First 5 in the Top 100

Of all the names I see thrown out here, I am sorry to not see Sam Griffith. Sam was a real life WWII war hero. He was a wild man racing everything from planes to cars to boats, both inshore and offshore. He started some small things like the Gold Coast Marathon. This was a race that started at 79th st in Miami at the Pelican Harbor Yacht Club. Sam started that yacht club too! Anyway, the race was from Miami up to Palm Beach. Sounds cozy doesn't it? Except the race was run on the inside on the Intracoastal through the canals and the cement sea walls. Sam chose for his ride a 225 three point hydro that would run over 100 mph. Many young and upcoming drivers,cut their teeth on this race and many famous drivers took wrong turns and found themselves turning into a dead end canal at 80 or 90 and having to get their boat,stopped...NOW!

Sam survived two times that his plane was shot down and he exited with his parachute....except it didn't open. TWICE. He smuggled rubies out of India and when the war was over Crouse discovered that Sam had been awarded almost every medal except the Congressional Medal of Honor by America,France and England. When it came to offshore powerboat racing, Sam drove the boat that,Bertram owned and rode on, but it was,Sam who set the strategy and the race pace. He won the Miami Nassau race like 4 out of the first 5 times it was run.

Sam was the racer that Aronow and Odell and Brownie and most everyone else racing at that time, held the greatest respect level for among racers. His life was cut short by cancer. He died before his time and never had chance to build up the many wins others did later. Remember he was respected,so much the first championship given to the best racer anywhere in the world....it was called....... The SAM GRIFFITH TROPHY.

Please consider Sam Griffith when you are making your choices.

Well, we will consider this an official nomination for Sam. I always knew there was the Sam Griffith trophy, and have pictures in the articles about Vincenzo with it being presented to him. I don't know much about Sam himself, so will start to dig for additions to your input above.

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Originally Posted by Ratickle

Well, we will consider this an official nomination for Sam. I always knew there was the Sam Griffith trophy, and have pictures in the articles about Vincenzo with it being presented to him. I don't know much about Sam himself, so will start to dig for additions to your input above.

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Thank you. I realize that even I did not have him in the top 5 that I listed a few posts back. He has been off the radar screen for so long that often his feats are forgotten.

Here is a little shot of Sam in the early 60's driving a Bertram over in England for the Cowes race. This was around the time that Don was racing his Formula 233.

I found a little history on that photo. Is it accurate?


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Sam Griffith driving Blue Moppie in the 61 Cowes-Torquay - a race he never won!

From Class 1

MAN AND MACHINE AGAINST THE SEA
Hailed as the ‘the world’s most rugged ocean race’ the fabled Miami-Nassau races brought powerboat racing to the attention of the general public and signaled the beginnings of modern offshore racing. These races also provided the sport with its first hero - Sam L. Griffith.

Victory after 9 hours racing
The first Miami-Nassau race, run on May 6, 1956 was the brainchild of American race car promoter Capt. Sherman ‘Red’ Crise and yacht designer, Dick Bertram. Of the eleven intrepid pioneers who entered this now famous 184-mile race, eight went the distance to complete the race. The first boat home after nine hours 20 minutes, at an average speed of 19.7mph, was the Griffith-Bertram entry, Doodles II, a 34ft wooden Chris Craft with two 215hp Cadillac Crusader engines.


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The Miami Nassau race back in the 60's: Sam Griffith is shown driving while Richard Bertram and Jim Martenhoff sit on the transom


The Sam Griffith Trophy
Griffith was a larger than life character who made the sport his own in those early years. He was regarded as ‘the man’ and before his untimely death in 1963 he would win four Miami-Nassau races, break Gar Wood’s 41-year-old Miami-New York powerboat record and capture the Around Long Island Marathon. Many have since sought to emulate his skills and when Class 1 came of age with a sanctioned World Drivers’ Championship it was his name that was selected to adorn the trophy that is today the sport’s biggest prize.