1945 Salton Sea Regatta
Speed Races Slated For Salton Sea
As Pacific Motor Boat went to press, speed boat racing men, both inboard and outboard, were gathering from along the Pacific Coast to participate in the Fifth Annual Salton Sea Regatta scheduled over the week-end of November 17th to 19th. The main inboard event was the annual race for the Pacific Motor Boat trophy, emblematic of the limited speed boat championship of the Pacific Coast.
The race for this perpetual challenge trophy, limited to boats of 722-cubic inch piston displacement or under, was originally held on Newport Harbor, but at a meeting held in Los Angeles of the racing men Oct. 9th, it was decided that this harbor is still too overcrowded with craft; that it would work a hardship on the community to request a closed channel for the regatta. The race was requested for inclusion in the Salton Sea events, as it was in 1942, the last time the trophy was raced for.
Inboard racing is at a fever pitch all along the coast, and it was anticipated by the officials that the 45-mile Pacific Motor Boat trophy event should not only have a large entry list but should be very hotly contested.
Great interest was also being manifested in the various outboard events which as in the past were to include world record competition and mile trials for the M, A, B, C and F outboard hydroplanes. There will also be trials for the 135-cubic inch, 225-cubic inch, divisions 1 and 2, Pacific Coast one-design hydroplanes and the Gold Cup class.
The Salton Sea course is rated as the fastest in the country and in the last three regattas 26 world records have been set, 18 of which are still on the record books.
Last winner of the Pacific Motor Boat trophy was Lou Fageol, with his 225-cubic inch hydro So Long, Jr.
(Reprinted from Pacific Motor Boat, December 1945)