1938 Pacific Motor Boat Trophy Remembered

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

Prior to World War II, Gold Cup and Unlimited Class racing was confined largely to the northeast quadrant of the United States. But there was a small pocket of Gold Cup Class activity in California during the 1930s and early '40s.

Some of the big names of post-war Unlimited racing made their first impressions in the California Gold Cup Class of the '30s, most notably Dan Arena and Lou Fageol, who co-founded the 7-Litre Class in 1947.

The premier trophy in the western United States was the Pacific Motor Boat Trophy, which was donated by the magazine of the same name. It had first been offered for competition in 1923. The trophy was intended as a challenge cup to be emblematic of the free-for-all speed boat championship of the Pacific Coast.

Like its eastern counterpart, the APBA Gold Cup, the PMB Trophy was meant to encourage the development of racing boats on the Pacific Coast.

The first race for the trophy took place in August of 1923 on a 3-mile triangular course at Terminal Island, Long Beach, California. It was won by Frank A. and Frank L. Garbutt with their Unlimited hydroplane MYSTERY, a famous racer and winner in those days. The race was a 63-mile struggle of three heats of 21 miles each.

The PMB Trophy went to a boat called TWO FELLOWS in 1924 and to MISS LOS ANGELES in 1925.

For unexplained reasons, the Pacific Motor Boat Trophy was withdrawn from competition after 1925 and wasn't revived until 1936. Arena's MISS GOLDEN GATE triumphed in 1936 and 1937. Art Bobrick's EL TORBELLINO II was the victor in 1938.

Bobrick's craft had traveled east two years earlier to participate in the 1936 APBA Gold Cup at Lake George, New York, but had to withdraw due to mechanical difficulties.

The final four pre-war races for the PMB Trophy were all won by Lou Fageol--in 1939-40-41 with his Gold Cup Class SO-LONG and in 1942 with his 225 Cubic Inch Class SO-LONG, JR.

After World War II, the Pacific Motor Boat Trophy was revived once again but strictly as a Limited race. The winners included Eddie Meyer in AVENGER in 1946 and George Matucci in CALIFORNIA KID in 1947.

The PMB Trophy was sanctioned by the APBA for the first time in 1951. The winner that year was Meyer in AVENGER II.

EL TORBELLINO II WINS 1938 PACIFIC MOTOR BOAT TROPHY
(Reprinted from PACIFIC MOTOR BOAT MAGAZINE, December 1938)

EL TORBELLINO II, Arthur L. Bobrick's veteran Gold Cup racer piloted by Don Steans with mechanic Bill Zartman, earned her reward for consistency by piling up a total of 700 points, capturing the Pacific Motor Boat Trophy in the sixth annual competition for the West Coast's senior speed trophy held on Newport Bay, Sunday, November 6.

Against representative entries from Pacific Coast points, EL TORBELLINO battered her way over a corrugated 45-mile course swept by a 50-mile dust-laden Santanas that taxed the patience and endurance of crews, officials and thousands of spectators lining the upper channel course.

The rough going was eloquently emphasized by the "casualty" list. Not one of the nine entries finishing the three 15-mile heats. It was really more of an engine endurance test than one of boat competition because at no time could real speed be built up on the lumpy course, the clouds of spray and dust frequently completely obscuring the pilots' vision.

MISS GOLDEN GATE, Oakland, Dan Arena's two-time winner of the trophy and favorite to add a third to her string, made a brave showing by easily taking the first heat, only to blow up while in the lead in the second lap of the second heat when the cylinder block parted company with its crank case, putting her permanently out of the running.

RIGOR MORTIS, Frank Wiley's 225-class entry from Selma, piloted by Kenny Harmon, placed second with 569 points; third with 525, was Lou Fageol's SO-LONG; MISS GOLDEN GATE was fourth with 400 points. Turbulent air conditions made good speeds impossible and none came near the 54.88 mph average of MISS GOLDEN GATE in last year's event.

John Callahan, driving the local entry, HELEN TORCHER, and his mechanic, Del Crawford of Pasadena, were both injured when, while speeding along the Lido Isle shore on the last lap of the first heat, the port steering cable parted, throwing the craft into a complete barrel roll.

Good-luck lady rode with Don Steans in EL TORBELLINO, when after lapping the Verbeck-Berry manned FIRECRACKER in the finale, discovery was made that EL TORBELLINO's flywheel was coming loose. Steans just barely managed to finish the heat. A few yards farther and the runner-up, Wiley's RIGOR MORTIS, might have ridden into his hometown with the Pacific Motor Boat Trophy, ready to add his name to the engraved list of winners.

Lou Fageol's third-place winner, recently equipped with Fageol's specially designed high-speed engine, hit a definite streak of hard luck by sinking near the Coast Highway shore immediately after completion of the second heat in close competition with RIGOR MORTIS, the only other boat to finish the heat.

A sidelight that added interest to the day wars the two-heat event staged for the 135-class won by Ronald Batty's SPARK of San Diego who shared firsts and seconds with the local pride, Boyd McCullough's YANKEE DOODLE of Long Beach, piloted by Clay Smith.