Seventy-One Miles an Hour by Airplane Boat

February 1920 George W. Sutton, Jr.
Seventy-One Miles an Hour by Airplane Boat
February 1920 George W. Sutton, Jr.

Seventy-One Miles an Hour by Airplane Boat

A New Type of Motor Boat which May Have Some Tremendous Possibilities

GEORGE W. SUTTON, Jr.

UNTIL recently the fastest that any man had ever traveled by motor boat was 63 1/2 miles an hour. That is the official American Power Boat Association record of Whip- O-Will, Jr., which was her average speed in six one-mile runs. Now, however, a new record breaker has appeared upon the scene. It is a weird looking craft designed by Mr. F. W. Baldwin in the laboratories of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, at Baddeck, on Cape Breton Island. The photographs accompanying this article, which were secured through Mr. William W. Nutting, managing editor of Motor Boat Magazine, who attended the trials of the HD-4, as the new mystery boat is named, will give a better idea of the new craft than any technical description of her. She is what might be called an air-driven glider, extremely light in weight, driven by two air propellers, deriving their power from two Liberty motors having 350 horsepower each.

This long, cigar-shaped boat dashes over the surface of the Bras d'Or Lakes at the rate of 71 miles an hour. Her speed comes, not so much from the shape of her hull, but from the construction of a system of submerged planes, which are not a part of the hull itself. These planes are called hydrofoils, and the boat itself is termed a hydrodrome.

The idea which resulted in the construction of this peculiar boat is not new. In fact, the inventor himself has been working on it for about ten years. The IID-4 while it has demonstrated its ability to attain a speed faster than anything yet developed in the motor boat world, is only in the experimental stage. Scientists who are studying her predict that a new type of boat will result, which will take in craft of this type up to about 150 feet, capable of carrying considerable weight at terrific speed. No one knows, of course, just what such boats will be used for, but there is no doubt that among other possibilities, they will be tried out by the Navy for the carrying of torpedoes and other purposes.

Mr. Baldwin, the designer of the new airplane boat, is well known in the field of Canadian outdoor sports. He is one of the best small boat sailors in the Dominion, as well as one of the most famous Rugby football players.

Sportsmen who are contemplating building hydroplanes for next year's races need have no fear that the HD-4 or other boats of her type will ruin their chances in competition. The rules of the American Tower Boat Association forbid the use in its races of boats driven by air propeller.

The development of speed in motor boats has been remarkable since the first Gold Cup race back in 1904. There is a bare possibility that Chris Smith or some other well known builder of fast hydroplanes will turn out a boat during the year which will equal the speed made by this new invention of Mr. Baldwin's. The first Gold Cup race was won at the rate of 22 1/4 miles an hour. This was before the day of hydroplanes. The speed in motor-boat races has risen to the world's record of 63 1/2 miles an hour, and while hydroplane racing is not as popular in this country as it was a few years ago, there is no reason to believe that the record will stand for any length of time. It is to be hoped that the international trophy races in August in England, when the American and French boats will try to take the British International Trophy away from England, will bring forth speed considerably in excess of existing marks.

Whip - 'O - Will, Jr.'s achievement of 63 1/2 miles an hour was made in the 1918 races for the One-Mile Championship of America, conducted by the American Power Boat Association under British Admiralty rules. This means that each competing boat had to make six separate one-mile dashes, with flying start, three up-stream and three down. Her record was the average speed of these dashes.

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This same boat, owned by Mr. Albert L. Judson, president of the American Power Boat Association, is credited, in private trials, with a swiftness greatly in excess of her official mark. She may be a member of the American team of three boats which will attempt to bring the Harmsworth trophy back to America, and, if the waters behind the Isle of Wight are not too rough for her small size, she may prove faster than any of the new boats which are now being built for these contests.

The American challenge, which has been accepted by the Royal Motor Yacht Club of England, was sent by the American Power Boat Association in behalf of Mr. G. A. Wood, of Detroit, who, within the past few years, has become the chief figure in American motorboat racing. He is building two boats with which to invade England during the week of August 10th. They are Miss America and Miss Detroit IV, and from the previous accomplishments of Mr. Wood in producing racing hydroplanes, it is almost certain that the new craft will be cunningly designed and amazingly fast. It is practically certain, also, that they will be powered with engines rebuilt from Liberty engine parts by the two mechanical wizards of the motorboat world, Bernard and Jay Smith.

