1952 Silver Cup
Seven-Liter Class Wildcatter Does 73.476 MPH as Detroit
Regatta Starts
Speed Boats Paced By B. G. Bartley Jr.
Columbus Pilot Beats Father in 7-Liter Event at Detroit,
Has Day's Best Clocking
Wilson Registers Sweep
Captures Honors in 135-Cubic Inch Division
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DETROIT, Aug. 30, [1952] Speed boat daredevils who usually meet head-on with wild and rugged racing conditions and raging, rough Detroit River seas found ideal water, this afternoon in front of the Detroit Yacht Club in the curtain-raiser of a three-day regatta that will culminate Monday in the Silver Cup feature.
Today's best speeds came in the three heats for the seven-liter class. As a novelty in speed boating, a father and son were rivals for honors. But it was B. G. Bartley Jr. of Columbus. Ohio, who got the top clocking with a speed of 73.476 miles per hour in the first nine-mile heat, driving Wildcatter against his father, a Pittsburgher crouching in the cockpit of Roughneck. The senior Bartley once bought Aljo V from Joe Van Blerck Jr. of Freeport, L.I., but newer craft now make up the family fleet.
Wildcatter won the second heat also, but the Senior Bartley triumphed in the third heat. In the final point standing, the younger Bartley led with 1,100 to his father's 700.
So many entrants were ready behind the starting line for the popular 48-cubic-inch hydroplane event that it was necessary to hold two elimination heats to thin out the flotilla. The first eight in each were thus declared eligible for the final.
But this was a costly operation for James Wynne of St. Petersburg, Fla., in Dragon Jr., and for. Kenneth Nevin of nearby St. Clair Shores, in Gotta Go. Wynne finished first in the second heat and Nevin fifth, but they should have appeared in the first and were disqualified.
Another crowded event was for the 135 cubic inch class and, despite the excellence of the field, Don Wilson of Dearborn captured all three heats for a total of 1,200 points.
Sayres in Seattle Hospital
This Labor Day week-end fixture has been growing in stature and prestige, especially since Detroit lost the Gold Cup classic to Seattle two years ago when Ted Jones, designer of Stanley S. Sayres' Slo-Mo-Shun IV, won the famous bauble, and took it to the Pacific Northwest, where it seems likely to stay a while.
Jones was here today as a spectator, no longer with the Sayres' fleet of Slo-Mo's, but accompanying Carl Kiekhaefer, bead of the Mercury Outboard Motors.
During the day it was learned that Sayres will not spend next month on an Eastern regatta barnstorming tour as expected, with one of his record-holding Unlimited hydroplanes. He has been hospitalized in Seattle.
His illness and that of Anchor Jenson, the boat's builder, and Mike Welsch, one of the pilots, will cause the cancellation of Slo-Mo-Shun's entries next Sunday in the around-Manhattan race and thereafter at Red Bank. N. J., Washington and New Martinsville for the big regattas ahead.
Hornet Borrows Gear Box
Emergency repairs have been under way at local boat wells ands shipyards because of damage to the Unlimited fleet at Seattle and elsewhere, The gear box of Such Crust IV, which exploded at Seattle with serious injuries to Wild Bill Cantrell, is being installed for Monday's Silver Cup race in Horace E. Dodge's Hornet. This boat will be known for the present as Hornet-Crust and will be driven by Lou Fageol of Kent, Ohio.
Jack Schafer's other Unlimited, Such Crust III, capsized here earlier this week, sending the driver, Roy Duby, into Jennings Hospital with a crushed chest. But the boat has been dried out and polished. It had a trial run tonight after the day's final racing heat. She is being driven by Chuck Thompson, normally pilot of Miss Pepsi, which blew a gear box and will be out of action this weekend.
Among the other big speed jobs scheduled for Monday's excitement will be Dodge's My Sweetie, driven by Al D'Eath; Miss Great Lakes, with Joe Taggart at the wheel; Gale II, to be steered by Danny Foster, and several lesser known craft.
