed Bus-Skee to take the lead and contented himself with teasing the Gar Wood runabout for second place. For the six laps the order of boats varied little as Bus-Skee was followed by El Lagarto and Me Too in that order throughout. Betty III kept losing ground and withdrew during the fifth lap.

The 125 inch hydroplanes were represented in the racing by three veterans of this class. These were Emancipator II owned by S. M. Auerbach of Chicago, Flying Eagle owned by Edison Hedges of Atlantic City, both-powered with Gray engines, and Chotsie IV owned by Dr. C. H. Bagley. These three were the only competitors in the class and they were to race two five mile heats of two laps each. Emancipator had no trouble in beating Flying Eagle in the first heat by about 16 seconds. Chotsie was a poor third. The second heat reversed the situation as Emancipator stopped for a brief interval and Flying Eagle passed her. She was never able to make up the lost time so that the best she could do was second place in the second heat. This gave each boat a first and a second, tying the point score. The decision then rested on the best elapsed time and Emancipator got first place on this basis.

The speeds established in the outboard events which appeared earlier in the program as well as in the events for the larger boats were surprisingly high and doubt was expressed by the officials present as to the accuracy of the course. Chas. F. Chapman, Secretary of the American Power Boat Association Racing Commission, under whose sanction the regatta was being conducted, ruled that the course was not correct and no records would be allowed. The Surveyor was ordered to re-check the position of the buoys and found later that several of these had been dragged out of their correct position between the time they were originally placed and the day of the races. The outboard course was found to be short, the discrepancy in the case of the 1½ mile circle used for these events being as much as 12 per cent under the required distance. The longer 2½ mile course was also checked. It seems that one of the course buoys had disappeared between the day of the races and the time the survey crew rechecked the positions but in spite of this its length was reported to be correct. Since the speeds made by the boats in the Sweepstakes and 125 inch events were unusually high there is a reasonable doubt whether the racing commission will approve the speeds made as records.

The outboards turned out in force to make this regatta a success. In fact there were so many outboard drivers that Class A, which was run for both Division I and II drivers, attracted some twenty-two starters. This great fleet of out boards circling around a 1¼ mile course provided some of the big thrills of the day. Naturally in such congested waters, it was inevitable that some of the drivers were unable to avoid the wash of others and a few were spilled over in practically every event. Aside from a wetting there were no serious consequences. All the races were to be decided on the point system and the first heat was won by Phil Bowers who was first over the line closely followed by Fred Chase, Jack Van Deman and Sam Crooks. Of these, all but Chase were Division I drivers. The second heat was again taken by Phil Bowers with James Nunneley and Jack Van Demon right at his heels. Lewis Carlisle also managed to nose out the first Division II driver to finish in this heat. In final standing Phil Bowers secured first place, Jack Van Demon second, and James Nunneley third. All of these are Division I men and in Division II Fred Chase was the winner, followed by Ted Roberts and Wilfred Roberts.

The Class B race was run as an open event and attracted 16 starters. Cab Waller was able to win both the first and second heats without great opposition and James Nunneley secured second place in the first heat, beating Paul Sawyer over the line by about a second and a half. Second place in the second heat went to Bud Reid while third place went to George Pitmen In final standing on points Waller took first place, Plungis second and Reid third. Class C was again run as a combined event for Division I and II drivers and in the first heat Joel Thorne was first over the line at the finish closely followed by Walier and once again an amateur had beaten a professional. Bill Chilton took second place and Phil Ellsworth third place in the Division I group, while Bill Feldhusen and Leon Roger took second and third in the Division II group. The second heat brought out about the same number, that is, seventeen starters and this time Feldhusen proved to be the winner of the heat closely followed by Waller in Division II with Ells-worth, Chilton and Crooks who finished within three seconds of one another and took first, second, and third place in Division I. The final point standing in this division was Ellsworth first. Chilton second, and Thorne third, while in the Division II group Feldhusen, Walier, and Roger were awarded the first, second and third place.

The speediest going of the day took place in the open race for Class F. Ten fast boats started in the two heats and Jim Nunneley was easily the star performer, taking both heats, being threatened only by Cab Walier who took second place in both heats. Third place in the first heat went to Joel Thorne and third place in the second heat went to Sam Crooks. Since Thorne not start in the second heat Crooks was awarded third place in the race by virtue of the points earned by a fifth place in the first heat.

The races were run under the charge of the Red Bank Yacht Club Racing Association which was formed for the purpose with Charles C. Alexander general chairman in charge. Visiting boats, of which there were hundreds, were assigned to mooring space around the course by the Anchorage Committee with B. H. Finike as chairman. Serving as secretary to the association was Clarence A. Legg. These men were assisted in their various duties by numerous members of the Red Bank Yacht Club, The American Power Boat Association and others.