If the American boats perform normally at Cowes, and if the British course has not been remeasured by the date of the races, some new world's records are bound to be established, regardless of the accomplishments of the French and English racers. When the late Count Mankowski and Mr. James A. Pugh, of Chicago, took Ankle Deep and

Disturber III to England in 1913 in an endeavor to return Lord Northcliffe's cup to America, they were badly beaten both by the English defender, Maple Leaf IV, and by one of the French entries, Despujols II. The speeds attained in those races, not only by the winners, but by the American boats as well, were much greater than anything any of the boats could do before or have done since, and the accuracy of the course was questioned by everybody familiar with racing. The matter was never settled. There was no doubt about the superiority of the English and French boats.

An American, Mr. W. H. Fauber, was the inventor of the hydroplane type of motorboat which has been such a great influence in raising the speed of racing motor craft. However, like many other American inventions, its development was left for foreigners, and it was the famous British challenger, Pioneer, which gave us our first idea of the great possibilities of Mr. Fauber's conception. This was in the 1910 Gold Cup Races held off Larchmont. Pioneer's speed was so much greater than that of the best American boat, Dixie III, that she would have won the race by many miles if a piece of seaweed had not intruded itself into her coolingwater intake and put her out of the race when she was 'way in the lead, As a result, the race conditions were changed the following year to provide for the best two out of three heats of 30 nautical miles each, and the displacement boat went out of existence as a creator of really high speed.

The invention of the hydroplane, therefore, revolutionized the building of racing motorboats. Possibly this new craft designed in Professor Bell's laboratories will have a similar history, but it is entirely too early to attempt any authentic predictions,

The whole motor boat world has reacted to the ever-present American demand for more speed. This is not only true in the peculiar type of racing craft known as hydroplanes, but in all

other classes, including the comfortable, luxurious cruiser. An excellent verification of this statement is shown in one of the accompanying photographs. Elbaroda, one of the most attractive of the recent yachts, is of a type, which a few years ago would have been equipped to deliver about ten to twelve miles an hour. You will see from the picture that she is a beamy, substantial cruiser, roomy enough to contain every comfort known to the ingenious designers of motor yachts. Yet she travels

at a speed over 18 miles an hour, being equipped with two eight-cylinder, 200 horsepower Speedway motors, She is an express cruiser, 86 feet long, with a beam of 14 feet and a draught of 3 feet 6 inches for negotiating the shallow harbors and rivers of the South, Built by the Consolidated Ship Building Corporation for Mr. A. C. Woodman, of Philadelphia, a member of the Corinthian Yacht Club, she is a ship on which the owner and his family could live comfortably the year around, if they so desired. Her exquisite interior appointments are set off by mahogany woodwork. Among other conveniences she has a complete hot water heating system, four large staterooms, a comprehensive galley for the preparation of elaborate meals, and a shower bath.

Elbaroda is a typical example of the new cruisers which go in for speed as well as for comfort. She and other boats of her type are equally useful for cruising and racing. Many boats of this type will be shown at the forthcoming Motor Boat Show, at the Grand Central Palace, New York, from February 20th to 28th.

The speed of the average runabout has increased, also, during the past few years. It seems as if no one is satisfied any longer with anything less than twenty-five miles an hour on the water, Typical of this sentiment is the 32-foot runabout illustrated here. This is owned by Mr. J. W. Packard, of Warren, Ohio, and, equipped with a four-cylinder Sterling motor, makes a speed of thirty miles per hour. She is not supposed to be a racing craft, simply an easy-going, comfortable runabout for short afternoon voyages. Nevertheless, her speed capabilities allow her owner to enjoy participation in some keen

racing events, In previous years there have been two types of boats—those with speed and those with comfort. Now, however, it is possible to obtain both qualities in the same boat, and the public realization of the benefits and advantages of motor boating have been such that the demand for boats is considerably ahead of the supply. It is very easy to forecast an exceedingly busy and eventful motor boating season for 1920. All reports emanating from Florida carry the news that never before have so many motor boats owned by Northern people been seen in that State. This is partly due to the increased interest in Florida as a Winter resort and the stimulus which has been given to Winter racing by the speed boat contests at Miami in February, and partly to the fact that motor boating, as a sport and recreation, is growing faster than any other pastime in the country, To those readers of Vanity Fair who

are not familiar with motorboating, I should like to recommend, most earnestly, an investigation of this pastime.