1951 APBA Gold Cup
Lake Washington, Seattle WA, August 4, 1951


The 1951 APBA Gold Cup Remembered
By Fred Farley - APBA Unlimited Historian

bullet The 1951 Gold Cup Remembered
bullet Sayres Readies Boat for Defense of Gold Cup in Seattle Race
bullet Nation's Top Racers to Invade Seattle
bullet New Slo-Mo-Shun May Be Ready For August Races
bullet Can They Beat "Slo-Mo-Shun IV"?
bullet Are the Big-name Racing Boats Challenging with Revised Hulls?
bullet Just Two Boats Qualify
bullet Set Speed-boat Record
bullet 100 mph Record for Dossins' Craft
bullet Miss Pepsi Chief Threat in Gold Cup
bullet "Slo-Mo V" Roars to Gold Cup's Fastest Win
bullet Slo-Mo-Shun V Wins Gold Cup At Seattle
bullet Pilot and Mechanic Killed As Gold Cup Race Boat Sinks
bullet Cup Racer Called a "Runaway" Boat
bullet Gold Cup Rules Changed
bullet Safety Committee Named
bullet Death at Seattle
bullet Quicksilver (from This is Hydroplaning)
bullet Statistics
The first West Coast Unlimited hydroplane race to count for APBA National Points was the 1951 APBA Gold Cup on Seattle's Lake Washington. Slo-mo-shun IV had won the 1950 Gold Cup in Detroit and had earned the right to defend her title on home waters, as per the then-current rules.

Slo-mo-shun V emerged victorious in 1951 with Lou Fageol at the wheel. Slo-mo V set a world lap speed record of 108 miles per hour on the first lap of the first heat. The race was declared a contest on the basis of two completed 30-mile heats on a 3-mile course, after the fatal accident involving Quicksilver, a Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered step hydroplane from Portland, Oregon.

Also in attendance that first year in Seattle were Miss Pepsi, Gale II, My Sweetie, Hornet, Such Crust, and Gold'n Crust from Detroit, Hurricane IV from Los Angeles, and Dee-Jay V from Philadelphia.

© Fred Farley. For reprint rights to this article, please contact the author at <fredf@hotmail.com>

 


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