1959 Buffalo Launch Club International Regatta
Maverick Captures Conners Trophy In Record-Breaking Regatta Races
By Mike Kanaley and Joe Glaser
William T. Waggoner’s Maverick took another giant stride toward the national unlimited point championship yesterday by roaring off with top honors in the Buffalo Launch Club’s annual International Regatta.
Ripping the Niagara River at speeds up to 160 mph on the straightaways under the guidance of nerveless Bill Stead, Maverick thrilled the regatta's largest crowd with a record performance of 102.778 mph for 15 miles.
In the third and final race. Maverick coasted home behind KOLroy of Seattle, owned and driven by Bob Gilliam.
As a result the Phoenix, Ariz., speedster totaled 1,100 points for the afternoon to win the International Sweepstakes Trophy and was trailed in the standings by KOLroy 925, Miss Thriftway 600, Miss Bardahl 400, Miss Buffalo 225 and Nitrogen 169.
Mrs. William J. Conners III, wife of the editor and publisher of The Courier-Express, presented the William J. Conners Jr. Memorial Trophy to Stead for his championship performance.
The foul fortunes that have plagued Buffalo Gold Cuppers for two years hit agin yesterday. Miss Buffalo, owned by a Buffalo Launch Club syndicate which races under the banner of the Hacs Corp., blew a rod through the side of her engine on the second lap of the second preliminary heat and was through for the rest of the day.
Driver Bob Schroeder managed to nurse Miss Buffalo around the full 15-mile course to pick up third-place points.
Miss Bardahl, the defending national unlimited high point champion, was struck with the same misfortune at the top of the second lap of her second appearance of the day. Bardahl blew a rod through the left bank of the engine and likewise was finished for the day.
Bill Brow, the “World’s Fastest Milkman,” got Miss Bardahl down to the record-breaking business in a hurry, taking firstheat honors from KOLroy and Nitrogen with an average speed of 101.733 mph. Miro Slovak piloted the same boat to the BLC record of 97.879 last year.
En route to his record-breaking performance, Brow gunned Miss Bardahl to 104.662 mph on his fastest lap, the second circuit of the 15-mile course.
Leads From Start
The big green-decked speedster led the heat from the gun, quickly opened a huge gap over KOLroy and was 10.7 seconds the best at the finish, with Nitrogen well back in third place.
Norm Evans, driving Nitrogen for Samuel F. duPont of Wilmington, Del., smashed the south turn buoy on his first lap and drew a disqualification.
The crowd, estimated at between 75,000 and 100,000 by Launch Club Commodore Clarence Hackett, got its big thrill when the second set of unlimiteds took over and Stead put Maverick through her paces. The big red and white speedster, powered by a 2,000-horsepower Allison engine, hit the start just under the gun, led all the way and had better than a halfmile advantage on Miss Thriftway at the finish.
Miss Buffalo and Thriftway staged a sizzling duel for 1-1/2 laps, with Schroeder making money on the turns and losing it on the straightaways. Midway on the second lap, Miss Buffalo slowed to a snail’s pace with internal injuries and went to the pits for the rest of day.
Maverick, meanwhile, averaged 100.652 mph after hitting her top speed, 103.467, on her first lap
With Miss Buffalcr out, five boats took over the pburse for the second heat and were off in an almost perfect start. Stead, maneuvering for position in Maverick, was caught in KOLRoy’s 30-foot rooster-tail and was away in fourth position.
On the first turn it appeared that Miss Bardahl had been washed out by Miss Thriftway in the tight battle, but Ole Bardahl’s entry had punctured its Rolls-Merlln power plant.
When the remaining four racers straightened out on the back stretch, Maverick had the lead and Stead, the leadfooted Nevada rancher, proceeded to pour on the coal to open up a quarter-lap advantage over Bill Muncey in Thriftway.
Maverick averaged 102.778 in this heat to top the mark established by Bardahl in the first event on the card; finished almost 23 seconds ahead of Thriftway and had a third-lap top speed of 105.987 mph.
When the racers were called for the final event, Nitrogen, which finished fourth in the second appearance, declined to start, cutting the field to three.
Muncey Trails Field
An additional reduction in the competition resulted when Muncey was unable to get Miss Thriftway started by the mandatory minute before the starting gun.
KOLroy and Maverick had completed almost three-quarters of the first lap before Thriftway got under way. Muncey made the full 15-mile tour of the course but got nothing for his troubles other than a workout.
In this test Maverick again took the lead at the start but lost the advantage to KOLroy on the first turn. Gilliam, who built KOLroy, opened a good margin halfway through the heat, then finished with about a 100-yard edge, averaging 101.733 mph.
Maverick, which previously had won the Gold Cup, the Silver Cup and Diamond Cup, suffered her only defeat of the season in losing the Harmsworth Throphy to Miss Supertest II in a match race.
The big boats move to Washington, D C. for the Presidents Cup races Sept. 19-20.
Selle Sweeps Heats
In the other half of the closing-day program, Alek (Duke) Selle of Grand Island swept both heats of the Class E racing runabouts at average speeds of 54.711 and 58.271.
Selle was left at the post irt the first heat for the bronco busters but managed to catch and pass Noel Blair of North Tonawanda in Miss Anerald, Ralph Baker of Niagara Falls in Tor-Gre and Russ Kirkpatrick of Clarksburg, W. Va.. in RockA-Bye. Buffalo stock car driver Sam Long, fifth in the first event, furnished all the competition for Selle in the second.