American Power Boat Association-sanctioned racing on Lake George did not end with the 1935 Gold Cup races.
From 1954 to 1964, another class of boat (and racers, for that matter) competed for prizes and acclaim – as this summer’s exhibit at the Hague Community Center shows us in extravagant detail.
Complementing author Ginger Henry’s new book, “The Buzz on Lake George: Speedboat Racing on Lake George 1900 -1964,” the exhibit focuses on the Northern Lake George Marathons, the nationally sanctioned outboard races that were held in Hague during the heydays of post-war tourism.
It includes contemporary 8×10 glossy press photos (and one of a press photographer – a youthful Walt Grishkot), race course maps and annual programs, newspaper clippings, trophies and other artifacts.
According to Henry, who also curated the exhibition, the 1956 edition of the 90-mile marathon was the largest in the eastern United States that year and drew 109 entries. In 1957, 143 boats participated.
“The Northern Lake George Marathon grew quickly and collapsed almost as quickly,” said Henry. “Sponsors such as Carling Black Label and Genesee beers dropped out as interest in the sport faded. The drivers aged and no younger generation was there to take their places. And while the races may have appeared to be a boon for tourism, I was told by the Hague Supervisor of the time that many hotels disliked the racing because of the engine noise. It was as loud as Americade!”
According to outboard motor historian Buzz Lamb, the introduction of Mercury outboards after World War II was among the factors that led to the proliferation of APBA-sanctioned outboard races.
“The lighter, more powerful engines running on gas and oil were well-suited for racing,” said Lamb.
“Mercurys were fairly reliable and ready to race right off the showroom floor,” said Lamb. “Whereas the old Evinrudes and Johnsons needed habitual work, the Mercurys could run all season with only routine maintenance. The sport was suddenly open to people who lacked mechanical skill.”
Henry agrees that Mercury was at least partially, perhaps largely, responsible for the popularity of outboard racing; the company promoted the sport as a way to sell its motors.
Her father, Jack Henry, who was a racer himself, was a Mercury dealer at his marina in Ticonderoga.
Jack Henry’s father and brother were interested in gentlemen’s racers. Boats commissioned and owned by officers of the Lake George Regatta Association for Gold Cup racing were berthed, at one time or another, in the Hague boathouse of the Henry family.
Robert E. Henry, Sr. bought one of the boats owned by LGRA Commodore A.L. Judson – Hawkeye II – in 1924 and raced it throughout the 1920s.
Bob Henry Jr. also bought the 1934 Lake George Gold Cup contender “Ethyl Ruth,” which he renamed Chloe as well as one of Mel Crook’s boats, Betty V.
The Henry family also acquired another Gold Cup boat, a 1937 inboard hydroplane named Juno.
“My father grew up around those older, bigger boats but he wanted to distinguish himself from my grandfather and my uncle,” said Henry. “These outboard racers were more affordable and could be trailered to other lakes, so he was able spend weekends racing.”
Jack Henry was among the business owners who revived
the Lake George Regatta Association to help sponsor the Northern Lake George 90-mile Marathons.
According to Ginger Henry, the reborn Regatta Association and the boats that raced under its umbrella represented “a vastly different culture” than the original Lake George Regatta Association.
Nevertheless, the links between the two versions of the association and the two “cultures” were many and clear.
In an exhibition heat held during the 1954 regatta, the Henry’s race boats – Juno and Chloe – and Bill Morgan’s Why Not reached speeds of 90 mph, according to Buzz Lamb.
“It was the fastest exhibition seen on Lake George since the Gold Cup races of 1936,” reported the Lake George Mirror.
In 1955, three-time Gold Cup winner George Reis officiated at the marathon.
Henry herself might have become the second female to ever race in the Marathon – and by far the youngest – had a crack not appeared in the boat’s hull.
After outboard racing came to an end in Hague, it moved on to Schroon Lake, Loon Lake and Brant Lake, according to Buzz Lamb.
“By the early 1970s, the interest in outboard racing had waned and the races faded into history,” said Lamb.
The Historical Museum in the Hague Community Center is open Monday through Friday 8 am to 4 pm with the exception of holidays, when it is closed.
