1947 Harwood Trophy
Van Blerck Powers Aljo V To New Harwood Trophy Mark
NEW YORK -- UP) -- Joe Van Blerck Jr., of Freeport, N. Y., piloted his powerboat Aljo V to an easy victory over 26 opponents yesterday, setting a record of 39 minutes and seven seconds in winning the Harwood trophy race around Manhattan Island.
Van Blerck hit an average speed of 44.5 miles per hour in beating his nearest rival, Oliver M. Elam, Jr., of Ashland, Ky., by a minute and 31 seconds and eclipsing the previous record for the Driftwood Derby, set in 1934 by Keenan Wynn, motion picture actor, who averaged 43.25 miles per hour.
The winner followed other boats down the Hudson to the Battery and up the East and Harlem rivers, then shot to the front as he entered the Hudson again, finishing the 30-mile race standing in the cockpit.
Only 18 of the 27 starters crossed the finish line and one of the 18 was disqualified for drifting across without power.
Pal-O-Mine, driven by Len Perry of Madison, N. J., overturned shortly after the start and sank in the Hudson. A police launch rescued the three occupants.
Van Blerck, who received a $1,000 savings bond in addition to the trophy, won the Wilson Point sweepstakes at Baltimore earlier this summer.
(Reprinted from the Tampa Bay Times, September 15, 1947)