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Ratickle
08-27-2013, 08:00 AM
Being an Oregon/Washington kid I pay close attention to the events going on out there. Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, just a short drive from Spokane WA, is a beautiful lake with one of the coolest par 3 holes you will ever see. It floats, and they tow it out into the lake and anchor it offshore. You take a boat over after, hopefully, you hit your ball onto the green.

To have the hydros back there after their long absence is great. Good luck to all.

Steve Shepperd, an Author/Historian with Coeur d'Alene Hydromaniacs, is doing articles on the history of the races there. Enjoy...


HYDROMANIA –THE HISTORY OF THE DIAMOND CUP


This coming Labor Day weekend, the Diamond Cup for Unlimited Hydroplanes will return to Coeur d’Alene Lake after a hiatus of forty-five years. Not since 1968 have inboard speedboats competed for supremacy of the waters at the northern end of the lake.

This is the first of several blog entries designed to tell of the rich history of the Diamond Cup and of Coeur d’Alene’s love-hate relationship with boat racing. It is my hope that you will enjoy reading about the people and race boats that brought thrills, chills, and general excitement to the waters near the shores of the Lake City over the past 100 years.

How It All Began

This year we celebrate fifty-five years since the inaugural race for Diamond Cup trophy for unlimited hydroplanes, but the story of racing on Lake Coeur d’Alene doesn’t actually start in 1958 as most residents of the community might think. In actuality, one must travel back a full 100 years to the day when the actual inaugural of competitive inboard racing on the lake first occurred when the city fathers of Coeur d’Alene first made it the centerpiece of their annual Independence Day celebration.

Newspaper records show that the first competitive roostertails spouted over Lake Coeur d’Alene on July 3rd of 1913 as part of a city’s inaugural three-day water sports-oriented Fourth of July celebration organized by the newly formed Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce.

That first event had its genesis at a January 16, 1913 meeting of the city’s chamber organization where the idea of holding a “regatta” was first hatched at public meeting of the organization.

An article in the Coeur d’Alene Press in 1914, reflecting back on the pivotal chamber meeting revealed that it was a local physician, Dr. W.W. Scott who led off the meeting with a proposal that the group develop a “summer amusement” event along the lines of a Chautauqua meeting. The proposed event would occur annually and henceforth would form the centerpiece of each Fourth of July celebration.

Another Lake City businessman, Ray Hart, seconded the proposal made by Dr. Scott and the proposal was passed by the Chamber membership unanimously.

Having settled on holding the first ever event, the chamber group’s discussion focused on what such an event might include. At some point in the discussion, an unidentified chamber member “remembered” that the city had a lake that was not being used for anything other than steamboat travel and for the towing of logs to the various lumber mills that had sprouted up around the lake’s shores. While lumber and steam travel had both placed many dollars in the pockets of the young Coeur d’Alene community, nothing had been done to use the adjacent lake for the amusement of its populace.

To paraphrase a news report on the meeting that ran later in the Coeur d’Alene Press, the question was posed: “Why not use the lake for sport as well as business?”

Chamber of Commerce President T.R. Gerdes appointed an executive committee to develop a plan for a “regatta” to focus on use of the lake for entertainment. Eventually, the committee settled on a plan that would provide a full-slate of water based activities over a three day period leading up to the Fourth of July each year. Among the events included in the proposed regatta were “competitions” which included canoe racing, logrolling, swimming and diving competitions, and inboard and outboard boat racing.

The original plan was to actually hold three separate regattas – one on Memorial Day, one on the Fourth of July, and the third event coming in August, but that plan was rejected because of the enormity of the planning involved, and a decision was made to hold the aforementioned three day event surrounding just the Fourth of July instead.

One of the biggest problems facing the executive committee that first year was a decision on what would be the best location for the majority of the regatta events. The first location that was considered was just off the lakeshore in front of the City Park, but this area was rejected for several unstated reasons.

The next property the committee considered was the summer residence of the Austin Corbin family of Spokane, which was located on the southwest point of Tubbs Hill (now called Corbin Point). That location was also eliminated from consideration, however, when an unidentified third party stepped in at the last minute and purchased the property. Disappointed and angry at the turn of events, the members of the committee set about again looking for another site.

The location that was finally settled upon was located on the south side of Tubbs Hill, and the committee moved quickly to purchase it for use as the official regatta site. The rocky hillside there made a grand venue to watch action on the racecourse and the areas designated for the watersports competitions. The location also presented the spectator with an unparalleled view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.

Access to the event grounds was relatively easy, and could be reached either by a five minute boat ride by water taxi or by a dirt and gravel trail which still winds around the perimeter of the of the hill.

The Fort Sherman Dock Company quickly erected a grandstand facing the watercourse, and they did so with an understanding that they would receive a fifty-fifty split of the revenues from the structure’s use each year. The committee also purchased chairs and tables from the Spirit Lake Chautauqua, and the furniture was placed around the site in areas with “advantageous” views. Things were falling together nicely for what everyone hoped would be an event to remember.

Tubbs Hill Grandstand image courtesy of Museum of North Idaho

Community members donated “liberally” to the regatta committee in the early days of the project. They gave in large and small amounts, and the Merchant’s Association made news when they gave a generous $500 donation to the committee (Note: In modern dollars, the donation represented approximately $11,284 in buying power). At about the same time, a Miss Emma Nikolas donated use of the ground floor of the Otterson building as the headquarters for the regatta.

The town of Spirit Lake as well as the Northern Pacific, Milwaukee, Spokane International, and electric railway companies each donated silver trophy cups. In addition, the city council unanimously donated $400 from its budget to go towards providing music for the event.

The very first inboard race was held over a seven-mile course on July 3, 1913 on the very first day of the regatta celebration. Details are somewhat sketchy, but the seven-lap race around a one-mile course in front of the Tubbs Hill viewing area pitted the motorboats of Dr. W.W. Scott of Coeur d’Alene and W.H. Carver of Rockford, Washington. Dr. Scott’s launch Kryptok and Carver’s launch Ogema were driven in the race by their twelve-year-old sons, W.W. Scott Jr. and Gale Carver. The record shows that the Carver boy easily won the race by exactly two and one-half minutes, covering the course in thirty-five minutes and thirty seconds. The record also shows that eight horsepower Perfection engines powered both boats.

