(MARI)TIME WARP! 1910: SPEEDY BOATS TO CLASH IN INQUIRER’S REGATTA

SPEEDY BOATS TO CLASH IN THE INQUIRER’S REGATTA

Philadelphia Inquirer
6 Aug. 1910

Largest Fleet of Racing Craft Ever Assembled in Lower Egg Harbor Bay Entered for Today's Races

From a Staff Correspondent

ISLAND HEIGHTS, N.J., Aug. 5.--By 10 o'clock tomorrow morning the greatest fleet of racing and pleasure craft ever assembled in local waters, bearing hundreds of persons, each anxious to see their favorite boat win, will anchor off Cedar Creek, in lower Egg Harbor Bay, to witness the Inquirer Regatta, to be raced under the control of the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association.

Tonight, after a strenuous twenty-four hours of final planning for the regatta, the 500 odd yachtsmen represented in the central racing association went off to bed, knowing fully that tomorrow will dawn on the most important racing event ever held along the north Jersey coast. Easily, it will be the premier contest of its kind ever attempted in these waters, and for its success the popularity of The Inquirer Regatta is held responsible.

More entries have been made than for any other races, and that is "going some," for the Barnegat Bay tars are old hands at the racing game and pride themselves in the large number of boats to clash at their race meets. Boat owners simply swamped Chairman John C. McAvoy and the other members of the Racing Committee with entries.

More Entries Than Ever

"Wow!" said Mr. McAvoy to Commodore A.W. Atkinson, of the Island Heights Yacht Club, during the afternoon. "Last year's record of 55 starters in The Inquirer Regatta is beaten now and I have a batch of letters containing entries that stacks up on my desk nearly an inch high."

Meanwhile that portion of Toms River in the vicinity of the club house was dotted with racing craft, waiting for The Inquirer's official measurer to tape them and compute their racing handicaps. It was a continuous procession of boats yesterday, the majority of the boats flying the colors of Island Heights Yacht Club were measured. Today the racers of the other fleets had their inning. From Sea Side Park, Bay Head, Toms River, Mantoloking, Barnegat City, Forked River, Cedar and Lavallette swarmed here.

Tonight the Island Heights anchorage is the rendezvous of a fleet of more than 100 boats, mainly from the other clubs, which will head for the racing field early in the morning. Moreover, by train this afternoon and tonight scores of persons came from Philadelphia and New York for the race, and they will be taken down the bay on the boats of friends to whoop it up for the racers they want to see flash across the line winners.

The race will be the first big test of the value of the Barnegat Bay Racing Association. This organization was formed by Mr. McAvoy, who was last year commodore of the Island Heights Yacht Club, and a few kindred racing enthusiasts. The object is to control all racing on Barnegat Bay, thereby paving the way for better races and equitable rules. On the racing committee of the association, besides Mr. McAvoy, are Herman Muller, of the Sea Side Park Yacht Club; Guy A. Luburg, of the Island Heights Yacht Club; C.A. Horter, of the Cedar Yacht Club; C.C. Eankson of the Lavallette Yacht Club; C.E. Smith, of the Barnegat City Yacht Club, and Edgar P. Earle, of the Mantoloking Yacht Club. By having a representative at each of the clubs the plans for the regatta held under the auspices of the association can be carried on with unison. This has been done in the preparation of The Inquirer Regatta with much success. Besides this, the commodores and officers of the various clubs have been working hand-in-hand with the Racing Committee.

First Race at 11 A.M.
The first race is scheduled to be started at 11 o'clock. Two hours before this time, however, the picturesque resorts that fringe Barnegat Bay and Toms River will be emptied of the summer and yachting contingent, for the exodus to the course will be in keeping with the proportions of the regatta. There will be seven classes, and each event, unless weather conditions should cause the officials to make a shift in the instructions, will be twice over the course from off Cedar Creek to Waretown. Each lap will be ten miles. The classes, together with the time of starting, follow:

Power Boats
11.05 A.M. - Open launches.
11.10 A.M. - Speed boats.
11.15 A.M. - Cruisers, two divisions.

Sail Boats
1.35 P.M. - Sneak-boxes.
1.40 P.M. - Cat-boats.
1.45 P.M. - Cruising sloops.
1.50 P.M. - Auxiliary boats.