The actual handling of the races- themselves was done entirely by members of the American Power Boat Association. C. F. Chapman handled the timing apparatus, F. W. Horenburger and Wm. F. Crosby took care of the scoring, Ira Hand and Heim Barron were at the chronometer and starting gun, William E. Eldridge was the starter and Ralph Goetchins handled the starting clock. A complete summary of the events follows :

Red Bank New Jersey Regatta—August 12, 1933
All Outboard Heats 4.4 Miles; Class A—Division H

 

Driver Time Final Position
1st heat 2nd heat
Phil Bowers 7:04 . 7:03 1
Jack Van Deman 7:24 . 7:19 2
James Nunmeky 7.36 7:17 3
Lewis Carlisle 7:31 7:27 4
Sam Crooks 7:28 7:35 5
Bud Stator 7:37 7:28 6
Tom Tysoti 10:09 7:23 7
Jack Bowes 7:45 N.T. 8
Roy Straky N.T. 8:05 9
Call Schtaarlser 7:59 DNS 10
Geo. Kramer DISQ 8:04 11
Walter Off, Jr 8:31 DNS 12

 

Class A-Division II
Driver Time Final Position
1st heat 2nd heat
Fred Chase 7:11 7:29 1
Ted Roberts 7:33 7:38 2
Wilfred Roberts 8:11 7:50 3
J. Leslie Barton 8:13 7:57 4
Cab Walier 8:20 7:55 5
Billie Wolfe 8:17 8:54 6
Marvin Eberling 7:39 DNS 7
John Bucciarelli DNS 8:42 8
Maryland Codd 8:21 DNS 9
James Petri 8:43 DNF 10

 

Class B.—Open Division
Driver Time . Final Position
1st heat 2nd heat
Cab Walier 625 626 1
Geo. Plumgis 6:53 6:49 2
Bud Reid 7:04 6:44 3
Chas. Wyckoff 6:53 7:06. 4
Harry Simpson, Jr 7:02 6:54 5
Jas.. Nunneley 6:34 DNF 6
Geo. Waller 7:17 725 7
Paul Sawyer 6:36 DNF 8
Bedford Davie 7:25 7:15 9
Sam Crooks 8:15 7:14 10
Chet Howell 7:21 7:31 11
Lewis Carlisle 7:37 DNF 12
Phil Bowers 7:41 DNS 13

 

Class C— Divison I
Driver Time Final Position
1st heat 2nd heat
Phil Ellsworth 6:22 6:02 1
Bill Chilton 6:00 6:04 2
Joel Thorne 5:54 6:34 3
Roy Straley 6:26 6:31 4
Sam Crooks 7:22 6:05 5
William Rozett 6:56 6:34 6
Charles Ugh 6:23 — 7
Dick Giersch, Jr 6:51 DNS 8
Lew Franco 7:21 — 9

 

Class C— Divison II
Driver Time Final Position
1st heat 2nd heat
William Feidhusen 6:05 5:48 1
Cab Walier 5:59 5:54 2
Leon Roger 6:14 624 3
J. Mulford Scull 6:50 6:10 4
Alvin Marsh 6:30 6:44 5
Al Topping 6:32 6:33 6
Hans Behr 6:41 7:28 7
Edward Sasnett DISQ 6:14 8

 

Class F—Open Division
Driver Time Final Position
1st heat 2nd heat
James Nunneley 5:27 5:29 1
Cab Waller 5:31 5:36 2
Sam Crooks 6:13 6:00 3
John Plunkitt 6:01 6:31 4
Roy Straley 6:22 6:16 5
Hans Behr N.T. 6:36 6
Joel Thorne 5:59 DNF 7
Harper Chance DNS 6:25 8
Leon Roger N.T. — 9
Lew Franco DNS 7:00 10

 

125 Cubic Inch Hydroplanes (Two heats of 5 miles each)
Owner Time Final Position
1st Heat 2nd Heat
S. Mortimer Auerbach 6:11 6:29 1
Edison Hedges 6:27 6:20 2
Dr. C.H. Bagley 8:50 8:45 3

 

Sweepstakes (three heats 15 miles each)
Boat Driver Time Final Position
1st heat 2nd heat 3rd heat
El Lagarto, Geo. Reis 16:19 16:20 19:57 1
Bus-Skee, W. A. Buskee 16:25 16:23 16:05 2
Mee Too,. Wm. Berri 18:54 18:54 20:00 3
Betty III,. W. F. Crook DNF 20:17 DNF  
Imp, Jack Rutherfurd DNF DNS DNS  

 

(Reprinted from ???, September 1933, pp.26-27, 91-92)