Evening star., 1926-09-18
CIGARETTE w RULES
AS FAVORITE TODAY
IN REGATTA FINALS

Continued from First Page)
were made. As the spectator boats
broke their perfect line formation and
journeyed home. the Horace. Dodge
speedboat. shot in and ont. circling
the slow moving craft like porpOiSe.
Cigarette " Winner.
The Outsta nding event Of the day
was the first heat for the Presidents
Cup, won by Cigarette ~. at an aver
age speed Of 54.17 miles per hour for
the l5-mile course. This boat, owned
and driven by l.. Gordon Hamersley
of the Columbia Yacht Club. New
York, is constructed Of duraluminum.
a metal composition used ext ensively
in aircraft construction. Its sleek
silver-colored body. strea m'ined down
to point at the stern. shot out ahead
Of It's competitors as the one pounder
aboard the Apache hoomed out tho
starting signal, and never once was
in dan from Miss Syndicate, driven
by Horace r.. Dodge. il. and Green
wich Folly, owned and driven by
George n. Townsend, which won the
Gold Cup race at Manha sset Bay.
Long Isla nd. last month. Because Of
her showing yesterday Cigarette stood
as favorite in the second heat and
finals today for the $1,000 gold cup
sponsored by the Nations Executive
and donated by the Corinthian Club.
Aside from the feature race in which
Hammersley drove his $50, 900 duralu-
minum racer to victory, perhaps the
greatest thrills for the spectators were
furnished by the competitors In the
Potomac River championship event
and the freefOr&ll for members OF
clubs In the Chesapeake sec
ton of the American Power Boat AS
sociation.
The Potomac River title event, de-
signed for the craft that compete to-
dav in the Secretary of the Navy cup
ra ce, drew only two starters. and one
Of these. Miss Okechobee, piloted hy
Mrs. W. !. COnnors Of the Buffalo
launch Club. failed TO catch the start
ing signal This gave an advantage
of nearly n quarter Of lap to Horace
Dodge. driver of Horace.
Makes a Game Fight.
The Detroit millionaire was nearing
the first turning buoy before Mrs.
tonnors passed the revenue cutter
Apache. serving as the committee
boat. and opened up her engine for
what appeared to he futile chase.
She made game fight for every inch
of the 15-mile run and gained on the
flying Detrolter on each of the mile
and "A half Straightaw ways. On the
turns. however. she found ii inpos-
sible to hold her craft close to the
last of the three buovs. and was trail
ing by several hundred yards at the
finish.
The final event of the day the free
for-all. for Chesapeake and Potomac
boats was the only neck k.and-neck af
fair that developed. J.. r. Battenfeld
of the Eastern Power Boat Club en-
tered his Gray Bat III against Bill
Rigelows Palm Beach DAYS and j. w.
Orme's Miss Lizzie. Miss Lizzie got
poor start and was left behind, hut
the other two STAYED together from
start to finish. Palm Beach Days pull
ing out in front in the final stretch
to win by less than a yard.
All OF the contests yesterday. snO
matter what the speed. were spectacu-
lar. The loud blasts from the power
full engines. the rolling wakes and
the clouds of spray, coupled with the
high degree of maneuverab bility, at
,racted unlimited attention. In fact
the speed boats that pla we'd about the
course prior to the start and between
events drew just as much attention
as the races themselves. Then the
fumes of burned castor oil. the aroma
of the automobile speedway hoated to
the spectators az another symbol Of
power, speed and daring.
Miss Washington Featured.
: Miss Washington. piloted by j. G..
Beard. and by no means eliminated
from the possibilities of honors in the
finals for the lSl class today. was the
feature OF the two heats for that
group. MIR. Beard drove boat that
was built down to the waters edge
and skidded. slipped and slid all over
the river. Beard worked harder than
any one in the race keeping his craft
on straight course. and because OF
its tendency to 60 off at all angles
any minute the pilot probably Gov
cred twice as much distance as the
other entries. Nevertheless, his boat
drew more attention than the others
I