"I guess a program like that should satisfy the most exacting yachtsman," said Commodore Atkinson after he had read the list of events.
In fact, there is a class for nearly every type of boat on Barnegat Bay, excepting the open sloops. The boats of this type, the "I.H.Y.C.," of the local club, and the Manhasset, of Sea Side Park, together with the Adventuress, of the Corinthian Yacht and Gun Club, of Beach Haven, the trio that raced last year, are not in commission.

Speedy Craft Entered
In every class there are many entries, the best and speediest boats of the respective types being entered. Yachtsmen, who turned their backs on sail-bearing craft as soon as the motor engine came into vogue, say the best part of the regatta will be in the morning.
One of the most thrilling races of the day is bound to be the struggle of the cat-boats. Two boats, the Virginia, owned by John Norris and sailed by "Doc" Leslie Mulford, and the Lulu, owned by Walter Bell and sailed by Lash Hyres, are expected to furnish the race. The Virginia has been selected to defend Barnegat Bay in the inter-bay catboat races off Narragansett Pier week after next. Lulu was the defender last year. So far the Lulu and the Virginia have not yet met, and the Island Heights bunch is on edge to get a line on the speed of the Virginia.
The sneak-box race will also be a thriller. This is a popular type of boat on the bay. Last year this was a corking race, and it will be better on Saturday, because there are more races.
Reed Kilpatrick, captain of next year's Yale football team, and now training at Pelham Manor to represent the New York Athletic Club at the all-round champion competition at Chicago, arrived here tonight to sail his Billiken.
With the Island Heights members the race for the auxiliary boats will be interesting. There are numerous sail craft here in which engines have or are being installed. Tomorrow, therefore, will show how fast these auxiliaries will scud along under sail and power.

The entries follow:

Open Launches
Boat - Owner

Little Quakeress - Howard Edson
Nautilus - F.T. Benjamin
Atlantic - A.L. Forbes
Leroy - John Drumm
Lloyd S. - Edward Miller
Harrigan - W.R. McGill
Betsy - Maguerite Webster
Ada S. - Joseph Smalley
Hiram - Edward Rowell
Mea II - Harry Lippincott
Fourth of July - S.D. Conwell
Coyote - Dr. G.H. Thatcher
Sylph - J.C. Morton

Speed Boats
Inquirer - Faunce Bros.
Scout - Geo. R. Roden
Black Devil - Edw. Stontenberg
Muriel - W.S. Snyder
Broadbill - Murray Earle
Connie Mack - Thos. E. Shibe

Cruisers
Mycehua - Com. A.W. Atkinson
Vonine - F.A. Nathan
Elizabeth - Jno. C. McAvoy
Bella G - Leon Seifert
Electra - J.W. Wright
Wren - F.R. Welsh
Vinnie II - Edwin Lloyd
Bummer - J.H. Gillingham
Swallow II - Joseph Neville, 3d.
Vesta - F.A. Downes
Dixie - J.A. Wood
Dorothy - F.M. Hoover
Donscha - A.E. Freeman
Alice - Wm. Schoettle
Mary - Ferd Schoettle
Elforene - Wm. Shetzline
Adrea - J.V. Piard
Berbob - George R. Seiffert
Filia - A.E. Buchanan
Josephine - Thos. S. Shibe
Curlew - C. Irving Merrill
Bettina - George S. Hier

Cruising Sloops
Margaret - Gerhard Leiper
Ashumet - Dr. Chas. Ill

Sneak Boxes
Break Down - Douglass B. Murphy
Arrow - O.G. Dale
Mystery - F.F. Bailey
Miss Cat - J.V. Cattus
Snag - Roy Porter
Goodnuff - L.F. Bailey
Frou Frou - B. Gerhardi
Widgeon - T.H. Burchill
Constance - R. Louder
Nerious - Dr. Charles Ill
Wildcat - J. Piard
Water Wagon - H.S. Tissot
Billiken - Reed Kilpatrick
Merry Widow - J.A. Brown
Frolic - J.R. Such
Quickstep - Captain Wilber
Owl - Reed Mills
Lemonade - George Bailey

Catboats
Virginia - John Norris
Peerless - Edmund Ill
Mary E. - Dr. Leon Gable
Thistle - Dr. D.R. Megreagor
Trolley - C.H. Harter
Martha - Howard Webb
Lou - Lash Hyres
Princess - Walter Haywood

Cabin Sloops
Yankee - R.M. Vanderherchen
Shawara - George Patterson
Quakeress - Allen Edson
Mabel - William Edson

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