1954 Maple Leaf Trophy
Gale V Wins Powerboat Race Crown
Schoenith Craft Tops Miss U.S. For Coveted Title
Joe Schoenith’s Gale V wrote another U.S. victory’ into the books of the Maple Leaf Unlimited powerboat classic Saturday at the Windsor Yacht Club.
Hard Luck
Dogged by hard luck through the three heats, George Simon’s Miss U.S, which topped the time trials, lost out to husky Lee Schoenith at the wheel of Gale V.
Schoenith won the first heat after Miss U.S was disqualified. The second was a straight victory for Miss U.S On the third. Miss U.S. flipped over on a turn and Schoenith slowed Gale V to an easy pace for victory in the third heat and the race.
Simon, shaken by the highspeed dunking, was picked up by rescue craft as Miss U.S was sinking. Windsor Ambudance later took him to St. John’s Hospital, Detroit, where he was reported suffering from back injuries described as not too serious.
Miss U.S, apparently badly damaged in the flipover, was rescued, near sinking, by the tug Patricia McQueen.
The performance of Miss U.S was a surprise. But from the early stages of the first heat, she was behind the proverbial eight ball.
Simon’s bad judgment in cutting two buoys short in his first heat practically tossed the Maple Leaf Trophy to Schoenith. His third-heat crash made it a sure thing.
Lap Record
Schoenith made 90.986 miles-per-hour in his fastest lap with Gale V, the first of the third heat.
Simon, in his over-anxiousness to beat Gale, rapped off the better-than-100 run in the second lap. He did his flip and roll as he made the up-end turn in the third lap of the final heat.
The race was run in the narrow of the Detroit River between Peche Island and Windsor Yacht Club. Sponsored by W. Y.C., it was an event of The Windsor Centennial Festival.
There were six starters in the first heat. George Simon in Miss U.S. hit the line first. Wild Bill Cantrell, driving Joe Schoenith’s Gale IV. was across next, followed by Lee Schoenith in Gale V. Frank (Bud) Saile drove his own Wayne over next. Walter Kade driving Wha Hoppen Too was in the next position. Riding last at the start was Doc Terry in Horace Dodge’s My Sweetie.
Cut Turns
Simon cut short two up turn buoys in the second lap, and when the heat was completed he was disqualified. Gale V took 400 points for first; Gale IV took 300 points for second, and My Sweetie 225 for third. Order of finish was Gale V. Gale IV, Sweetie, Wayne and Wha Hoppen.
The point system at this stage was Simon’s worst enemy. If Gale V failed, he had a chance to win — but only under that condition.
Gale IV and Cantrell failed to show for the second heat. The boat was out because of oil pressure trouble. Cantrell had a near mishap in the first heat, when his boat spun and made a complete turn — again in that bad luck upstream turn.
Miss U.S. started out front in the second heat, and stayed that way to the finish. Gale V copped second position in this heat, followed by Wha Hoppen, and Miss Wayne. My Sweetie went out on the fourth lap.
The final heat was the thriller Gale V broke the line first, followed closely by Miss U.S., My Sweetie, Wayne and Wha Hoppen crossed in that order.
Gale V held her lead in a close first lap run. Simon and Miss U.S. ran into trouble again with the buoy department in the bottom turn of the first lap. Simon cut one short, went around it, and came out fighting.
The missed buoy routine gave Gale a fair lead, but Simon, tramping the throttle, began to eat it away. The finish could have been one of the closest.
Simon clipped the upstream turn in the fourth too fast — and over he went. Judging from the debris floating about when Capt. Angus Morrison and the tug Patricia McQueen from Amherstburg moved in for the salvage operation. the hull was badly battered.
Simon's top lap speed of 103 is considered by powerboat experts fantastic for the W.Y.C. course, with its curves and tight turns. The course is laid out in such a way that it has little of what might be called a straight stretch.
Gale V averaged 84.865 for the race. She ran 87.878 in the first heat; 87.995 in the second: and 78.721 in the final. Speeds were all down for the final heat All boats slowed for the final two laps because of the wreckage, rescue and salvage boats on the course.
