1935 Albany to New York Marathon
Fred Jacoby Wins Albany Race
By John G. Robinson
Finishing all alone, with a lead of nearly 20 minutes over the nearest boat, Fred Jacoby Jr., North Bergen, N. J., was an easy winner of the eighth annual Albany to New York outboard marathon on Sunday, May 12. It was a notable triumph for Jacoby for this was the seventh time he had competed in this event. Each time he had been a prize winner but this was his first victory and all the more outstanding because of the terrific odds he had to face.
There was nothing spectacular about the race, in so far as the finish was concerned, but up-stream between Albany and Poughkeepsie the drivers had been fighting wind and tide and only a comparative few managed to break through to the calmer waters below.
A field of approximately 66, of the 83 boats which had checked in, actually started. The race was handicapped, for the third successive time. About 13 of the little class A boats got away from Albany at 7 a. m., with the class B boats following at 7:09:35 with approximately 11 starters. At 7:15 the outboard runabouts got under way with eight starters with Henry Slocum of Freeport, N. Y., in the lead.
The class C boats followed at 7:36:30. This was the most popular class of all with 28 starters. Paul B. Sawyer Jr. was the only starter in class F and left at 7:49:26.
Six of the 225 cubic inch class inboard hydroplanes started at 8:30 a. m., including Emancipator, owned by S. M. Auerbach; Riptide II, owned by Albert Schwarzler; Wilmer III, Dr. Cecil H. Bagley; Rustle, Byron Russell and Eagle, Edison Hedges.
First to arrive at Poughkeepsie was Arthur Baldwin of Freeport, N. Y., with his companion George Smith, in a 13-foot Lyman runabout powered with an Evinrude Four-60. The husky clinker-built Lyman simply revelled in the heavy going and was making excellent time. In second place was Ted Roberts, New York City, driving the same Jacoby boat which took him into second place last year. Fred Jacoby was in third place, about five minutes behind Roberts.
An airplane hovering over the leaders was supposed to be in touch with the officials at the finish line, but it was not until they were within a few miles of New York City that their reports could be heard.
Shortly after eleven o'clock the leading boat hove in sight. It was Fred Jacoby, veteran New Jersey driver and 1934 winner of the National High Point championship in the professional division. Jacoby finished at 11:04:57, having taken three hours, twenty-eight minutes and twenty-seven seconds for the trip, an average of 37.347 miles per hour. It was the slowest time for any winner since 1930 but excellent in view of the very rough water conditions. Jacoby was driving a Jacoby Flyaway hull, powered with a Johnson Sea Horse class C engine equipped with a Stannus propeller. He used Texaco Fire Chief gasoline and Texaco marine engine oil.
Ted Roberts, driving a Jacoby Flyaway hull and a Johnson class A engine, was the second to finish. His average speed was 29.46 miles per hour. He was the winner in class A division II.
Twenty minutes after Roberts came Arthur Baldwin with his Evinrude-powered Lyman runabout. His time was 4:15:29 or 30.46 miles per hour. This is an excellent showing for a runabout powered with a service motor and, incidentally, the best elapsed time made by any outboard except the winner.
Fourth to finish was Edison Hedges of Atlantic City with his Eagle, a 135 cubic inch class inboard hydroplane powered with a four-cylinder Universal Blue Jacket racing engine. It was a magnificent triumph for Hedges for he was racing against larger boats, powered with engines of supposedly much higher horse power. His little boat, which he designed and built himself, won easily and came through with an average speed of 40.469 miles per hour.
Next to finish was Wesley Carman, Freeport, N.Y., driving a Lyman outboard runabout and close behind him was Sammy Crooks, with a Jacoby hull and a Johnson motor. Crooks was the winner in class A amateur division. There was a long wait until the next boat came along. This was Henry Slocum of Freeport, N. Y. driving an outboard runabout with a C motor. After Slocum came Marshall Eldridge, East Weymouth, Mass., veteran racing driver. Eldridge drove a hull of his own design powered with a Johnson class C motor and finished second in class C division II. Albert Azalia, Peekskill, N. Y., driving an outboard runabout powered with an Elto service motor came in at 12:18:40, being the ninth to finish.
