The Wilmington morning star., 1940-06-16
THRILLING RACES
PLANNED BY CLUB
Outboard Association Has Re
vived Interest In Wa
ter Event

Again this summer v~acatlonlst
at Wrightsville Beach will have al
opportunity to watch speeding
waterbugs as they tear dow
Banks channel, their motors roar
ing, as they compete in s~pectacula.
style for trophies and other racing
honors.
One entire weekend will be de-
voted to cupboard motorboat rae
ing and present indications are the
motorboat weekend will attract
great numbers Of the racing grea'
to the sea island resort.
The event is scheduled for the
week of Aug. 10 and II and is tc
be staged under the sponsorship
of the Carolina Cupboard associa'
ton, which for the past several
seasons has promoted cupboard
racing throughout this section OF
the state. .
Attractive prizes and awards are
to be offered the winners In the
weekend of thrilling speeding
down the salt waterways and Of
ficials of the cupboard association
are predicting the entry list this
year will be even better than that
of last year when the club CO.
operated in the staging of the an
nual Water Carnival
Interest in cupboard motorboat
racing has grown intensely keen
here in the past several years.
There was a time a number of
years ago when Wilmington was
the cupboard racing center of the
nation and when the doings of
cupboard racers from Wilmington
was always news.
Then interest died and for a
number of years cupboard motor
boat races we're the exception
rather than the rule.
Then on May 10, 1886 the Caro-
lima Cupboard association was
organized with six charter men,
bers: Ralph Johnson, John Ander-
son, Ed. Craft, Charles Blake, Billy
DeCover, William Peck and Ora
ham Walton.
Four races were held during the
ensuing summer and they met with
great success. These lads found
that people would gather both to
watch the speeding bugs roar over
the water and to participate in
the competition which even in
those days was keen. Wrightsville
Beach, which had not had any
motorboat racing since the days
when the Herbst boat works at
racted attention to Wilmington,
Vas ready and waiting to see and
join in the thrilling competition.
The membership Of the organiza-
ton began to grow as the season
progressed and before fall the
roster totalled 26 active members.
Interest in the association and
in cupboard racing grew even more
rapidly from the fall till spring
and ever before the winter months
had passed the members of the
club met, elected new offers,
made the rules of competition even
more keen than previously and
made plans to present even more
and better races than they had the
previous summer.
Cupboard racing found an even
greater popularity that summer.
Entries in the events increased.
New boats and faster motors made
competition ever more keen than
1t had been previously. There was
more friendly fight for the inside
lanes at the buoys, more spills
and more thrills for the spectators.
The next year there was still
more improvement. The club by
this time had learned the technique
OF presenting the races in better
form. Loudspeaking equipment
had been obtained to announce the
various races, over which the an
nouncer, equipped with field glass
es, could follow and describe the
race, boat by boat, buoy by buoy
and spill by spill.
Last year the races hit their
peak. Banks channel, newly dredg-
ed provided the racers with much
better water for their course and
the better prizes which were Of
fered attracted many more racers
to the events. Richmond, Fred
ericksburg, Washington and other
cupboard clubs were represented
in the events staged at Wrights-
vile Beach and thousands lined
the shores of Banks channel to