THE TEST OF CRUISING POWER BOATS 
BY E. L. FERGUSON 
HE annual Marblehead-New York motor 
boat race, held under the auspices of the 
Knickerbocker Yacht Club, of New York, 
has become a famous event, and one, too, that 
is looked forward to each year with a great deal 
ofinterest. It isnot, above all else, a mere-test of 
speed, but rather one of endurance. The boats 
entering are built for cruising purposes, and are 
not especially designed for speed alone. They 
are, indeed, just the sort of boat that is suitable 
for the summer cruise of the man of moderate 
means. Yet even under adverse conditions 
they prove themselves worthy to be called 
speedy craft. 
The race, which was this year run from 
Marblehead, Mass., to College Point, New 
York, is for cruising power boats of not less 
than 30 feet water-line length, not exceeding 
in greatest length forty feet, and with a 
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course the rips are nasty. They simply play 
with a small boat even in fair weather; but let 
a northeaster blow and they actually become 
menacing and dangerous. The run is a hard 
one under any circumstances for so small a boat, 
and so is, in reality, an excellent endurance test. 
But the best thing about this motor-boating 
classic so far and from the viewpoint of the 
man of moderate means is that both last year’s 
race and the race which was finished on June 30 
of this year were won by the smallest boat 
entered. Last year’s race was from College 
Point, on Long Island Sound, to Marblehead, 
and so adverse were the weather conditions that 
only one of the little cruisers completed the 
journey—the “Talisman,” equipped with an 
8-horse-power engine and with a time allowance 
of 16 hours, 44 minutes and 1g seconds, which 
went the distance in 45 hours, 35 minutes and 

THE “SUSIE,” IMMEDIATELY AFTER FINISHING HER VICTORIOUS RUN FROM MARBLEHEAD TO NEW YORK 
water-line breadth of not less than one-fifth of 
the water-line length. The engine or engines 
“must be operated either by gasoline or kerosene. 
The boats must also be provided with solid 
propellers. The crew must not be changed dur- 
ing the race and must consist of not more than 
four persons, one of whom may be a paid hand. 
‘The rules regarding fuel, stops, etc., are suffi- 
ciently strict to give a fair and square test. 
Though the race has many spectacular fea- 
tures, the chief interest lies in the opportunities 
afforded to show the real efficiency of a boat 
under rough going. At different points in the 

56 seconds, actual time. The racers were better 
favored by the weather man this year, and nine 
of the starters finished the race. The start was 
made at 6.30 on June 28, from Marblehead, 
and the first boat home was the ‘‘Unome,”’ 
which arrived at College Point at 4.15.40 on 
the morning of June 30, her actual time for the 
280-mile trip being 33 hours, 45 minutes and 
15 seconds. The race being a handicap, how- 
ever, the ‘‘Susie,”’ rated at g horse-power, and 
which did not arrive until 9.25.29 on the 
morning of the 3oth, was declared the winner, 
her corrected time being 26.01.07—more than 
