The Washington times., 1905-04-10
CREW IN PERIL IN
MOTOR BOAT RACE
Craft Capsizes and Men
Swim to Shore.
THE MARGUERITE is SMASHED
Driven on Rocks by Rough Seas at
Monte Carlo-Joliette III De-
clared Winner.
THE MARGUERITE is SMASHED


MONTE CARLO, April 10.-The first
day Of the Monaco regatta showed that
whatever excellent qualities racing
motorboats may possess. they are not
the safest of craft when white horses
begin to appear on the sea.
At 8 o'clock yesterday morning all
looked well for racing. The few auto
boats darting about in the bay seemed
to be in excellent condition. The sun
shone brightly over all.
The first race was run to Nice and
back for cruisers of six metres, fifty
centimetres.
Punctually at $3.50 o'clock the fleet OF
tiny craft got swiftly away. The start
ers were the Avenir VII, the Lanturlu
the Muguette, the Marguerite, the Titan
Nv, the Toilette Ill the Charters
dAntibes 1, the De la Haye VI. the
Takumono, and the De la Haye V.
Boats Begin Race.
An hour later it was the turn of the
racing boats Of under eight metres tc
run their 100 kilometres round Pen
tagon.
By the time the racing craft were in
line a moderate, breeze set in. The
competitors were the Gobron, the Pal
aisota II, the Rapiere. the Madrioto, the
Antoinette II, and the Billancourt.
The gun sounded and away went the
whole fleet.
Buried beneath the waves the Gobron
ran into a punt, sprang a leak, and was
tOwed ashore.
The Madrioto was also damaged and
towed ashore
In sheets of the white foam iecking
the bay all the boats were momentarily
lost sight of. The Rapiere was seen to
not be sighted, and of the five which
had gone away only two could be traced.
Race Is Stopped.
The torpedo Dart and several tugs
rushed about across TO Pentagon. Guns
were fired to stop the race, and on all
hands signs of the utmost confusion
were shown. ~
One by one the racers got back to port.
The owners of all had a piteous tale,
and said no autoboat OF speed could
possibly progress in such weather
In the race for cruisers all went we'll
es far as Nice. 1t was a following sea
or just on the quarter, and even the
smallest craft could well make headway.
However, matters became different.
Some of the boats ran into Nice in de-
spair, others made for yillefranche.
while two only struggled on in the teeth
Of the wind-the Toilette III and the
Marguerite.
The Marguerite was leading magnif-
Gently, when Off Cap d All she shipped
what the skipper described as an i'm
mense wave, which threw the motor out
OF action and left her at the mercy OF
A Fierce Struggle.
Oars were got out and fierce strug-
gle began. The seas and wind were
setting her on shore, only a few hun
dred yards distant.
The owner and machinist toiled to
keep her off. Their labor was of no avail
however, as they gradually approached
the huge rocks.
Seeing they could do nothing more TO
save the craft, the owner and crew took
steps to save themselves. The Mar
guerite poised for an instant on a long
inrolling crest which brought her thin
hull down upon the jagged points.
Again and again huge rollers picked
her up and snote her against the rock
until there was nothing left but a few
slaves and the badly mangled motor to
mark the spot.
The occupants had scrambled ashore
when she first struck.
Meanwhile the Toilette III proceeded
1eisurely toward the winning line, avoid
ing with rare ingenuity the embarrass-
ing waves, and, to the astonishment of
all who thought the race was annulled,
was declared the winner of the event.
The general opinion was that autoboat
people are moving too fast 1t is pointed
out that all last years meetings were
favored with exceptionally fine weather
And in consequence shippers jumped to
the conclusion that nothing was too bad
for them.
The result was that the first capful
of wind disturbed all calculations