1907 Palm Beach Mid-Winter Regatta
Palm Beach, FL, Jan. 29-Feb.2, 1907

Three Wins For Dixie In Palm Beach Races
Averages 28 Miles an Hour in One Event
Keen Contests Exciting
Closest Competition Ever Seen in Motor Boat Racing by Actual Performance Rating

Fast Motor Boats in Palm Beach Regatta Three Wins for Dixie in Palm Beach Races Dixie Again Leads in Palm Beach Races Dixie Heads the List in Palm Beach Races Dixie's Alleged Record The Lake Worth Carnival The Palm Beach Races The Lake Worth Carnival (The Rudder) The Lake Worth Motor Boat Races

PALM BEACH, Jan. 30. -- In the second day's races in the Lake Worth motor boat carnival to-day, E. J. Schroeder's champion Dixie repeated the performance of Herman Broesel Jr.'s Simplex VIII in the opening day and took three races. She won the two class events after fairly close finishes, first with J. Middleby Jr.'s Katharine, and then with H. L. Willoughby Jr.'s Gray Wolf. The latter gave a great run in the four-and-one-half-mile race, finishing only 18 seconds behind, and forcing her to make the fastest time of the day and meeting, when she covered the course in 9:38, or at a speed of 28 miles an hour.

In the mixed event for all classes, run over a 13 1/2-mile course, Dixie won again, but only after she had finished the course third. The first two boats to finish were G. E. Andrews' Errand Boy and W. L. Stuttler's Mera. Errand Boy beat Dixie home by over 1 1/4 minutes, while Mera beat her a half minute. Both of these boats, however, violated a condition of the race, and both were penalized accordingly, losing out by corrected time by a big margin.

It was agreed that handicaps should be fixed on actual performance on account of unsatisfac- tory handicapping by the rating tables. All the boats were sent at top speed for purposes of record and handicaps were figured on the basis of these performances. it was then agreed to prevent holding back to secure better handicaps, that any boats that exceed the speed of these record trials by more than 3 per cent in any race should be rehandicapped and penalized. By the workings of this rule Mera and Errand Boy finished in better time than 3 per cent above their records and were penalized by losing the race. Dixie won over Gray Wolf by only four seconds, with C. J. Coggin's Blanche II only 28 seconds behind her. She, however, made rather slow time for the distance, averaging only 24.6 miles for the course.

Errand Boy and Mera again suffered in a class race, and after finishing first and second in reverse order were compelled to take second and fourth places. The race went to G. D. Paddison's Baby Bullet by a margin of two seconds on the corrected time of Mera after she had been penalized for her excesses. In the other race for her class Mera won without penalty, beating W. V. Covar's Planet only five seconds over four and a half miles.

Simplex VIII made a sorry showing after her victories of yesterday. She was the last to finish in every one of her races, except for her prototype Simplex VII, which A. D. Proctor Smith of New York drove.

The races were the closest ever seen in America by the operation of the actual performance system of handicapping, and in no race did a minute separate the winners, while in most of them seconds only decided the issue. The summary of the races follows:

CLASS G Exceeding 30 feet water line Course, 4 1/2 nautical miles

CLASS G Course 9, nautical miles

CLASS X Less than 30 feet water line Course, 4 1/2 nautical miles

CLASS X Course, 9 nautical miles

Mera and Errand Boy exceeded their trial speeds by more than 3 per cent and were accordingly penalized making their corrected times

Mera 3:41:21, Errand Boy 3:42:29 and placing them second and fourth, although they finished first and second.

CLASS Z All lengths Course, 13 1/2 nautical miles

For exceeding 3 per cent limit Mera and Errand Boy ranked fifth and sixth, although finishing second and first.

Corrected times--Mera 5:16:50, Errand Boy 5:17:27.

[Thanks to Greg Calkins for help in preparing this page --LF]

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