The remaining finishers were pretty well spaced out from this time on. LeRoy Ransden, Bridgewater, Mass., finished in tenth place but took third place in Class C division II. Eleventh to cross the line was Clayton Bishop, Onsett, Mass., who took first place in class B division II. Bishop was third to finish last year but ran into all kinds of trouble this year with the rough water. He drove a Boles Humarock hull and a Johnson motor. Jack Scarborough of Hanover, N. H. was the first class A division I driver to finish. Jack drove a hull of his own make powered with a Johnson engine. He finished in twelfth place. Next came another runabout with C. H. Deffinbaugh, Dover, Del., driving. Thus out of the first 13 boats to finish no less than five were runabouts.
A. W. Hale of Albany with a class B outfit came in fourteenth and took second prize in class B division I. He was followed by Dr. Cecil H.. Bagley of Baltimore, Md. with his 225 class inboard hydroplane Wilmer III, a Hacker-designed craft powered with a Ford V-8 conversion. The doctor reported no particular troubles except rough water which made it impossible to attain any speed.
Jerry Almo, New York City, was sixteenth to finish and the only class C amateur driver to make the trip. Last to finish, within the time limit, was Joseph White, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., taking down fourth place in class C division II.
Among the casualties was Gar Wood Jr., of Algonac, Mich., son of the speed king. Young Gar fought a stubborn motor and rough water until he reached Kingston, N. Y., where he abandoned the race. Two former champions, Charles H. Johnson of Cranberry Lake, N. J., winner in 1934 and Bill Feldhusen of Stapleton, N. Y., victor in 1933, were forced out of the grind early.
Practically all of the finishers encountered trouble of one sort or another and many of the smaller craft were forced to stop and bail out many times between the start and finish.
| Outboard Hydroplanes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Driver and Home | Finish | Elapsed Time | Speed | Class | Engine | Hull |
| 1. | Fred Jacoby, North Bergen, N.J. | 11:04:57 | 3:28:27 | 37.347 | CII | Johnson | Jacoby |
| 2. | Ted Roberts, New York City | 11:24:12 | 4:24:12 | 29.46 | All | Johnson | Jacoby |
| 3. | Sammy Crooks, Rumson, N.J. | 11:45:48 | 4:36:13 | 28.18 | BI | Johnson | Jacoby |
| 4. | Marshall Eldridge, E. Weymouth, Mass | 12:11:05 | 4:34:35 | 28.35 | CII | Johnson | Eldridge |
| 5. | LeRoy Ransden, Bridgewater, Mass | 12:41:12 | 5:04:42 | 25.549 | CII | Johnson | Boles |
| 6. | Clayton Bishop, Onsett, Mass | 12:46:13 | 5:38:38 | 23.126 | BII | Johnson | Boles |
| 7. | Jack Scarborough, Hanover, N. H | 12:53:50 | 5:53:50 | 22.002 | AI | Johnson | Home-Built |
| 8. | A. W. Hale, Albany, N. Y | 12:57:50 | 5:48:15 | 22.355 | BI | Johnson | Wagnert |
| 9. | Jerry Almo, New York City | 1:36:05 | 6:05:35 | 21.295 | CI | Evinrude | Bossar |
| 10. | Joseph White, Poughkeepsie, N. Y | 1:55:00 | 6:18:30 | 20.569 | CII | Johnson | Buckhout |
| Outboard Runabouts | |||||||
| 1. | Arthur Baldwin, Freeport, N. Y | 11:30:29 | 4:15:29 | 30.46 | EI | Evinrude | Lyman |
| 2. | Wesley Carman, Freeport, N. Y | 11:43:26 | 4:28:26 | 29.00 | EI | Elto | Lyman |
| 3. | Henry Slocum, Freeport, N. .Y | 12:06:37 | 4:51:37 | 26.695 | CI | Evinrude | — |
| 4. | Albert Azalia, Peekskill, N. Y | 12:18:40 | 5:03:40 | 25.636 | FI | Elto | Airships |
| 5. | C. H. Deffinbaugh, Dover, Del | 12:54:01 | 5:39:01 | 22.964 | Fl | Evinrude | — |
| 225 Cubic Inch Class Inboard Hydroplanes | |||||||
| 1. | Edison Hedges, Atlantic City, N. J | 11:42:22 | 3:12:22 | 40.469 | 225 | Universal | Hedges |
| 2. | Dr. Cecil H. Bagley, Baltimore, MD | 1:05:08 | 4:35:08 | 28.296 | 225 | Ford V-8 | Hacker |
(Reprinted from Power Boating, June 1935)