1952 Silver Cup
Detroit River, Detroit, Michigan, September 1, 1952


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
Large Craft Prepare for Silver Cup
By Clarence E. Lovejoy, Special to the New York Times

bullet Boat Banter
bullet Seven-Liter Class Wildcatter Does 73.476 MPH as Detroit Regatta Starts
bullet Speed Boat Trophy Taken By Gale II
bullet Gale II Takes Silver Cup in Annual Labor Day Classic
bullet Statistics

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

135-Cubic-Inch Class

First Heat, Six Miles

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

Second Heat, Six Miles

1

Who Dat

   

2

My Move

   

3

Chromium

   

4

Could Be

   

5

Skid Do

   

6

Bellevue Baby

Dallas Kramer

Bellevue, Ky.

7

Mi First

   

Speed — 62.63 MPH

Third Heat, Six Miles

1

Who Dat

   

2

Chromium

   

3

Could Be

   

4

Skid Do

   

5

Miss Wiggle

   

6

Dizzy Liz

   

7

Bellevue Baby

   

8

Mi First

   

Speed — 65.29 MPH

Final Point Score — Who Dat, 1,200; Chromium, 694; Could Be, 619.

225-Cubic-Inch Class

First Heat, Six Miles

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

Second Heat, Six Miles

1

Miss Columbus

   

2

Waterbug

Sam Corrino

Detroit, Mich.

3

Miss Lawrence Tech

   

4

Flakey

Alec Ross

Detroit, Mich.

5

Corsair

   

6

Sir Ron I

   

Speed — 59.29 MPH

Third Heat, Six Miles

1

Flakey

   

2

Miss Columbus

   

3

Waterbug

   

4

Miss Lawrence Tech

   

5

Corsair

   

Speed — 61.214 MPH

Final Point Score — Miss Columbus, 1,100; Miss Lawrence Tech, 619; Flakey, 569.

48-Cubic-Inch Hydroplanes

First Elimination Heat, Five Miles

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

Second Elimination Heat, 5 Miles

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

Dragon Jr., James Wynne, St. Petersburg, Fla. and Gotta Go, Kenneth Nevill, St. Clair Shores, Mich., disqualified for running in wrong elimination heat.

Third and Final Heat, 5 Miles

1

Mad Hatter

   

2

[no name]

(Arena)

 

3

Rascal

   

4

Leapin Leprechaun

   

5

Mi Son Too

   

6

Ugh

   

7

Half Pint

   

Speed — 42.971 MPH
(Protest against Mad Hatter’s motor on grounds of costing more than stipulated by rules was registered by a driver.)

7-Liter Hydroplane Class

First Heat, Nine Miles

1

Wildcatter

B.G. Bartley, Jr.

Columbus, Ohio

2

Roughneck

B.G. Bartley, Sr.

Pittsburgh, Penn.

Speed — 73.476 MPH
Bevwyn, Rick Keller, Detroit; So Long, Ray Fageol, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and Helen M., Fred Sutton Jr., Kingston, N.C. did not finish

Second Heat, Nine Miles

1

Wildcatter

   

2

So Long

   

3

Helen M.

   

Speed — 62.961 MPH
Bevwyn did not finish.

Third Heat, Nine Miles

1

Roughneck

   

2

Wildcatter

   

3

So Long

   

Speed — 61.985 MPH

Final Point Score — Wildcatter, 1,100; Roughneck, 700; So Long, 525.

[Reprinted from The New York Times, August 31, 1952]


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