The point summary for the race was as follows; Gale V, 1,100; Wha Hoppen Too, 563; My Sweetie. 525; Miss Wayne, 521; Miss U.S., 400: and Gale IV, 300.
The defender of the trophy, Al Fallon’s Miss Great Lakes II, was not in the race. Her hull, damaged last year in Washington, has not been repaired. Her driver. Danny Foster, watched the race from a runabout.
Here are the results (in order of finish) for the limited classes:
135 cubic inch (Canadian), First heat, Scamp, owned and driven by Cliff Arnold of Hamilton, was the only starter, a walk-over, flagged off after two laps, Scamp was the only legal finisher of the second heat, and took the honors for this class. Winner’s speed, 50.043.
Smaller Craft
135 cubic inch, American Power Boat Association standards. First heat, Lloyd Maddock’s Pontiac, Mich., boat Holiday, first; Tommie Turner's Royal Rebel, out of Kenmore, N.Y., second; George Kane’s Allen Park entry Adios, third.
Second heat, Royal Rebel first, Holiday second, Eric Bark’s Chicago boat Take It or Leave It, third and Adios, fourth. Point standings, Royal Rebel, 700; Holiday, 700; Adios, 394. Royal Rebel and Holiday were tied on total points and on least elapsed time for the two heats. In keeping with racing rules, Royal Rebel was declared winner for running the fastest heat.
225 cubic inch, First heat, Capri, owned by John Keating of Pontiac; Sir Ron II, owned by Joseph Allbee, Detroit; and Francis McFarland’s Columbus, O., Day and Night.
Second heat. My Ambition, Robert Schroeder. Niagara Falls, N.Y.; Sir Ron II; Pee Bee IV, W. F. Prim, Akron, O.; Capri. Point tabulation. Sir Ron II, 600; Capri, 569; My Ambition, 400.
266 cubic inch. First heat, Doug Brockman's Gandy out cf Cincinnati; and William Linss' Briar Hopper out of Highland Heights, Kentucky.
Second heat, same standings. Gandy gathered 800 points. Briar Hopper 600.
48 cubic inch, First heat, Why Worry, Gordon Harper, Detroit; Miss Led, Charlie Breen, Cincinnati; and Leapin’ Leprechaun, Tom Hanley, Roseville, Mich.
Second heat, Why Worry, Why Willie, Bill Gillies, Detroit; Polly Wog, Russ Billings, Milwaukee; Miss Led, Point standings: Why Worry, 800; Miss Led, 469; and Why Willie, 127.
One Windsor entry was expected in the 48's, but failed to show.
--- June 21, 1954
Old Man River Rough
If George Simon is to have an entry in the August Gold Cup Regatta in Seattle, it probably won’t be his ill-fated Miss U.S.
Simon, 30-year-old former Navy pilot, is in St. Johns Hospital recovering from shock and four broken ribs. He flipped in the third heat of Saturday’s Maple Leaf Regatta at Windsor, the first big race as a speedboat pilot.
His $25,000 boat was towed ashore, but boatmen Sunday sent a saddening report to Simon at the hospital.
• • •
The starboard side and strn were ripped off the craft. The engine, gear box and gas tanks can probably be salvaged.
Veteran pilots like Lou Fageol and Joe Taggart, pilots of the Seattle-owned Slo-Mo-Shuns, who witnessed the accident, attributed Simon's bad luck to excessive speed going into the turns.
It was estimated that he was traveling somewhere between 130 and 140 miles per hour when he flipped.
“It’s a tough way to learn but we've all gone through this stage," said one experienced pilot, “When he's had a few more races under his belt, he'll be a topflight driver."
Prior to his mishap, Simon set a lap record for the course of 103 mph.
The victor was young Lee Schoenith in his Gale V, Schoenith also had Gale IV in the race. Both boats were making their first competitive starts.
* * *
Schoenith said that before the July 3 Detroit Memorial Regatta he'd have to make some adjustments on both boats.
The balance must be adjusted and the hulls reworked to bring top performances in heavy water.
--- June 21, 1954