Here are some photos and a bit of
history about the boats driven by C. Roy Keys of Buffalo, NY from 1926
to 1931.
C. Roy Keys Trophies and Banners
| Year |
Regatta |
Event |
Driver |
Boat |
| 1926 |
City of Cleveland Trophy |
100 Mile Sweepstakes |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Cleveland Automobile Club Trophy Displacement Class |
Free for All |
C. Roy Keys and Reg. V. Williams |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Cleveland Regatta |
Grand Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Buffalo Regatta |
Grand Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Newport Regatta |
Grand Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| 1927 |
Chesapeake Bay Championship |
Champion |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
President’s Cup Regatta, Washington |
President’s Cup - Finalist |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Buffalo Regatta |
Grand Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Baltimore Regatta |
Grand Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| 1928 |
Naragansett Bay Regatta |
Free for All Championship |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Detroit Gold Cup Committee |
Championship of North America 2nd Prize |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Newport Regatta |
Displacement Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Buffalo Regatta |
Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Newport Regatta |
Grand Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
North America Yachtsmen’s Association |
Second Championship |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| 1929 |
Narraganset Bay Regatta Association |
Grand Free for All (displacement) 2nd Prize |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Narraganset Bay Regatta Association |
Free for All Championship |
C. Roy Keys |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
New Bedford Yacht Club |
Special Displacement Runabout Class |
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
| |
New Bedford Yacht Club |
Special Displacement Runabout Class 2nd Prize |
Capt. H.W. Flickinger |
Curtiss Wilgold III |
| |
Buffalo Regatta |
100 H.P. Runabout |
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
| |
New Bedford Regatta |
Grand Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
| |
New Bedford Regatta |
Displacement Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
| |
Washington Regatta |
Displacement Free for All |
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
| |
Secretary of the Navy Cup |
|
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
| 1930 |
Secretary of the Navy Cup |
|
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
| |
Buffalo Regatta |
Runabouts Handicap |
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
| 1931 |
President’s Cup Regatta Potomac |
Grand Free for All R. Harris Trophy (2nd Prize) |
C. Roy Keys |
Carenaught |
This list was compiled by Leigh C. Eckmair
 |
C. Roy Keys was born in Clarksburg, Ontario, and studied engineering
at University of Toronto. In 1915, he joined the Glenn Curtiss flying school
in Toronto, and subsequently managed the factory set up in Toronto by Curtiss
to manufacture the JN-4 (Jenny) for pilot training. After World War I,
he moved to Buffalo, where he managed the Curtiss production facility in
his capacity as the company’s chief engineer. |
| His first boat, Wilgold III, a Hacker
racer built in Detroit, was a gift from one of the Curtiss test pilots,
Reg Williams (of Williams Wobbler fame). Keys outfitted it with a Curtiss
airplane engine in 1926 (probably the 12 cylinder, 600+ HP Conqueror: for
details on this engine click here),
and embarked on a career in powerboat racing that would carry him through
six campaigns. Not satisfied with the riding characteristics of the Hacker
hull, he designed and built another racer based on the Hacker model. In
1929 he began racing the newer boat, christened Carenaught, alongside
Wilgold
III, which was now piloted by Capt. H.W. Flickinger. |
Commodores Roy Keys (L) and J. Thorner (R)
of the Buffalo Yacht Club at the 1928 Buffalo Regatta. |
Curtiss Wilgold III in the Niagara River at the 1928 Buffalo
Regatta. |
The pair of Curtiss powered boats won most of
the contests they entered, racing chiefly in the unlimited class. Among
the trophies awarded to Keys are the President’s Cup (1927) and the Secretary
of the Navy Cup (1929, 1930).
The complete racing history is given above.
Keys’s racing career ended in tragedy with a near-fatal crash at Red
Bank, New Jersey in 1931. After 6 months in hospital, he decided to turn
to other land-bound pursuits. Some C. Roy Keys trophies and memorabilia
are on display at the APBA Historical Society Museum in Detroit. |
Carenaught is waiting for Wilgold to catch up.
And Wilgold does.
The above 3 photos are a series of photos of Carenaught and
Wilgold
III racing in tandem at Washington, 1929.
These last three photos are from Washington, DC in 1929.
One of the Keys racers was last seen plying the waters of the Niagara
River in the 1960's.
Does anyone have information about its whereabouts?
 If you have memories of the Carenaught or Wilgold III
you would like to share, please feel free to contact C. Roy Keys, Jr.
Montreal, Canada
|
