NOTES:
Daniel Murphy from Gladyne, PA is continuing a longtime tradition by awarding the Daniel J. Murphy Sr. Memorial Trophy. Presentation to this years’ recipient will be at the Clayton Antique Race Boat Regatta. Henry Lauterbach received the award in 1994. We would like to thank Mr. Murphy for supporting APBA’s Vintage & Historic Division and The 1996 Clayton Antique Raceboat Regatta. Next month we will announce the recipient of this cherished & historic award.

VINTAGE RACERS REDISCOVERED: 
David Burns of Ottawa, Ontario has located and purchased an old 5 Litre hydroplane. After reviewing the pictures, in my opinion, this boat looks as a Lauterbach design boat built by Watson Lewis from Baltimore. Maybe, this hull is the old Scorpio that Watson and his son owned. Does anyone now what happened to this boat so we might verify our beliefs?
 Peter Sloan of Detroit MI has located an original, intact Tommy Hill 135 cu. in. hydroplane hull from the late 40’s. This writer believes this could be either the Hot Stuff or the Miami Boy. There is black paint under all the many layers of paint. This clue lends me to believe that the hydro is the Hot Stuff that sported an all black paint scheme.

CHALLENGES: 
George Davidson has issued a new challenge. He is trying to locate any kind of vintage raceboat somewhere in the Louisville, KY area. If you know where one might be residing, please contact him at 502-895-9502.

BOB SILVA’S WEST COAST REPORT:
 The “forget-me-not” Blue Blazes
 Richard Hallett’s lightweight drop sponson-designed hydroplanes dominated the APBA west coast inboard race courses in the early 1950’s with few exceptions. One of those exceptions was Blue Blazes, designed by Tommy Caldwell, a San Mateo attorney. The boat featured a full deck, wide transom and tunnel area, yet she was light enough to be competitive with the Hallett-designed boats. Blue Blazes burst upon the boat racing scene in 1947 when Caldwell drove her to a 1-mile straight-away record for 135 cu.in. hydros at 88.78 mph. The modified Ford V8-60 power plant was replaced by a stock engine in 1953 in order to race in the newly formed 136 class (now called 2.5 Litre stock). By August of that year, he upped the 1-mile record to 72.914 mph.
 In 1954, Caldwell’s Blue Blazes proved to be the spoiler against the Hallett designs of Bob Boehm’s Jerky and Rich Hallett’s own Holiday. From Seattle to the Salton Sea, this trio swapped race wins and speed records throughout the season, all the while bucking the large number of 136 class entries that required holding elimination heats. By year’s end, Blue Blazes had again captured Region 11 high points, placed second in 136 national high points behind New Jersey’s George Smith in Jersey Devil, and set a new 1-mile record with a 80.066 mph clocking.
 Surprisingly, the 1955 season found the forget-me-not blue and white number 37-S, Blue Blazes, competing on the east coast, as Caldwell sold her to Don DeVault of Glen Burnie, Maryland. DeVault wasted no time in shaking up the competition with his new ride, and entered her in the 136 Nationals on the Choptank River in Cambridge. The water proved so rough that defending champ Wally Roland withdrew his Cavalier from the final heats, but the 9 year old Blazes took to the rough chop as DeVault raced home as National Champion over 21 other entries, including second place Skeeter Johnson in Beverly Ann and Ralph Brogden in third.
 Tommy Caldwell never returned to active boat racing, but went on the become Commodore of the California Speedboat Association, Inboard Deputy Commissioner, and a Judge for San Mateo County, California.
 Here is a New Challenge - Does any know what happened to Blue Blazes after its' 1955 win?

EDWARD H. NABB’S  SPECIAL REPORT:
This is the continuation of Ed’s letter from last months' article. “Let me mention something else that I have regretted for many years. In Baltimore we had a man named Ernie Chase who was entranced with large runabouts. They were all named PEPS. Ernie was a very delicate looking man. When I remember him he must have been in his 60’s, wore a beret, and always had some sort of little dog in his arms. He never married, apparently had all the money he needed, but insisted upon running a small paint store in one of the roughest sections of Baltimore. He eventually was killed by some sort of thug who was holding up that little paint store. He owned a marina and boat building operation. He had a big rough looking driver who always had the stub of a cigar sticking out of his mouth and who in truth was a very gentle man. His name was John Bramble. These big old unlimited runabouts were about 20 to 25 feet long, powered with huge Packard engines, later with Liberty aircraft and then Allisons. They didn’t go very fast -- 45 or 50 miles per hour. They had steering wheels that must have been three feet in diameter.
 Chase was convinced that the three-pointer was a fad that wasn’t here to stay. He became entranced when Mel Crook was building that great big single step hydroplane named Betty V. I have all sorts of photographs that Bramble took one time when he was visiting the Betty V’s construction site. One time when I was in his little store he said, ‘Come with me’  We went down into an even rougher section of Baltimore where he had a warehouse. When we went into the place it was completely loaded with old boats -- all very large ones. Among them was one of the PEPS which was a single step hydroplane looking much like the old Miss Americas, powered with a Liberty engine. It was reputed to be the first boat with a bow rudder to exceed 100 miles an hour. He had all sorts of historic boats there. Some with twin Liberties, some driving from front cockpits, other rear cockpits. This seemed to be the difference between a ‘sports’ boat and a ‘racing’ boat. After his death the whole thing was sold at auction to settle his estate. Some of those boats sold for $5.00 or $10.00. I have always kicked myself that I didn’t find out about that sale. Get some museum interested and/or get some of my friends together and capture some of these historic old boats so that they would have been saved for today’s young racing enthusiasts. There -- I’ve talked too long again."

VINTAGE HOT BOAT OF THE MONTH:
Blue Blazes  37-A   Tommy Caldwell pilots his Blue Blazes to another win. From setting a 1-mile record for 135s in 1947, to winning the 136 Nationals in 1955, the Caldwell design was years ahead of its time.

©1996 Tom D'Eath