1941: Yachting

The war in Europe and the increasing tempo of the defense effort somewhat interfered with American yachting in 1941 but, nevertheless, yachting had a successful season. The first race on the calendar was that from Miami to Nassau, won for the fifth time by Stormy Weather, owned by William LaBrot. The race from St. Petersburg to Havana was taken by Gulf Stream, Dudley C. Sharp. These two contests in the south, on Feb. 11 and March 18, opened the season auspiciously. The next long distance event was the race from New London to Hampton, Va., started on June 21. This was staged by a small but vigorous organization, the Storm Trysail Club, in conjunction with the Hampton Yacht Club. A novelty was introduced by having the two classes sail different courses, the larger yachts rounding Race Rock and then Vineyard Sound Lightship, sailing 75 miles further than the direct course taken by the Class B boats. The object was to bring the two classes to the finish at nearly the same time, and this was what happened, Harvey Conover's N.Y.Y.C. '32' Revonoc being first to finish, closely followed by Hother, J. Isbrandtsen, with the Naval Academy's big ketch Vamarie next. However, James H. Grove's Blitzen made the best speed in the fleet and nosed out Vamarie for first place in Class A. Revonoc took first in Class B with Hother second. The Naval Academy's big schooner Freedom sailed in a special class and finished sixth among the larger boats.

On the West Coast, the Honolulu Race was run again, starting from San Pedro on July 4, with seven contenders. The scratch boat, Dr. A. A. Steele's ketch Stella Maris II, was first to finish, crossing the line off Diamond Head 13 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes and 2 seconds after the starting gun had been fired. On corrected time, however, she dropped to fourth place, victory going to D. W. Elliott's sloop Escapade with a corrected time of 12:21:42:24 and elapsed time a little more than an hour longer than that of the ketch.

The New London-Marblehead Race, run by the Eastern Yacht Club in June, was won by another N.Y.Y.C. '32,' A. W. Page's Rampage. In September, the Stamford Yacht Club's Vineyard Race was won by DeCoursey Fales' veteran schooner Nina, which also captured the Cruising Club of America's spring race to Shelter Island, two American Yacht Club races and others.

The New York Athletic Club's sailing race to Block Island was again won, for the fifth time, by George Granbery's little Herreshoff sloop Anita. Grayling, a Class Q sloop owned by Earl Mitchell, won the Bayside Yacht Club to and around Block Island. In an October gale, George Lauder's Class M cutter Windward took the New Rochelle-Stratford Shoal race.

In the Stars, George Fleitz' Wench captured the world's championship at Los Angeles, while Harry Nye, of Chicago, won both the Midwinter Trophy and the Bacardi Cup at Habana with his Gale and William Picken, Jr., of the Great South Bay fleet, took the Atlantic Coast Championship in Foto.

In college yachting, Dartmouth came out on top, winning the McMillan Trophy, while Princeton cleaned up in intercollegiate dinghy racing. Miss Lois McIntyre, of the Riverside Yacht Club, won the Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Cup for the women's championship. Robert Coulson, of the Eastern Yacht Club, won the Junior Championship (the Sears Bowl) at Marblehead.

Motor Boat Racing.

There was less motor boat racing than usual, Detroit calling off its Gold Cup regatta which was then scheduled for the National Sweepstakes event at Red Bank, N. J. When the time came, there was but one boat present in the class, Zalmon G. Simmons' My Sin, 1939 champion, and she ran but a single 30-mile lap to go through the motions of winning what is supposed to be the greatest American speed boat trophy. The motor boat portion of the President's Cup Regatta, at Washington, was called off owing to the gasoline 'shortage.'

The '225' Class, however, raced their heads off all summer as did the smaller hydroplanes and the outboards. George Schrafft's Chrissie IV took the Sweepstakes and, later, the John Charles Thomas Trophy, representing the championship of the class.

Fred Jacoby, Jr., won the Albany-New York Outboard Marathon for the second time in May and, for the fifth time, was awarded the George H. Townsend high point trophy. Frank Desmond, a student at Villanova, took the honors in intercollegiate competition and the Col. Green Round Hill Trophy and won the national championship in Class B at Austin, Texas. Jack Henkels, of Fort Worth, won in Classes A and C, amateur, Paul Wearly winning in A and B, Thom Cooper in Class C and H. Vogts in Class F among the professionals.

Why Worry, a Gold Cup boat owned by William Cantrell of Louisville, Ky., hung up a mile record of 99.884 miles per hour. The '225' Tommyann, Joe Taggart, of Canton, O., did 73.170 m.p.h. in a five-mile race and Sally Jo II, H. G. Shrake, a '135,' made 62.068, also in competition. See also MOTOR BOAT RACING.