Red Bank Boating

Four snorting speedboats, at the starter's gun, skittered and skimmed away over the Shrewsbury River at Red Bank, N. J., one day last week. One broke a rudder. One turned a flipflop. One's motor languished. Sole survivor was the Imp, owned and driven by Richard Farnsworth Hoyt (Hayden Stone & Co., director of 44 corporations, 20 aviation companies), which roared on lustily to win the gold cup, prime trophy of U. S. speedboating. Imp won all three heats, in the first attained a speed of 51.9 m.p.h., fastest gold cup time since restrictions on engine-power and hull-size went into effect eight years ago.

After the race the Imp and her three competitors were shipped to Detroit for a four-day regatta which includes the unrestricted British-U. S. race for the Harmsworth trophy.

Runabouts, hydroplanes, outboards all had their events at Red Bank. In a final grand free-for-all for a special trophy molded from a solid gold brick, presented by Barren Collier, two drivers of skittish little outboards, encouraged by the result of the gold cup race, entered their craft on the slim hope that the hydroplanes would all tip over, fall apart or blow up.

No such thing happened. C. Roy Keys's sleek Wilgold III won handily. Mr. Keys, himself driving another of his speedboats in the race, capsized on a turn, broke his arm.