1960 APBA Gold Cup
1960 November 12
San Diego Eyes Hydros
Southern City May Seek Major Races
By Bud Livesley, Times Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nov. 12. — Unlimited hydroplane racing—even of the magnitude of a future Gold Cup — definitely is included in San Diego’s master plan for a city-developed, multi-million-dollar marine stadium under construction.
Hydroplane owners accept the spirit of the Southern California community as a challenge and a possible stimulation to waning interest in Seattle and Detroit and other long-time racing sites.
But their endorsement is tempered by reservations.
The reason: The course being dredged in Mission Bay is a sheltered inlet of the blue, salty Pacific Ocean.
Kiesling Against It
“You would lose every piece of equipment put into the water,” commented Wes Kiesling, Miss Seattle Too crew chief.
Sentiment against dipping the expensive hydros into salt water was echoed by Jack Ramsey, keeper of Miss Thriftway’s power plants. He flatly rejected any possibility that the Miss ever would bathe in anything but fresh water— the fresher the better.
Encouragement for the many pulse-feeling San Diegans here to observe a race first-hand came from the Miss Bardahl crew chief, George McKernan.
Problem Not Insurmountable
“The problem could be worked out,” he said. “It would take an extra $1,000 to set up for the race.
“But it could be done. A bundle of green could be the persuader in many of the camps.
“A hydro, could be built for racing on salt water,” Kiesling said. “But it would be expensive.”
Of main-concern, Ramsey pointed out, is not damage to engines, but rather to hulls.
Engine Life Short
“The life of engines is short anyway,” Ramsey said. “It would be reasonable, perhaps, to sacrifice an engine. But the hulls are not replaceable.
“The electrolytic reaction of salt water on aluminum alloys used on the bottoms of hydros causes corrosion. It can’t be washed away. It gets under the sheeting, through the screw holes. The first inkling you may have of corrosion is that the screw heads begin dropping off.”
But San Diego is in no hurry. It can wait for the hydro owners to work out the technical problems.
Facilities Lacking
“It probably will be five years before we have the facilities to handle large numbers of spectators and the many boats now racing,” said Bob Higgins, rear commodore of the Pacific Power Boat Club, one of several groups promoting the project.
Working in an advisory role is Lou Fageol, two- time Gold Cup winner in the Slo-mo-shun V, who now lives in San Diego.
And there also is talk that San Diego might push for acceptance by getting into the competition by purchasing or building a hydro.
* * *
PIT PATTER—Miro Slovak will wait until his return to Seattle before taking the Oath of Allegiance, but technically the ex-Czech refugee became an American citizen last Wednesday. Immigration rules forbid the swearing in of new citizens for a 60-day period before a national election
. . . Ted Jones hardly can lose, no matter which boat wins the Gold Cup. He designed seven of the competitors — Miss Thriftway, Miss Burien, Miss Bardahl, Hawaii Kai, Miss Seattle Too, Wahoo and Miss Spokane. The list embraces three of the four rival “teams” tussling for possession of the cup.
. . .Don Wilson, Miss U. S. driver, says he is in his best physical condition in three years, He’s been doing push-ups, lifting weights and running to recondition himself after his accident in the Seafair race last August.
. . . Something new in the way of official-start photos was to be tried here, with pictures taken from an overhead helicopter. The hope is to eliminate possible hassles such as developed in the President’s Cup when it was impossible to distinguish possible gun-jumpers hidden in the roostertails of other boats
. . . Spectator interest here virtually has been non-existent during the first three days of qualifying. Yesterday for the first time, spectators strolling the flat, sandy shore at Boulder beach outnumbered crewmen working in the pits.
. . . An announced expected attendance of 100,000 fans for the two-days of racing has been trimmed by half — still fantastically high.
--- The Seattle Times, November 12, 1960
* * *
Nitrogen Too Last Boat In; Coral Reef Fails to Qualify
By Bud Livesley, Times Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nov. 12. — Fifteen unlimited hydroplanes, one more than was on the line last year on Lake Washington, today were poised and ready, bows pointed toward a Gold Cup and $3,500 in prize money awaiting the winner of tomorrow’s climactic final.