Over the three days of that first regatta, classes representing 8, 16, 20, 24, 26, and 40 horsepower engines raced. The competition reportedly drew great interest from the crowds and established the motorized boat racing as a staple of the yearly regatta activities. It was clear that a tradition of competitive boat racing on Lake Coeur d’Alene had begun.

Word of the event reached far and wide as Ralph A. Earle, western cameraman for Pathe’ Weekly filmed moving pictures of the various regatta events. The resulting footage was used in the Pathe News newsreel features in movie theaters both in the United States and abroad. Also carrying the story of the event to the outside world was an illustrated report of the boat races was published in the August issue of Seattle’s Pacific Motor Boat monthly magazine.

It must be noted that the inaugural three-day event ended with nary an accident on the water nor a problem of any kind in the community. Orderliness prevailed in all venues, and the city police reported that there were no attempts at pick pocketing or any other “strong arm” behavior. This was made all the more surprising by crowd estimates of nearly 20,000 people visiting the city and attending the various events.

HYDROMANIA (http://www.lakecoeurdalene.com/blog/2013/04/hydromania-the-history-of-the-diamond-cup/)

Ratickle
08-27-2013, 08:03 AM
http://youtu.be/9DhrWyaEASc

Ratickle
08-28-2013, 07:52 AM
HYDROMANIA – THE ERA OF THE CHALLENGE RACE



The Lake City of Coeur d’Alene hosted competitive boat racing long, long before the first Diamond Cup Regatta in 1958. Beginning in 1913, competitive inboard races became the centerpiece of the city’s annual Fourth of July celebration and provided thrills, chills, and spills galore to entertain thousands of visitors over a three day period leading up to Independence Day.

The 1913 regatta featured the first of many speedboat “challenge” races, and it took place on the last day of the first regatta. It was so successful and well received that it would prove to be the main attraction of each of the thirty-some regattas that followed.

The first such “challenge” pitted Spokane boat merchant A.C. “Al” Ware and his race boat Spokane against Stanley “Stan” Case and his “fast hydroplane” Allegro. The regatta organizers had tweaked the design of the seven and one-half mile racecourse between the Thursday and Friday racing programs so that much of the action was in view of the many spectators on hand if front of the Tubbs Hill grandstands. With the new course configuration, the boats crossed in front of the spectators twice rather than just one time at the finish of the race.

The initial speed record for Lake Coeur d’Alene was likely set at 1913’s initial speedboat “challenge” race. The race between the Spokane and the Allegro was close from start to finish, and it was either boat’s race to win as they stormed to within twenty-five yards of the finish line. It was there that Ware floored it and won by a convincing three boat-lengths. Ware had covered the course with the Spokane in ten minutes and four seconds for an average speed of a blistering 44.7 miles per hour.

In light of the financial issues that would plague the Diamond Cup throughout its ten-year existence, it is interesting to note that that the initial Fourth of July regatta broke even financially after all of the expenses had been paid.

The success continued on to the second annual regatta, this despite the fact that the third and final day of the 1914 program was filled with a steady rainfall that lasted all afternoon. Despite the less than ideal conditions, an estimated 2,500 spectators witnessed the closing events of the regatta including the regatta sweepstakes “challenge” race. Street vendors, announcers, participants, and event officials who were not unable to take refuge in the covered grand stand on Tubbs Hill were thoroughly drenched by the downpour according to reports of the day.

In fact, according to the Spokesman-Review’s recounting of those races, the covered stands were able to accommodate most all of the spectators, but most chose to huddle under their umbrellas and “waterproofs” on the high rocks overlooking the racecourse. Another 400 spectators saw the regatta from steamers and launches on the lake, and a “remarkably good natured spirit pervaded the crowd.”

The 1914 regatta sweepstakes challenge race was particularly memorable because of what occurred at its conclusion. The race in question was an expanded nine-mile long regatta, and it was easily won by the aforementioned Ware brother’s Spokane. Henry French’s St. Joe finished right behind the Spokane, and Harlan Peyton’s boat finished a very poor third.

After the race it was discovered that Peyton’s boat had somehow picked up six feet of decorative bunting from somewhere on the course, and the material had become wrapped tightly around the boat’s propeller which certainly explained its lack of power during the contest.

The discovery of the unseen “handicap” led to shouts from the crowd of “race her over again!” and the judges huddled briefly to discuss the situation. The officials then announced that the three boats would race one more three-mile lap to determine the winner. The results of the re-run were exactly reversed with the Peyton’s boat taking first, the St. Joe taking second, and the Spokane finishing in third.

The Peyton brothers had donated a special silver cup to be awarded to the winning craft in the speedboat sweepstakes. Ironically, the Peyton’s overcame the stray bunting “handicap” to take that trophy home with them.

Despite the weather, race organizers reported that they finished the second annual three-day affair in the black, having made several thousand dollars in profit. The budget for the 1914 regatta had been set at $3,000 for program and entertainment.

By 1915, the Coeur d’Alene Regatta group had inexplicably moved their venue from Tubbs Hill to back in front of the City Park as originally had been planned. I could find no stated reason for the move, but a post regatta review in the Spokane Spokesman-Review newspaper had a crowd of six hundred viewing the boat races from the relative comfort of a temporary grandstand that had been constructed on a pier at the foot of the Sherman Street landing.

Another three thousand spectators lined the lakeshore and city beach to watch the water sports competitions and motor-powered boats roaring around the course. According to the news report, “great demonstrations” (loud cheering perhaps?) were brought forth by the “zip zapping of their powerful engines and the way they skipped over the water.” The report also reveals that the “speedy motor boat races seemed to cause more excitement and thrills” than the man-powered shell competitions that were on the same program. The writer noted that “everything went off with a snap, and all the races were started promptly.”

The 1915 race participants got an early start on their preparations when an estimated eighteen motor craft were seen on the lake trying out the course on July 2nd, the day prior to the beginning of the regatta. The boats reportedly plied the waters “with exhaust pipes wide open and speed regulations thrown to the winds, while each driver allowed his engine to the limit.”

Among the entrants that year was Ramsey Walker, an early day banker in the Lake City. He had contracted to have the Tipperary built by a young Coeur d’Alene boat builder named Bob Yandt in hopes of winning the challenge race. The boat’s engine was in the area of 225 cubic inches and was said to have turned over at 1,200 rpm and was capable of speeds near 65 mph.

