1947 Webb Trophy
Regatta Features July 4 Program
Nation’s Best Boats to Vie For Webb Cup
Ten Races Scheduled at Lake Davenport, Starting at 1 P. M.
First speed boat to arrive at the Lindsay Park Boat club for the regatta Friday afternoon was the Copperhead which came from the West Coast. Willard Campbell, left, of Long Beach, Calif., and L. A. Pennington of Santa Monica. Calif., are shown in the photograph as they tuned up the little speeder for the races at Lake Davenport. Campbell is the mechanic, builder and designer of the boat, and Pennington is the owner and pilot. Fifty craft will compete in the regatta, major prize of which is the famous Webb trophy.
Davenport goes national Friday afternoon. That day the country’s well-known power boat racers converge here for the “State of Scott" regatta, to be climaxed with the running of the annual Webb trophy race, at Lake Davenport near the Lindsey Park boat club.
There is no greater water derby, except the Golf Cup race which will be run off this year at Freeport, Long Island, on Labor day.
So important is the Webb trophy event that six boats that raced for the Gold cup at Detroit last year will be seen under full power on the Mississippi river. It is the first time that this city will be a mecca for boat races of national interest, and it was only through the relentless efforts of the Mississippi Valley Power Boat association, of which C. P. Hanley of Muscatine is commodore, that this city was awarded the event for the next five years.
Ten major races are on the program, capped with the Webb race to be run in two five-mile heats with the boat picking up the most points declared as the winner. The first event will start at 1 p. m.
Of the six water skippers that competed in the Gold cup races and will be here this week, the most prominent is Seabiscuit, owned and driven by Al Brinkman, cup winner in 1946.
The others include Blitz II, owned and driven by Bob Bogie of Loon Lake, N. Y.; So Long, Jr., the Silver Cup winner in 1946 at the Gold race; Tomyann IV, owned and driven by Don Ross; How Mar IV, owned and driven by Howard Hibbert; and Buckeye Baby, owned and driven by Gibson Bradfield.
Dan Arena, one of the nation's greatest drivers, will direct So Long, Jr. as it plys through the river waters. Arena piloted Miss Golden Gate III which placed second in the Gold Cup event in 1946.
Seabiscuit has established an enviable record which no challenger is ever expected to equal, Al Brinkman’s boat, in 1946, won 22 heats in 11 regattas, traveling 12,500 miles in doing so. It has been sunk four times since entering competition in 1941. The boat cost its owner a cool $10,000 originally, and has eaten up $1,500 each year while it has been in operation.
Among its winnings last year are: World trophy at New Martinsville, W. Va.; Midwest championship at Cincinnati; Niagara championship and Trophy Island Dispatch at Buffalo, N. Y.; American Speedboat championship at Washington, D. C.; American Power Boat association title at Washington; Webb Trophy winner at Keokuk; and second in the Silver cup at Detroit.
In addition to the Webb trophy, another big prize will be the Ventnor cup, given for the first time in a special class.
Hanley and O. L. Lamb of East Moline will be only pilots from the immediate vicinity of Davenport to compete in the regatta.
The schedule of Friday's races follows:
| Time | Race | Class |
| 1:00 | 1st Heat | 135's |
| 1:30 | lit Heat | 225’s-Div. I |
| 2:00 | 1st Heat | Model E racing boat |
| 2:30 | 1st Heat | Webb trophy race |
| 3:00 | 1st Heat | 225's-Div. II |
| 3:30 | 2nd Heat | 135's |
| 4:00 | 2nd Heat | 225’s-Div. I |
| 4:30 | 2nd Heat | Model E racing boat |
| 5:00 | 2nd Heat | 225’s-Div. II |
| 5:30 | 2nd Heat | Webb trophy race |
| 6:00 | Presentation of awards Lindsay Park Boat club |
(Reprinted from The Daily Times, July 3, 1947)