There were to be three 30-mile heats in the first section, necessitated by the qualification late yesterday of Nitrogen Too as the 15th entry.
Tomorrow’s second section will consist of two 30-mile heats. Then it’s the final— another taxing ten-lapper around Lake Mead’s three-mile course.
Only one of 14 challengers to Seattle’s favored national championship hydro, Miss Thriftway, failed to qualify for this postseason spindown of the world’s fastest speedboats.
Coral Reef Fails
Qualifying time ran out on Coral Reef, the Tacoma boat which had its head turned by the flutter of greenbacks in this gambler’s paradise.
Three times Harry Reeves attempted to beat the big clock on tours at an average speed of 100 miles an hour or better. Twice he almost made it—2½ laps on each occasion.
But squirting oil from a break in a pipeline blinded the driver and he was forced to turn off the course. There was not enough time to repair the break, which required lifting the engine from the boat.
Shield Installed
A shield, to divert the stream of oil from Reeves, hastily was installed for a third and last try for a qualifier’s share of the loot. The shield worked, but oil pressure dropped and the Reef blew on the first lap.
Hawaii Kai III, the Lake Mead Yacht Club’s top bidder for the big prize, made it on the final day, but not without anxiety. The Kai took an early-morning dip to test a rebuilt left sponson, which had been lost in winning the Reno Regatta two weeks ago. Had two weeks of round-the-clock efforts repairing the damage been successful?
There was little doubt after Ron Musson checked in as the 13th qualifier with a respectable average of 110.567 miles an hour. Although given instructions not to press, Musson had rounds of 109.54, 110.86 and 111.30.
Nitrogen Too Breezes
The Nitrogen Too, although holed up in a Boulder City airport hangar most of the week undergoing adjustments and checks, made qualifying an almost ridiculously easy task once Col. Russ Schleeh got the green flag.
In almost stop-watch precision, Schleeh eased the Wilmington, Del., boat around at 106.90, 106.70 and 106.30 for a 106.633 average.
Sam du Pont’s Nitrogen Too, like its stablemate, Nitrogen, is racing for the Seattle Yacht Club.
— The Seattle Times, November 12,1960
* * *
Lake Mead Too Rough for Miss Spokane
Rex Manchester pilots Miss Spokane to shore after trying a few laps on Lake Mead yesterday only to find it too rough to continue the Gold Cup Race. Owners and drivers called the race off shortly after Manchester completed his lap. The race will be attempted again today.
— (Associated Press Wirephoto)
* * *
Gold Cup Race Might Be Canceled: Winds Churn Lake Mead
By John Owen
LAS VEGAS, Nev., Nov. 12.—The slogan for 1960’s Gold Cup race could be:
“Well, wait till next year.”
It’s possible that the new aquatic champion may not be crowned until then.
A strong, gusty wind-swept Lake Mead today forcing the cancellation of the first three sections of the Gold Cup’s opening heat. And the official weather forecast calls for more of the same, plus a liberal sprinkling of rain on Sunday.
If the big boats are unable to run tomorrow the race may be declared “no contest” and the 1961 Gold Cup classic could be awarded to any city— Seattle, Detroit or Las Vegas —selected by the boating brains.
An alternative, provided for in the rules, would be to extend the race until Monday. However, the officials of the Lake Mead Cup Association strongly hinted that they planned no such action, since they would be unable to hold the volunteer work force over for an extra day.
In the event of a cancelation. some observers feel that Las Vegas would retain the Gold Cup race by default. George Tremper, chairman of the unlimited racing commission, didn’t support that assumption.
“That would bring up another problem,” he said. “This late date for the race is very inconvenient. It’s something which will have to be considered.”
Gold Cup rules specify that in such a case as this, “The unlimited racing commission shall be charged with the duty and responsibility of selecting date and location for next year’s race.”
The entire problem could be resolved with just minimal cooperation from the weather man. He was about as popular as a bent quill shaft with the boating crowd today.