Also building a boat for the 1915 races was Wallace mining magnate Jerome Day. Day went as far as having an Eastern U.S. boat builder construct what he was eventually to christen The Pep in hopes of defeating Walker’s Tipperary, but the boat almost didn’t make it safely on to the lake.

A small fire in the Carver Boat Shop on Second Street on Friday evening threatened to damage The Pep. Fortunately, the spanking new craft escaped undamaged, and Day was able to launch it on Saturday afternoon in time for the first round of racing.

The Sunday, July 4th portion of the program on the Regatta’s middle day drew what was estimated an estimated 6,000 spectators during the day, and even larger crowd was expected for the Monday closing program of racing. The big draw on Sunday was a parade of watercraft led by the steamer Georgie Oakes and the burning of pioneer steamer Spokane. Despite having a charge of dynamite in its hold, the Spokane refused to sink and burned to the water’s edge.

The 1915 sweepstakes challenge race went to Walker’s Tipperary, and news reports tell us that he covered a much shorter four-mile course in eight minutes, nine and three-fifth seconds, edging out the Peyton brother’s boat. With Bob Yandt doing the driving honors, the Tipperary easily ran away from the The Pep as well.

The final day of the 1915 regatta drew over 5,000 people, and because of its growing success and the ideal weather enjoyed over the three-day event, the organizers made plans to increase the budget from $3,000 to $5,000. The profit from the event was reported to be in the area of $2,000 to $4,000.

By the fourth year, coverage of Coeur d’Alene’s event began to dwindle somewhat in the Spokane media. The lone reference to the boat races came in the Coeur d’Alene Press, and it tells us that Horace Peyton, driving a new version of his earlier winning design had won first place over an unidentified craft driven by Paul Schroeder in what was now called the Peyton Trophy speed boat race. The two boats reportedly covered the three-mile course in record time, but the time was not recorded for posterity.

The regatta continued be a great success in the eyes of its organizers and to be modestly profitable, but efforts to create an Independence Day celebration in Spokane and the introduction of motorcar racing at the Alan Race Track near the Idaho-Washington state line eventually cut into the bottom line of the event. Later regatta weekends did not appear to match the huge crowds that watched the races in the first four years of the event.

A post regatta article in the Spokane Chronicle revealed that in 1917 only several hundred witnessed the event, and it raised only “several hundred dollars” for the Red Cross.

Despite the drop in popularity, the city fathers stuck with the Fourth of July regatta format, and the event continued to evolve in much the same way that the boats evolved over time.


HYDROMANIA (http://www.lakecoeurdalene.com/blog/2013/04/hydromania-the-era-of-the-challenge-race/)

Ratickle
08-29-2013, 08:25 AM
HYDROMANIA – THE GREYHOUND, THE FIRE CHIEF, AND THE WASP


I have uncovered records of competitive boat racing dating as far back in time as 1913. For thirty plus years following that initial competition the sport of inboard boat racing became the centerpiece of the city’s annual Fourth of July celebration. This installment will close out that chapter of boat racing’s history on the lake.

After the surprising success of the first three years of Coeur d’Alene’s Fourth of July celebrations, the three-day event suddenly faced major challenges. The development of a competing Independence Day celebration in Spokane, and the growing popularity of a horseracing track near the Idaho-Washington state line appeared to threaten the future of the Lake City’s multi-day celebration. Despite these challenges, Coeur d’Alene’s city fathers held on to their multi-sport format, but they tweaked the event to make it more community centered.

Along side of the evolution of the Independence Day celebration, boat racing was undergoing steady change as well. New hull designs and bigger and more powerful engine were slowly changing the sport.

For example, the 1920 race saw Paul Mitchell pairing his newly constructed mahogany runabout Freckles with a Liberty airplane engine. Machining the needed parts himself, Mitchell had converted the aviation motor to power his runabout. With the new power plant, the Spokanite turned the four-mile course in a record 18 minutes and 1 second, and the Freckles easily dispatched the Miss Coeur d’Alene to take the cup.

The 1921 race went to the Greyhound owned by Spokane’s R.C. Dillingham. Built by Coeur d’Alene boat builder Bob Yandt, the 33-foot long gentleman’s raceboat, employed a John L. Hacker bottom design and a 250-h.p. Sterling engine that allowed the new boat to power through the typically rough water conditions that had prevailed on Lake Coeur d’Alene during earlier races.

The powerful Greyhound edged the 1920 champion with a new record time of 6 minutes and 58 seconds over the four-mile course. The time eclipsed the Freckle’s previous mark by slightly over eleven minutes.

The 1924 version of the challenge race was unique in that it was held during the evening hours rather than the heat of the day. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., the race was followed by the city’s fireworks display, and an estimated crowd of 25,000 people viewed both the races and other 4th of July activities from the sands of City Beach.

While warming up for that same 1924 race in the late afternoon hours, Coeur d’Alene’s Bruce McDonald flipped his brand new boat, the Black Maria. The boat was estimated to have been traveling at a scorching fifty-five miles per hour when it suddenly overturned. McDonald and his engine man Fred Boyer were both thrown into the water, but they were quickly rescued by another boat. It was reported that there were a few tense moments when Boyer and McDonald had to frantically swim out of the way of another passing race boat. McDonald’s craft was retrieved from the lake, but it was deemed too waterlogged to compete in that evening’s racing.

The winner of the 1924 competition was another of Bob Yandt’s creations. Built for Dr. Max Smith of Wallace, Yandt’s Attaboy was smaller than Yandt’s Greyhound design by nearly four feet in length and was powered by a much bigger and more powerful 300HP Fiat engine.

Attaboy took the ’24 challenge race despite a valiant effort by Dillingham and his Greyhound. The sister boats dashed around the two-mile course in front of the beach twice during the race, and at one point in the first lap the Greyhound even held a slight lead. The Attaboy appeared to be faster on the straightaway stretches, while the Greyhound held an advantage on the sharp turns at each end of the course. With a powerful surge on the final straightaway, the Attaboy took the lead for good, and Dr. Smith happily took the new Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce Cup back to his Silver Valley home.

So well built was the Attaboy that it was said to have still been in use on nearby Newman Lake well into the 1950’s. The Greyhound also survived into the modern era, and it was used for years on Lake Coeur d’Alene as a water taxi.