THE SUMMARIES |
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135-Cubic-Inch Class |
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First Heat, Six Miles |
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1 |
Who Dat |
Don Wilson |
Dearborn, Mich. |
2 |
My Move |
George Kane |
Lincoln Park, Mich. |
3 |
Could Be |
Irving Daus |
Buffalo, NY |
4 |
Chromium |
Bob Luckenhoff |
Detroit, Mich. |
5 |
Dizzy Liz |
Vincent Lizzio |
Dearborn, Mich. |
6 |
Little Schmaltz |
Don Ziegler |
Detroit, Mich. |
7 |
Miss Wiggle |
Tom Rex |
Detroit, Mich. |
8 |
Skid Do |
John Kramer |
Dayton, Ohio |
9 |
Mi First |
John Conway |
Farmington, Mich. |
10 |
Hit-N-Miss |
Henry Clifford |
Mount Clemens, Mich. |
Speed 63.215 MPH |
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Second Heat, Six Miles |
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1 |
Who Dat |
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2 |
My Move |
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3 |
Chromium |
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4 |
Could Be |
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5 |
Skid Do |
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6 |
Bellevue Baby |
Dallas Kramer |
Bellevue, Ky. |
7 |
Mi First |
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Speed 62.63 MPH |
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Third Heat, Six Miles |
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1 |
Who Dat |
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2 |
Chromium |
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3 |
Could Be |
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4 |
Skid Do |
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5 |
Miss Wiggle |
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6 |
Dizzy Liz |
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7 |
Bellevue Baby |
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8 |
Mi First |
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Speed 65.29 MPH |
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Final Point Score Who Dat, 1,200; Chromium, 694; Could Be, 619. |
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225-Cubic-Inch Class |
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First Heat, Six Miles |
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1 |
Miss Columbus |
Check Hunter |
Columbus, Ohio |
2 |
Stinger II |
Bill Hickson |
Pontiac, Mich. |
3 |
Miss Lawrence Tech |
Don Ziegler |
Detroit, Mich. |
4 |
Corsair |
Carl Stroh, Jr. |
Detroit, Mich. |
5 |
Volo Hi |
Jack Keating |
Pontiac, Mich. |
6 |
Sir John I |
Joseph Allbee |
Detroit, Mich. |
Speed 64.036 MPH |
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Second Heat, Six Miles |
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1 |
Miss Columbus |
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2 |
Waterbug |
Sam Corrino |
Detroit, Mich. |
3 |
Miss Lawrence Tech |
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4 |
Flakey |
Alec Ross |
Detroit, Mich. |
5 |
Corsair |
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6 |
Sir Ron I |
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Speed 59.29 MPH |
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Third Heat, Six Miles |
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1 |
Flakey |
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2 |
Miss Columbus |
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3 |
Waterbug |
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4 |
Miss Lawrence Tech |
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5 |
Corsair |
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Speed 61.214 MPH |
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Final Point Score Miss Columbus, 1,100; Miss Lawrence Tech, 619; Flakey, 569. |
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48-Cubic-Inch Hydroplanes |
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First Elimination Heat, Five Miles |
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1 |
Leapin Leprechaun |
Tom Hanley |
Grosse Pointe, Mich. |
2 |
Sleep Stealer |
Primo Ardune |
Detroit, Mich. |
3 |
Mi-Son-Too |
Ray Muncey |
Detroit, Mich. |
4 |
Rascal |
E.H. Barkham |
Detroit, Mich. |
5 |
Ugh |
J.D. Smith |
Cincinnatti, Ohio |
6 |
Half Pint |
Jack Dalian |
Dearborn, Mich. |
7 |
Smokey |
Alfred Cardillo |
Pittsburgh, Penn. |
8 |
Tinkle |
Al Smart |
Allen Park, Mich. |
Speed 38.683 MPH |
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Second Elimination Heat, 5 Miles |
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1 |
Mad Hatter |
O.J. Hallenbach |
McHenry, Ill. |
2 |
Hijo Mio |
James Van Hise |
St. Petersburg, Fla. |
3 |
[no name] |
Dan Arena |
Mount Clemens, Mich. |
4 |
Buddy |
V. Verhaege |
Grosse Pointe, Mich. |
5 |
Sharpshooter |
Bill Gillies |
Detroit, Mich. |
6 |
Little Chief |
John Thomas |
Wyandotte, Mich. |
Speed 42.81 MPH |
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Dragon Jr., James Wynne, St. Petersburg, Fla. and Gotta Go, Kenneth Nevill, St. Clair Shores, Mich., disqualified for running in wrong elimination heat. |
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Third and Final Heat, 5 Miles |
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1 |
Mad Hatter |
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2 |
[no name] |
(Arena) |
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3 |
Rascal |
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4 |
Leapin Leprechaun |
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5 |
Mi Son Too |
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6 |
Ugh |
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7 |
Half Pint |
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Speed 42.971 MPH |
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7-Liter Hydroplane Class |
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First Heat, Nine Miles |
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1 |
Wildcatter |
B.G. Bartley, Jr. |
Columbus, Ohio |
2 |
Roughneck |
B.G. Bartley, Sr. |
Pittsburgh, Penn. |
Speed 73.476 MPH |
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Second Heat, Nine Miles |
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1 |
Wildcatter |
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2 |
So Long |
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3 |
Helen M. |
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Speed 62.961 MPH |
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Third Heat, Nine Miles |
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1 |
Roughneck |
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2 |
Wildcatter |
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3 |
So Long |
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Speed 61.985 MPH |
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Final Point Score Wildcatter, 1,100; Roughneck, 700; So Long, 525. |
[Reprinted from The New York Times, August 31, 1952]
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