NOTES:
We were recently visiting Gene & Chris Whipp at their Sarasota, FL Gulfwind Marine location. Gene introduced me to Dick Thede. Dick is such a Ventnor enthusiast, that he trademarked the Ventnor Boat Works name for his company. If any members are interested in chatting about Ventnor history, you can contact Dick at (941)383-3006.
 A recent question to us is “Does the Vintage & Historic Division have a 100 MPH Club?”  Not at this time! “How can we get one started?” We need member input. As the Chairman of the V & H Division my suggestion is this. I would like to have 2 separate clubs. The first would be an APBA Vintage Mile a Minute Club (60 mph) or this could be called the APBA Vintage 100 Kilometer Club. The second group would be the APBA V & H 100 MPH Club. These achievements would not create new class records. The participants would receive a certificate and a jacket patch recognizing their membership for having attained the required speed on water. Instead of running a kilo with two way averaging runs, in the interest of safety,  we could certify the speed from a single run using a Radar Gun. Now the next question is “How do we fund these activities and awards?” I am open to your suggestions. Please write me and I will print your responses, even if you do not like my ideas. Your input is important to all our membership. Now is the time to help make vintage racing grow to be bigger and better!

CHALLENGES:
We thank Jim Peele from Midland, MI for answering our challenge. Jim supplied us with photocopied information on the Gold Cup class So-Long owned by Lou Fageol. We are still in need of actual photographs of this historic boat so that we can use them for references and possibly publish them in the Propeller Magazine. If any member has an actual photograph and does not want to release it, we would be glad to pay for a photo reprint or we will have it copied and returned.
 We have received many letters telling us that so many other vintage members have assisted or helped another member in some special way. James Hawver of Rochester, NY sent us such a letter. As he explains, Jim Peele helped him to locate the hull number on his 135 Ventnor Hydro. Jim Peele owns a pair of Ventnor hydroplanes, and is a specialist on Ventnor racing hulls. 
 We have a new challenge from Jim Hawver. His Ventnor 135 hydro is hull # 387. He guesses that the hull  might have been constructed around 1940. With this hull number information is there any way to tell the year that the hull was built?

RACE SITES: 
Detroit, MI: Chrysler 1996 APBA Gold Cup will be May 30 thru June 2. We have been receiving letters of intent from our members. If you wish the opportunity to participate, please send a letter to me A.S.A.P. The deadline is fast approaching! This is a rare opportunity to actually make some laps on the famous 2 1/2 mile Gold Cup Course. Only the actual Gold Cup Boats and the Vintage racing crafts will run on this  historic course. All other competitors will run on the shorter 1 1/4 mile course.
Clayton, NY: The Antique Race Boat Regatta ‘96 will take place August 15-18. Plans for this Regatta are coming along nicely. This will be our major event of this season. If you have questions, contact Bill Danforth at  (315) 686-4104.
Race Promoters: If you plan to hold a Vintage Event this year, please contact me so that I can help you get this information out in the Propeller. 

FAMOUS NAMES OF THE PAST:
In memory of two great racing legends, we would like you to enjoy the reprint of an article that appeared in the May Propeller 1953.
“Our Biggest Day” as told by Frank Foulke
 What was the biggest day in my fifteen year racing career? That’s an easy one to answer! You might think it was December 28, 1952, at the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, FL when I won two important 266 hydro events and qualified for the 100 mph Club by driving my 266 hydro Sagana XIII at a speed of 114.48 mph. It wasn’t. It was the next day at the same regatta when my wife Millie made it our big day by climbing into Sagana herself and tearing through the straightaway course at a speed of 111.28 mph to become the first woman to drive over 100-mph on water. In two days, we had become the first husband and wife team to qualify for the Club in the entire history of power boat racing!
 Over the years previous to this eventful day, we had won 525 trophies between us, and had broken 37 records in Inboard racing. And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t got mad one day in 1938 at a local Sunday regatta. I raced on the dirt tracks then, and hadn’t thought much about boats. But this one particular Sunday, I wandered down to the pits to have a look at the boats and I was told to keep out ... no spectators allowed in the pits! After sulking for a while, I bought a hull, installed an engine in it, entered an Inboard Racing Runabout event in the next President’s Cup Regatta ... and managed to finish last. But I liked the atmosphere in the pits, and the feel of the boat on the course, so I deserted the dirt tracks forever and concentrated on power boat racing.
 Millie didn’t catch the urge for break-neck speed on water until seven years later. Once she got it, however, she re-wrote the Straightaway record books for three years in our D Racing Runabout, Sagana VIII.
 And with all these thrills and wonderful experiences behind us, we could still feel that something even better was going to happen on December 28, the day before the big one. All our plans were working out so smoothly ...the weather was perfect, the Sagana XIII was skimming along beautifully. That day I won the 266 Hydro event, and followed with a victory in the International Inboard Grand Prix to take the Baker Palladium Trophy. The stage was set for the net day.
 On December 29th, we entered Sagana XIII in the Inboard mile trials and Millie was going to drive her. This was the first time Millie had ever sat in a 266 Hydro, and her fastest previous speed on water was 80 mph in our 225 Hydro. Millie was eager to hit the 100 mph mark and become the first women to accomplish this feat. I gave her instructions on all the land marks and explained how to fire up the new fuel injectors.
 She roared through the traps, and it was thrilling to see a woman run as straight and true a course as she did. The boat behaved like a veteran...just like the veteran behind the wheel. When the officials announced that Millie had driven the South run of the straightaway in 114 plus. I knew that our biggest day in racing had arrived. On the North run, she pushed the needle up to 108 mph all the way for an average of 111.289 mph for the two way run, and the well-earned title of the “fastest woman on water.”
 The only event that could possibly overshadow these memories of our biggest day would be to have Millie set a new one-mile mark for the 266’s in Sagana XIII. But this is only a dream.
Comments:  I never met Frank, but I did have the privilege to talk with Millie. It is obvious that their love for boat racing and APBA was only surpassed by their eternal love for each other. We will miss you Millie! Frank and Millie are together again forever!

VINTAGE BOATS OF THE MONTH:
This is a typical 1940’s Grapefruit Circuit pit scene from Miami, Florida. The boats waiting to go into competition are: F-50, Tempo V, Guy Lombardo from Long Island NY; F-18, My First, R.W. Keller from Detroit, MI; F-43, Terror, M.R. Wade from Urichsville, OH; and F-12, Aljo V, Jos. Van Blerck JR from Freeport, NY.

©1996 Tom D'Eath