Eventually the Greyhound was retired from use and dry-docked, where it slowly slid into a state of disrepair. Alan Thomle of Seattle saved it from destruction and lovingly restored it to its original glory. It is now a work of art, and I was fortunate enough to see it run on Lake Chelan during the Mahogany and Merlot vintage race boat event in October of 2012.

During the 1930’s, two point “step” hydroplanes replaced the cigar shaped gentleman’s raceboats that had dominated the races during the teens and twenties. The radical new racing design employed a large transverse “step” in the hull, located amidships, to create a hydroplane. As a result of the innovation, the bottom of the boat made contact with the water at only two "points" on the hull. The first point was a small two-to-three foot portion of the hull just forward of the transverse step, and the second point was at the extreme aft section of the hull above the rudder.

It is not surprising that veteran Coeur d’Alene boat builder Bob Yandt would choose to integrate the new design factor into one of his creations. The opportunity came when he was contracted by Spokane’s Clarence I. “Cip” Paulson, the son of mining magnate August Paulson to construct a boat for him to be launched in time for the 1932 race.

Shortly after its launching, the sleek 26-foot mahogany craft was seen cruising through the four-corner regatta course at speeds in excess of 70 mph. It employed a 450 horsepower, V-12 Liberty aircraft engine which developed nearly 2200 rpm, and it easily dispatched with Joe Pedicord’s Number III in the 1932 race.

When Paulson tired of racing his unnamed boat, Yandt stored it at his lakefront boat shop for a while and then negotiated its sale to the partnership of Howard Hudson and Harry Wilson. The two downtown Coeur d’Alene businessmen took possession and operated it as a thrilling speedboat ride concession for a few years scaring passengers on high speed runs across the lake.

To facilitate passengers, Hudson and Wilson cut a rectangular hole in the long foredeck ahead of the open engine and installed seats for up to six paying passengers. In its new configuration, the boat enjoyed a lengthy second life while continuing to race in the yearly challenge cup races.

Hudson and Wilson named the reconfigured hydroplane the Fire Chief, the result of a deal the two young owners had struck with the Texaco Oil Company to sponsor the boat. Texaco Oil provided the partners with fuel as part of the sponsorship deal – and the big boat supposedly used a considerable amount of it – and in return, Hudson and Wilson painted the hull partially red, added the Texaco “star” logo, and gave it the Fire Chief moniker.

In the fifty-lap 1940 challenge race, Hudson and Wilson’s Fire Chief failed to finish. The boat had rolled over on a turn during a test run on the two-mile course prior to the race and the clutch plates became wet and swelled. In order to run, the mechanic had to loosen the clutch plates. That adjustment proved to be the team’s undoing when at the end of thirty-two miles of racing the plates became too loose to hold and the boat went dead in the water, forcing them to withdraw.

The Fourth of July challenge races appear to have been discontinued before the 1941 rendition could be run, and outboard races seem to have replaced them as the staple of the annual three-day celebration. The final 4th of July Coeur d’Alene inboard regatta that I was able to document appears to have been the very same 1940 race where the Fire Chief failed to finish.

In that series ending 1940 race, a crowd estimated at between 30,000 and 40,000 spectators watched as Don McRae of Seattle driving the Miss Take edged fellow Seattleite Ted Jones in his The Wasp to win the Northwest Speedboat Championship. McRae’s average speed for the fifty miles was listed as 60.250 mph and he covered the marathon course in fifty-six minutes even. He was a full two laps ahead of Jones at the finish line.

While McRae easily won that final challenge race, his other contributions to the sport of hydroplaning have largely been lost to history. Conversely, the significance of Ted Jones and his The Wasp to the history of the sport has to be considered monumental. Built in 1936 as a three-point hydroplane, The Wasp appears to have acted as Jone’s experimental laboratory for the later hydros that he would design and build including the legendary Slo-mo-shun unlimiteds.

By 1957, the Fourth of July event had shrunk to a single day celebration, which consisted mostly of water skiing and wakeboard demonstrations.

Then came the early summer of 1958… and boat racing on Lake Coeur d’Alene would never, ever be the same again.


HYDROMANIA (http://www.lakecoeurdalene.com/blog/2013/04/hydromania-the-greyhound-the-fire-chief-an/)

Ratickle
08-30-2013, 08:16 AM
HYDROMANIA - SLOT MACHINES, THE ATHLETIC ROUND TABLE, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE DIAMOND CUP FOR UNLIMITED HYDROPLANES



Let me take you on a brief flashback to the way things were in the early spring of 1958 in Coeur d’Alene. It was such a different world from what we all experience today.

Coeur d’Alene was still very much a small town in a sparsely populated western state. The 1960 census tells us that the population of the City by the Lake was a nearing 14,000 people where it now has nearly 45,000 citizens.

In the world of entertainment, your only source for movies was the local theater. Not everyone had a television and video and DVD technologies were more than a decade away for the common consumer. Color television technology was also still a few years from becoming affordable to the average homeowner.

In the world of sports, the Pacific Northwest region was bereft of professional teams. Baseball, football, basketball, and soccer teams were all amateur or semi-professional in the five state region surrounding Idaho. To see a professional team of any kind, significant hours (if not days) of travel were necessary.

In the area of transportation, the interstate highway system was many years from being complete, and two lane roads and highways connected the towns and cities of the northwest states rather than the modern day multi-lane freeway system. Those roads and highways generally ran through rather than around towns and cities, adding precious time to even the shortest of road trips.

In the area of economics, the United States as a whole and North Idaho in particular were both suffering from the effects of a deepening recession, the worst that had been suffered by the country and the region since the end of World War II. The effects of the recession were particularly impacting the Coeur d’Alene area with the prices for wood and mining products spiraling downward and large numbers of workers being laid off or terminated.

It was in this environment that the Diamond Cup for unlimited hydroplanes was born.

Like their counterparts during the deep recession of 1913, the city fathers of Coeur d’Alene looked to tourism to stimulate business and job growth. Once again the lake and the sport of inboard boat racing would become the focus of the business community in an effort to grow the local job market and weather the receding economy.

In researching for my upcoming book on the Diamond Cup, I found that the actual birthplace for the races was Coeur d’Alene’s Athletic Round Table (ART). The ART was a member’s only cocktail lounge and informal meeting place located in the bottom level of the Desert Hotel at First and Sherman. Its membership included many of Coeur d’Alene’s most influential downtown businessmen and the movers and shakers of the entire lakeside community.

