1957 APBA Gold Cup

Miss Thriftway Triumphs in Gold Cup Speed-Boat Competition at Seattle
Defender Scores 2 Firsts, A Second
Miss Thriftway Victor Over Shanty I, With Maverick Third in Boat Race

Seattle, Aug. 11 [1957] (AP) — Miss Thriftway successfully defended the Gold Cup today in the fiftieth anniversary running of the speed-boat race, winning her first two heats and finishing second in the final phase of the ninety mile contest.

A crowd estimated by police at nearly half a million persons crowded the shores of Lake Washington or watched from nearly 1,000 pleasure boats around the course. The sky was studded with clouds, but there was no rain and the water was nearly ideal for the big unlimited hydroplanes.

Shanty I, the holder of the Harmsworth Trophy and last year’s national champion, finished second in the point total.

Shanty’s twin sister, the Maverick, which beat Miss Thriftway in the final thirty mile heat, wound up third in the point standings.

Hawaii Kai, a speedster from Seattle, set a torrid pace in the final heat until she lost her power on the last turn of the ninth and next-to-last lap. In winning her first heat of the day, the Kai set a lap record for the three-mile course and a heat record.

Going into the final heat, the cup decision rested between the Seattle-owned Miss Thriftway and Shanty I, with Miss Thriftway 100 points ahead. Either one was in position to turn in the best over-all time for ninety miles and win 400 bonus points.

Shanty I lost her chance when her driver, Russ Schleeh, miscalculated the south turn buoy after the start and had to loop back to circle it. After that, knowing the race was his as long as he stayed ahead of Shanty I, Bill Muncey held Miss Thriftway in the middle of the field.

Gale V, which had three drivers during the day, made a race of it with Miss Thriftway for a time, but had a brief spell of engine trouble and finally finished the heat in fourth place. Schleeh had Shanty I moving fast at the finish, but had to settle for third.

With two 400-point firsts, one second worth 300 points and an elapsed time bonus of 400 points, Miss Thriftway wound up with 1,500 points.

Miss Thriftway averaged exactly the same speed for her two heat victories — 104.016 miles per hour. Her average for the ninety miles, 101.983 m.p.h., broke the mark of 99.552 set in 1955 by Gale V.

The flame-pink Hawaii Kai III hung up heat and lap records in the final section of heat one. Jack Regas turned the first lap at 114 miles per hour to better the mark of 113 m.p.h. set in the first heat by Miss Wahoo. His official heat time of 109.823 bettered the old mark of 101.024 set over a three-mile course by Chuck Thompson in Miss Pepsi.

The Final Standings
Pos.	No.	Boat	Driver	El. Time	Av. Speed	Points
1.	U-60	Miss Thriftway (1)	Bill Muncey	52:09.5	101.979	1,500
2.	U-29	Shanty I	Russ Schleeh	55:28.6	97.678	925
3.	U-12	Maverick (1)	Bill Stead	58:34.5	92.553	869
4.	U-22²	Breathless II	Jay Murphy	59:12.3	91.334	652
5.	U-99	Short Circuit (2)	Chuck Thompson	59:44.1	90.845	638
6.	U-55	Gale V (2)	Bill Cantrell, Lee Schoenith, Roy Duby	60:54.1	89.195	620
7.	U-8	Hawaii Kai	Jack Regas			400
8.	U-77	Wahoo	Mira Slovak			400
9.	U-2	Miss U.S. I (2)	Fred Alter			352
10.	G-22	Such Crust III (2)	Jack Bartlow			338
11.	U-19	Miss Rocket	Marion Cooper			225
12.	U-4	Miss Bardahl (1)	Norm Evans			225
DNF	U-37	Miss Seattle
DNF	U-62	Thriftway Too
DNF	U-56	Gale VI (1)
DNQ	U-36	Miss U.S. IV
DNQ	U-22	Breathless
DNQ	U-7	Sunnee Brand
DNQ	U-46	Whiz-ski [7-litre]
DNQ	U-24	Miss U	Del Fanning

[Note: Bob Burd's Racing Unlimited gives a slightly different finishing order for some boats further down the field:

In addition, Sunnee Brand is simply listed as Sunnee; Burd also lists Miss Wahoo as Wahoo, a name she likely did not take on until 1959 --LF]

1A	1.	Wahoo	108.717
	2.	Gale V
	3.	Miss Rocket
1B	1.	Miss Thriftway	104.016
	2.	Shanty I
	3.	Breathless II
1C	1.	Hawaii Kai III
	2.	Maverick
	3.	Miss U.S.
2A	1.	Miss Thriftway	104.016
	2.	Short Circuit
	3.	Gale V
2B	1.	Shanty I	98.369
	2.	Breathless II
	3.	Miss Bardahl
3	1.	Maverick	99.944
	2.	Miss Thriftway
	3.	Shanty I