Several boats ventured but onto the bounding waves during the day to test the racing conditions, only to scurry back to shore after battling five-foot swells on the north curve, whitecaps on the south turn and generally miserable conditions in between. The drivers agreed that they’d rather take their chances in the Las Vegas’ casinos; where the stakes aren’t quite so high.
The only boats that were able to maneuver at all were the Cee Gees, a precision boating team which joined with the Air Force Thunderbirds to offer the only entertainment of the day for 7,837 fans assembled on the shore.
Finally, at 3 p.m., referee Don Guerin decided to give up and announced that they’d take another fling at it Sunday morning. He added that since the race had been re-scheduled is a one-day affair, no engine changes would be allowed between heats.
“How about an extension,” one of the boat owners asked.
“It’s impossible,” Guerin answered.” There are officials up on that barge that you couldn’t hire for a thousand dollars a day.” The three sections of the first heat have tentatively been re-scheduled for 9 a.m., 9:45 and 10:30, heats 2-A and 2-B at 12 noon arid 12:45, and the final heat at 2:15 p.m.
The pairings remain the same. In. heat 1-A are Miss Seattle Too, KOLroy I, Nitrogen, Miss Spokane, and Hawaii Kai. Heat 1-B brings together Gale V, Nitrogen Too, Miss Supertest II, Miss U.S. 1, and Miss Burien. In heat 1-C Wahoo, Miss Thriftway, KOLroy, $ Bill, and Miss Bardahl.
If weather conditions allow the boats to complete two of the three scheduled heats, the race can be declared official. This announcement brought a retort from Miss U.S. owner George Simon of Detroit.
“If they’d had the same thing at Seattle, we’d have won the Seafair Race,” he said.
Miss U.S. 1 was leading on points after two heats of the Seafair Race, last August. After accidents twice halted the running of the third heat, it was extended until Monday. Simon protested Miss Thriftway’s subsequent victory on the basis that two heats constituted a race.
Several other owners were alarmed at the thought that their lengthy, costly prepay rations for the Gold Cup might go for naught; All of them, the millionaire sportsmen as well as the marginal operators, now are literally at the mercy of the elements.
— Post-Intelligencer, November 12, 1960
* * *
Gold Cup Race? It Belongs Here
By Royal Brougham
Let’s quit playing footsie with one of the world’s most spectacular sports events.
Of course, it’s too bad that the weather fouled up Lake Mead’s first Gold Cup race.
Now that they’ve had to call it all off at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars, plus a great inconvenience to owners, drivers, officials and spectators, the question of next year’s Gold Cup competition arises.
Should Las Vegas or Seattle be awarded the event?
Let’s look a few facts in the face —
The hydroplane classic is just a shill for the gambling palaces along the Las Vegas Strip. The promoters are not hydroplane devotees; they use the Gold Cup as a lure to attract spenders to the gaming tables during the slack season.
Las Vegas hasn’t a single boat entered, except the ones from other boating centers that are subsidized in an effort to get a winner, thus ensuring Nevada’s holding the biggest hydro event in the nation every year.
Almost everyone will agree the Lake Mead course can’t compare with Seattle’s. Lake Washington has a closed, weather-proof course, perfectly equipped pits, capable officials, most of the boats, mechanics and drivers, tremendous public interest plus a beautiful natural amphitheater from which a quarter million people can see the competition.
We haven’t had a race postponed by bad weather in the ten years of Seattle sponsorship.
Seattle’s Seafair is an organization of sportsmen that has no roulette wheels or slot machines to promote.
APBA authorities will be making a grave mistake if they don’t award the 1961 race to Lake Washington.
— Post-Intelligencer, November 12,1960
* * *
1960 Race Started, Ended at Same Time
The Detroit hydro Gale V is towed back to the pits, upside down, after an accident in the first heat of the 1960 Gold Cup Race at Las Vegas. In background, in light jacket, is owner Lee Schoenith. Bill Cantrell was injured when his boat flipped in the first and only heat of the race which was finally canceled because of high winds.
— November 12, 1961