From its very beginnings in 1933, the ART was a popular meeting place where forward thinking business people could meet to talk of the events of the day.

Their role expanded during the post war years to include support of civic activities and contributions to many area charities. This was largely due to two laws passed by the Idaho legislature that were to directly benefit the clubs bank account. In 1947, a change in state laws allowed the ART to become the first drinking establishment in the state of Idaho to be allowed to sell of liquor by the drink since the repeal of prohibition in 1933. The same year, a local option vote authorized by legislature permitted the ART to install slot machines on its premises.

Benefiting directly over the next few years from the largess that came from ART liquor sales and gambling were the cities athletic teams, its high school band, the restoration of the historic Fort Grounds Church, and the construction of the float that would represent Idaho at the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. The club was also able to funnel some of the money into an upgrade of its clubroom and lounge, making it an even more attractive gathering place.

A change in state law that came in 1954 would make the slot machines illegal, but the club would continue to benefit greatly from its hard liquor sales. The loss of revenue did nothing to diminish the groups support of civic activities and projects, and it was a natural outgrowth of this civic focus for the ART to be at the center of the movement to bring hydroplane racing to the community when the time came.

That time came in the early spring of 1958.

Although, I have not been able to determine the one person who came up with the idea, I have been able to determine that the initial discussions on bringing the big boats to Coeur d’Alene took place in the clubroom of the ART in early months of 1958. Those present more than likely included ART board members John S. Richards, Lee Brack, Carter Crimp, and Doug Downing.

The earliest public reference to what would become the Diamond Cup race is found on the cover of the Thursday, March 20, 1958 edition of the Coeur d’Alene Press, which announced “Hydro Racing Sought On Lake” in two-inch cap letters on page one. The accompanying article predicted that the race would become the biggest promotion that the city had ever seen and generously predicted that it would attract 200,000 to 250,000 visitors to the city for the inaugural race.

The Press article also revealed that an application for a race sanction had been sent off to the American Power Boat Association, the sports ruling body, the night before following a get together in the ART meeting room. At that same get together, the Coeur d’Alene Unlimited Hydroplane Association (CUHA) was formed to act as the sponsoring body for the races.

The same article was also the first written referral to the race as being the “Diamond Cup”.

The leadership of the CUHA was elected at the meeting and the first board of directors included Atlas Tie lumber mill manager John S. Richards as race commodore, Coeur d’Alene Press advertising manager Duane Hagadone as vice commodore, ART general manager Ron McDonald as secretary, and First National Bank manager Martin Chesnut as treasurer. It was a very influential group.

What was most interesting about the application for the race sanction was the dates the committee had selected: June 14th and 15th. Using the March 20th announcement of the race as the starting point, the organizers had roughly sixty-eight days to get funding arranged, the committee organized, and the race facilities ready for the arrival of the race teams.

The task facing the CUHA was indeed monumental – Could they possibly get past all of the obstacles in their path and get it all together in time?


HYDROMANIA - SLOT MACHINES, THE ATHLETIC ROUND TABLE, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE DIAMOND CUP FOR UNLIMITED HYDROPLANES | Lake Coeur d'Alene Blog (http://www.lakecoeurdalene.com/blog/2013/05/hydromania-slot-machines-the-athletic-roun/)

Ratickle
08-31-2013, 08:01 AM
HYDROMANIA: THE RACE TO GET READY AND GETTING THE FIRST BOAT WET



The pressure was truly on… two months and counting until the Coeur d’Alene Unlimited Hydroplane Association had to have everything in place to get the big boats wet and qualifying underway for the very first Diamond Cup for unlimited hydroplanes.

The very first task to be completed was the find a usable location for the course and to properly survey it for approval by the American Power Boat Association. Less than a week after the decision to make a go of the race, race officials and a representative from the APBA took to the air in a helicopter with Kootenai County Surveyor Ray Kindler to look at potential race sites.

When the group later spoke to the press, they shared that central to any racecourse plan had to be Tubbs Hill because of its potential as a vantage point to watch the race. This is reflected in the initial press report announcing that the course the CUHA initially selected was between Silver Beach and Tubbs Hill, encompassing the south side of the rocky hill, Sanders Beach, the Potlatch Mill area, and a portion of U.S. Highway 10. That design had the course running east west and no more than 600 to 800 feet from the shore, offering unparalleled views of the racing.

Shortly after that release hit the papers, however, the CUHA made a rapid course correction (no pun intended) and issued another statement saying that they had chosen another location. While no reason was given for the change, it is likely that huge crowds jammed along a quiet residential street, a busy lumberyard, and one of the busiest east-west highways in the country posed too large a logistical problem for the race committee to solve.

The new location had been formally approved by Unlimited Racing Commission commissioner Ross Merrill and would take full advantage of Tubbs Hill, the City Beach, and City Park as viewing areas. The Ray Kindler designed course would run in a northwest to southeast direction with Tubbs Hill on its eastern side, and a log boom viewing area on its western side. The north turn of the course would run within 1200 feet of City Beach and the south turn would take the boats to a location near Arrow Point. The start line would be situated near Corbin Point on Tubbs Hill, and the course would pass within 1000 feet of land at that location.

With the course mapped out, attention focused on its primary need: money. The CUHA finance committee began its fund drive within days of the decision to go racing, and in the first week raised a total of $11,750 (Note: that sum would equal $94,993.37 in 2013 dollars]. Donations to the fund by businesses and individuals were listed each day in a special “Honor Roll” section of the Coeur d’Alene Press. In the first month, total contributions exceeded $10,100.

After crunching numbers, the committee estimated that the total budget needed to put on the first race was $30,000 [$242,536 in 2013 dollars]. Much of the costs were seen to be for the first year only, but here was still much to be done for the committee to meet their goal.

The CUHA next filed articles of incorporation in Boise for the non-profit association. Incorporators included Duane Hagadone, Martin Chesnut, Ron McDonald, Lee Brack, L. R. Wood, Perry Christianson, and Burl Hagadone as the board of directors.

The Coeur d’Alene City Council passed a resolution giving the CUHA complete charge of the races and related activities. Extra costs for policing, clean up, sanitation, and other city services would be borne by the CUHA in return for use of City Beach, Tubbs Hill, and a section of land at the foot of Third Street that would be used as the pit area.


Governor Smylie announced from Boise that the boat teams would be exempted from having to pay Idaho pleasure craft licensing fees. Perhaps in response to this official action, Smylie was named by Commodore John S. Richards as an honorary commodore of the race, a position Smylie enthusiastically accepted.

KING-TV from Seattle announced that they would be broadcasting the race to the Spokane and Seattle viewing areas. KREM-TV would carry the Seattle coverage. KHQ-TV of Spokane later announced that they would also be broadcasting the race live.

Members of the race committee traveled to the small central Washington town of Chelan to meet with their counterparts on the Apple Cup organizing committee to discuss the details necessary to run a successful race. The CUHA leadership also met with Greater Seattle Inc., sponsoring group of Seattle’s Seafair week to get additional ideas for incorporation into their race plan.

Meetings took place that worked out plans for policing the community during the race and addressing the availability of parking. New parking areas were roughed out in the area adjacent to the City Park and Memorial baseball field, parking that is still used to this day.

Representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard traveled to Coeur d’Alene, and an official plan was created for the Coast Guard to securely police the course during the race week and weekend.

The pit committee set to work on transforming what had been for over a century the pier for collecting logs from the lake for the now closed Coeur d’Alene Lumber Mill/Box Factory into a pit area for the boats competing in the race. This committee’s work would have a lasting effect on the development of the waterfront and would spur other changes that would completely transform the city’s waterfront area.

The committee started by ripping out a railroad trestle once owned by the Northern Pacific in that jutted into the water in its entirety. They also removed a section of the Great Northern trestle adjacent to it, shortening it to fifty feet in length. The trestles had been used to dump logs trained into the area into the lakes waters to be stored until needed.

New pilings were driven along the ancient wooden seawall along the lumber mill pier. This was followed by the addition of new rip-rap, extensive backfilling, and leveling of the large area to be used for the parking of the boats along the seawall.

A steam-powered dredge was brought in and tons of wood debris and silt were removed from the channel in front of the seawall. This had to be done to allow the propellers of the raceboats to function properly in an area where once only flat bottomed boats could operate without dragging bottem.

A fifty-foot high scaffolding structure was erected on what was left of the Great Northern pier for use as a control and communications tower. A television and radio tower was also constructed adjacent to the pits to accommodate the media.

Most everything used in constructing the pit area was donated by local businesses, thus keeping the costs down. It reportedly cost the race organizers only $5,000 [approximately $40,400 in 2013 dollars] to construct the entire facility Coeur d’Alene tractor provided machinery, Luke’s Transfer and Storage provided a bulldozer and crane truck, and Secaur Cement supplied most of the concrete and fill used.

Tubbs Hill also received the attention of the race committee. Heavy brush and several view restricting trees were removed. The work was done in conjunction with a crew from the Coeur d’Alene National Forest ranger station.

A crew under the direction of County Surveyor Ray Kindler placed the anchors and marker buoys for the racecourse.

Booster button sales began to raise revenue. The brightly colored buttons sold for $1 each and could be found throughout the downtown business district. As preparations continued, the CUHA received its official sanction. The race date assigned added two weeks to the preparation time with the race scheduled officially for the weekend of June 28th and 29th. Even with the added time, time was tight for the organizers.

A press release from the CUHA proudly announced that the committee had received its first official entry: the community owned Miss Spokane. Many additional entries were announced in the days that followed.

Just prior to the beginning of race week, the newly crafted, three-foot tall Diamond Cup trophy was unveiled. Designed by local commercial artist (and hydroplane enthusiast) Ted Anderson, the trophy would be awarded to the winning team each year. The diamond shaped trophy on a mahogany base was created by Everson’s Jewelry of Coeur d’Alene and was studded with rhinestones. The cost for creating the trophy was placed at $700 [or over $6,800 in modern terms]. Not surprisingly, the money for creating the trophy was donated by the Athletic Round Table. They also paid for the creation of smaller trophies to be taken home by the winning teams.

Moved into place with less than a week to go were the log boom anchors and the official barge. The barge was three stories high and was constructed from steel scaffolding and plywood that had been donated by local lumber firms. The barge was placed on Corbin Point. Placed atop the structure was a huge starting clock designed and constructed by Glen Halliday’s Allied Weldery (Note: the weldery is still in business on North Second Street in Coeur d’Alene).

General Telphone Company provided telephone service to the barge and pit area. Washington Water Power installed a 50 kilowatt transformer and connected power to both locations.

One of the final steps was the installation of the course buoys and log booms. The course buoys had been designed by race referee Stanley Donogh and had been constructed in Seattle from various sizes of tire inner tubes. The two dozen markers were then trucked to Coeur d’Alene to be installed around the course.

Finally everything was in readiness. And so it was, that on the hottest day in two years that the first boat officially got wet. With the temperature hovering at a blistering 99 degrees, the course was opened on Sunday afternoon, June 22nd, and Austin Snell’s Tacoma-based Coral Reef became the first-ever unlimited hydro to circle the Diamond course.

HYDROMANIA: THE RACE TO GET READY AND GETTING THE FIRST BOAT WET | Lake Coeur d'Alene Blog (http://www.lakecoeurdalene.com/blog/2013/05/hydromania-the-race-to-get-ready-and-getti/)

Ratickle
09-01-2013, 09:21 PM
HYDROMANIA: THE INAUGURAL RACE WEEK



Prior to the first ever unlimited hydroplane lap on Lake Coeur d’Alene, Mayor Perry Christianson of Coeur d’Alene commissioned Coral Reef owner Austin “Doc” Snell and his driver Harry Reeves as members of the Coeur d’Alene Navy. The “commissioning” took place at the 3PM dedication of the new Third Street pit area.

Having accepted the commission, Reeves stepped into the cockpit of the Coral Reef to the sound of the music of the Coeur d’Alene Elks Band and the booming of a cannon fired by members of the Chamber of Commerce “Navy”.

Reeves circled the new course eight times on the dedicatory run as an estimated crowd of 20,000 people looked on from every possible vantage point around the racecourse.

With crowds predictions for the 1958 estimated to be at 200,000 plus, race planners coordinated closely with law enforcement to develop plans to any problem that might develop on the water and on land. Towards that end, a record number of law enforcement officers were expected to be in town on race weekend to help with traffic control and public safety.

The regularly assigned city police and sheriff’s officers were to be augmented for the weekend by a force of Idaho State Police, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Posse, the Idaho National Guard, Civil Defense police from Spokane, state liquor law enforcement officers, state game conservation officers, border patrolmen, a U.S. Coast Guard crew, the Spokane reserve Coast Guard contingent, and the Coast Guard auxiliary contingents from Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

The test laps by Coral Reef kicked off what would be a busy race week. While in later years, testing and qualification would drop off to next to nothing, the inaugural race week saw boats on the water from Monday through Friday.

The activity on the racecourse caused some unforeseen problems for swimmers enjoying City Beach, however. In a joint press release from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Coeur d’Alene Unlimited Hydroplane Association, the two entities announced that swimming would not be allowed during those times that hydroplanes were on the water.

City Beach lifeguards were instructed to clear the water of swimmers as soon as they were advised that a raceboat was about to enter the course. If the swimmers failed to comply, the course was to be closed down until everyone was safely on the beach. There was a fear that if a boat went out of control in the north turn that it would injure swimmers located there.

Rainfall wiped out the first official day of testing on Monday of race week. Crewmembers of the Bardahl, Maverick, and Coral Reef used the down time to work under tarps or spent the day in team trailers preparing equipment.

On Tuesday, the weather was only slightly improved. Despite scattered showers, W.T. Waggoner’s Maverick took the $100 daily prize for the fastest timed lap, thus establishing the first of many course records that the red, white, and gold boat would hold. With an extremely slow speed of 81.100 MPH, Maverick took the prize largely by default. The other two boats in the pits failed to make it off their trailers for the entirety of the day.

After receiving the fast lap check from the CUHA, Waggoner took the money and donated it to a Spokane orphanage for train fare and tickets to help bring its young people to Coeur d’Alene for the races.

Wednesday saw vastly improved weather conditions as the course officially opened for qualifying. First to give it a go were Bill Stead and Maverick who quickly erased the slower time from Tuesday with a more respectable lap of 111.300 MPH. The Maverick team took the $100 fast time money they won for the day and donated it to a local charity.

During an untimed run late in the day, one of the Maverick’s exhaust stacks suddenly flew off and struck Stead. The driver suffered burns to an arm and one leg, and the boat’s cockpit briefly filled with a flash of flames. The burns were superficial and Stead was soon back in the pits with bandages covering his wounded appendages.

Bill Brow shared driving time in the Miss Burien with fellow crewmember Dick Short. They each had timed runs, with Brow running the fastest lap at 97.300 MPH.

Maverick clearly established that it was the team to beat as Stead posted the fastest time on for a third straight day with a run of 111.100 MPH on Wednesday afternoon. Also making the qualifying ladder were Miss Burien with 97.400 MPH and Mira Slovak and Miss Bardahl with 93.100 MPH.

Thursday’s fast time money went to Bill Brow and Miss Burien at 102.273 MPH despite the fact that Stead and the Maverick recorded a new course record speed of 113.233 MPH. The Arizona boat was ineligible for the top-qualifying prize, having won the money the previous two days.

Several unlimited drivers revealed their intention to participate in the limited hydro card of races scheduled for Saturday of race weekend. Miss Spokane’s Dallas Sartz was set to go with a 266-class hydro, while Bill Muncey and Mira Slovak were scheduled to get it on in the 280-class. Coral Reef driver Harry Reeves, Miss Seattle driver Chuck Hickling, Miss U.S driver Bill Brow, and a young Rex Manchester were all registered for the race in various classes.

Cloudy skies and high humidity greeted race fans flocking to the shores of the lake on Friday. Highlighting the day were two 111 MPH laps by the red-hot Maverick. After Stead’s fast turns around the course, the wind started to kick up, and only Miss Pay n’ Save and Adios would make it onto the course before it was officially closed for safety reasons. Adios took the fast lap money for Friday with a not so fast high speed of 75.784 MPH.

The weather did not improve much on Saturday. Steady winds whipped the lake’s surface into a froth of white caps that kept the boats on their trailers until late in the afternoon. When the course did open, Thriftway Too took the fastest lap money at 106.509 MPH despite bouncing and banging its way through pockets of high wave action.

The limited races were postponed until early Sunday morning and then canceled altogether. When the cancellation announcement was made, several of the limited teams trailered their boats to nearby Fernan Lake on the east end of Coeur d’Alene and held an impromptu race for a handful of fans and family.

On Sunday morning, two of the unqualified boats were allowed a chance to qualify. Adios was the first to go, but the boat broke loose a gas line and the engine compartment quickly filled with racing fuel. Driver George McKernan immediately shut the boat down and it was towed back to the dock to have the fuel siphoned away.

Miss Athletic Round Table also attempted to run, but the American Power Boat Association safety committee declared the aging boat unsafe after it failed to pass a required safety inspection. It spent the rest of race weekend sitting on its trailer at the north end of the pit area.

The heat draw took place Saturday afternoon for Sunday’s races. Drawn into Heat 1-A scheduled for 12:30 p.m. were Miss Bardahl, Miss Burien, Miss Seattle, Miss Thriftway, and Miss U.S. In Heat 1-B at 1:15 p.m. were Maverick, Coral Reef, Miss Pay n’ Save, Thriftway Too, and the local favorite Miss Spokane. Adios would have one more chance to make the field on Sunday morning and would be assigned to Heat 1-B if it proved to be successful.

Slightly overcast skies and cool temperatures in the mid-sixties greeted an estimated 30,000 spectators on Sunday morning. Eleven boats were poised to do battle for the Diamond Cup trophy, and conditions were relatively good for boat racing. The time had finally arrived to go racing.
HYDROMANIA: THE INAUGURAL RACE WEEK | Lake Coeur d'Alene Blog (http://www.lakecoeurdalene.com/blog/2013/05/hydromania-the-inaugural-race-week/)

Ratickle
09-02-2013, 08:06 PM
HYDROMANIA: THE 1958 DIAMOND CUP RACE AND ITS AFTERMATH



In 1958, the Coeur d’Alene Press was an afternoon newspaper. When the Press landed on the front porches all over town on Saturday, June 28th, everyone pretty much already knew what the headline would be for the day.

Extremely windy conditions had wiped away the first day’s schedule of racing, and the Press headline for Saturday afternoon’s paper said it all: Diamond Cup Racing Scheduled All Day Sunday – Wind Alters Plans.

With an entire day of activity wiped out, the Coeur d’Alene Unlimited Hydroplane Association had to radically rearrange an already full race program. Trying to save the races for the limited class hydroplanes, the CUHA at first scheduled the limited hydro races to early Sunday morning and then eliminated them altogether when someone pointed out that the downtown neighborhoods might have trouble dealing with roaring boat engines as early as 6:30 a.m.

Sunday’s action started mid-morning when the Adios made a last ditch attempt to get into the field. With seconds left on the clock, George McKernan fired up the big Allison Type W, and all twenty-four cylinders roared to life. The boat took a warm-up lap, and charged toward the starting line with its roostertail shining against the morning sun. It was then that the referee inexplicably fired a flare from the official barge, signaling an immediate return to the pits by the big white and black hydro.

Gliding back to the dock, race officials told McKernan that he had three minutes to return to the course to continue the qualification run. The crew quickly turned the boat around, and this time McKernan experienced more than a little difficulty getting the engine to restart. Suddenly the engine fired, and for the second time that morning the boat made it on the course with only seconds to spare.

This time there was no official interference during the qualification circuit, and when the official time for the Adios was announced, McKernan had successfully placed the boat in the race by a mere .22 of a mph, recording a speed of 90.220 mph.

With Adios now in the fold, a crowd estimated at only 30,000 people settled in to watch the very first heats of competition for the Diamond Cup for unlimited hydroplanes. With a field now totaling eleven boats, the first section of racing would offer two heats of racing. The moment had finally arrived to get the boats wet in pursuit of the big trophy.

The draw had taken place on Friday night, but the success of the Adios in qualifying finalized the field for Sunday’s race program. Heat 1-A featured Miss Burien, Miss Seattle, Miss Thriftway, Coral Reef, and Miss U.S. 1. Heat 1-B put together Miss Bardahl, Maverick, Miss Pay n' Save, Thriftway Too, Adios, and Miss Spokane.

Heat 1-A

The first heat of racing went against the pre-race handicapper’s predictions, and it was no walkover for Bill Muncey and Miss Thriftway. The big white and orange boat never put up a challenge to Fred Alter and a red-hot Miss U.S. 1. Alter pulled away from the field and averaged a very respectable 104.166 mph for the fifteen-mile heat.

Heat 1-B

It was déjà vu all over again, as the two favored boats, Miss Bardahl and Maverick both fell off the pace early on in losing to Bryan Wygle in the Thriftway Too. The innovative cab forward hydro navigated the rough water conditions more easily than its competitors on the way to five-lap average of 99.410 mph.

Following Heat 1-B, the draw for the second set of sections took place. As luck would have it, the winning boats from the first sections of racing landed together in the same heat. Thriftway Too and Miss U.S. 1 topped the list of boats in Heat 2-A along with Miss Spokane and Adios. Heat 2-B matched pre-race favorites Maverick and Miss Bardahl taking on Miss Thriftway, Miss Burien, and Miss Seattle.

Heat 2-A

It was all Miss U.S. 1 again, as Fred Alter and the mahogany and white U-2 outclassed the rest of the competition on the way to its second win on the day. Thriftway Too never came close after the first lap, and Alter steered his way to a one-lap course record of 110.769 mph and a five-lap average of 99.228 mph.

Heat 2-B

The predicted battle between Bill Stead and Maverick and Mira Slovak and Miss Bardahl failed to happen, as the big green and yellow boat threw a propeller blade mid-way through the heat and failed to finish. With the Bardahl sidelined, Stead demonstrated why he was considered the favorite to win the trophy by posting the fastest heat of the day with an average of 106.698 mph. So dominant was Maverick’s performance that at the finish he had pulled away to a full thirty-two second leads over Bill Muncey and Miss Thriftway.

Final Heat

All of the preliminary heats were five-lap, fifteen-mile long affairs. As was the practice with some of the races during that era, the championship heat was doubled to a distance of thirty-miles. With the added laps of racing, attrition became a big factor in the outcome.

In actuality, attrition had already affected the final field. Damage to engines and hulls had trimmed the field only six boats. Miss Bardahl was not able to compete because of damage caused by a broken propeller blade in Heat 2-B. Adios, Miss Pay n' Save, and Coral Reef were all forced to withdraw because of equipment failure. The Adios had blown a supercharger, while Pay n’ Save and Coral Reef had both thrown a rods through the sides of their engines.

Miss U.S. 1 was the points leader coming into the final with two heat wins for 800 points followed by Thriftway Too and Maverick with 700 points apiece. Muncey’s Miss Thriftway (525), Bill Brow in Miss Burien (469), Chuck Hickling in Miss Seattle (394) rounded out what was left of the field.

The final was by far the most hair raising of the day. Five of the six boats crossed the start line deck-to-deck, with only Dallas Sartz and Miss Spokane trailing the field. With no one willing to give ground, the battle continued well into the first turn, where Thriftway Too collided with Miss Thriftway, smashing away half of the Thriftway’s distinctive tail in the process.

Coming out of the chaos unscathed was Bill Stead and the Maverick who had taken the inside lane at the start and maintained it through the first turn. He took the lead on the back straightaway and was never headed during the remaining nine and one-half laps. At the end stead held a fifteen football field lead over Thriftway Too, the second place finisher.

Returning to the dock, Stead was met a broadly smiling owner W.T. Waggoner and an exuberant Maverick team. According to tradition, the crew rewarded Stead’s winning effort by throwing him into the lake in celebration.

Later, Stead would offer this assessment of the race:

“I never really was pushed. And once I got out front, I had my own water, my own turns, my own everything.” It was especially so after that hectic first turn.

While the race was pretty much an artistic success, it was less so financially. Falling woefully short of the predicted crowds of 200,000+, the regatta committee fell equally short with its bottom line. When all receipts had been counted, the weekend resulted in a $9,000 deficit in 1958 dollars. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that same amount in 2013 dollars would $72,414.

On the positive side, there were only a few arrests made during the inaugural weekend, and despite crowded streets there were no major incidents reported by law enforcement.

When the dust settled, the biggest question facing the Coeur d’Alene Unlimited Hydroplane Association was simple: Would there be a second annual Diamond Cup?

HYDROMANIA: THE 1958 DIAMOND CUP RACE AND ITS AFTERMATH | Lake Coeur d'Alene Blog (http://www.lakecoeurdalene.com/blog/2013/06/hydromania-the-1958-diamond-cup-race-and-i/)