The Race for the Harmsworth Trophy

LIEUT.-COLONEL GEORGE A. DREW, President, introduced the speaker.

MR. KAYE DON: I want to thank you very sincerely for the very warm welcome which you extended to me. 1 will be very frank with you, and say that after things had gone so extraordinarily badly at Detroit, I was very diffident as to whether I should come to Toronto or not. In fact, I said to my friend, Captain Brown, that the boys at Toronto would not want to see me, that 1 had done nothing, and surely you would not wish to be bothered with me, Since I have been. here, 1 realize what great sportsmen you all are, gentlemen. (Applause.) Whether I come to you flushed with success, or whether I come having done my best but failed, you receive me in exactly the same manner. It is indeed a very wonderful atmosphere to be in.

I think international contests such as the one I have just been competing in do a tremendous amount of good. 1 feel that I not only come to the Western. hemisphere as the pilot of Lord Wakefield's boat, but also as an ambassador of sport, and I think that events such as these greatly help to cement the union which exists between Britain and her Dominions, which is also I believe one of the objects of your Club. I hope that visits like mine, and that of my friend Sir Malcolm Campbell, give you gentlemen. an opportunity of knowing us a little better, and enables you to really better understand our points of view.

As to the Empire, we are sportsmen to the backbone. 1 know it was great sportsmen who rushed to the assistance of the Mother Country in the latter days of 1914, and the early days of 1915, and who not only helped to save our country, but also many other European countries. These sons of Canada who rushed to the war in the early days were ambassadors in the war, and proved their worth.

Visiting various parts of the world with Miss England II and Miss England III should give an opportunity for more complete understanding between people, and that is the objective I have always in mind, and one I hope I have been successful in attaining in Canada.

With regard to the Harmsworth Trophy, I do not propose to make any excuses as to what happened, but to tell you simply what happened on Saturday and Monday.

My boat arrived in Detroit on the 19th of August, in the late evening, fifteen days before the first heat, and trials were made on August 22nd, August 24th, August 26th, and September 1st. The course was of such a nature-namely a three-mile straightaway, with one half mile turn at each end-that it did not require a tremendous amount of practice. The only point I was desirous of knowing was that my boat would function properly, and to get a knowledge of the course, and to practice my starts as well as I could, for that is really a very important thing in the races. Then, if the opportunity presented itself, I was desirous of trying the boat in really rough water, which 1 had not been able to do before, and I wanted to know how it would perform.

My last test was made on Thursday., and my boat was back in the boat-well for final inspection; all parts were tested which would be likely to vibrate. This gave my mechanics Thursday and Friday for their work, which was ample time.

Saturday's race is history. Both Gar Wood and myself got away to a fairly good start. I think I am correct in saying that I was leading at the line by approximately four seconds. For three laps I steadily increased my lead, and at the end of the third lap was ahead something in the region of fifty seconds. By the end of the fourth lap, trouble had developed which had reduced by lead to three seconds. During the fifth lap one of my motors stopped entirely, which meant I had to lose my lead, and finish the lap at a very, very slow speed-at about 50 miles an hour.

After the boat was returned to the boat-well, it was found upon examination that the throttle control had become disconnected. When 1 say "throttle control" I want you to understand exactly what that is; it is a small rod about twelve inches long, and it connects to the carburettor with a ball joint. The screw of this had vibrated loose, and allowed the rod to jump out of the socket, thus closing the throttle of my starboard engine.

It was also found on examination that owing to the weaving of the boat in Saturday's race, the overflow pipe from my motors had been pulled inboard, and the water which circulates through the motors, instead of going overboard, came inboard. 1 will tell you that that pipe is one and one-quarter inches in diameter, and the pressure of water is about nine pounds, so I am sure you will realize, gentlemen, the amount of water we took in. My boatmen told me that as a matter of fact it was approximatately two tons. At the end of the race the boat was low in the water, and I had very great fears that she might sink entirely.

That was the result of Saturday's race, and I must say that conditions were not altogether ideal for highspeed boats. The water was rough, and the average speed was low. I think I put up the fastest speed, which was my first lap, at about 88Y2 miles per hour, which is fast time for that course.

The boat was back in the boat-well about eight o'clock. My men immediately got to work for a general inspection and overhauling. It was found that owing to the tremendous pounding the boat had received quite a few things had become loosened; they were all tightened up, and my boys worked all day Saturday, Saturday night and on until about one a.m. on Sunday morning.

Monday's race started under ideal conditions. Both boats got away to a very good start indeed. Miss England III was leading the American over the line by about two boats lengths. I am told this was quite the best start they had ever seen in the Harmsworth Trophy Race.

I had not gone very far, unfortunately, perhaps a mile, when my starboard engine stopped, and I told my mechanic, Mr. Gamer, to go to the back of the boat and see if anything could be done, but events proved he could not do anything at all, and I had to go around the course to the best of my ability. We must finish if we can. I went around with one motor, and after one and onehalf laps it stopped. That was due to the terrific load I put on the motor and the excessive work it had to do. It overheated, and many of you gentlemen here will know what that means to an engine. We developed a certain amount of piston trouble, and did a whole lot of other damage, as a matter of fact.

It was afterwards discovered that my first trouble was again due to the throttle control, which on this occasion had broken, and upon examining the port engine, as I told you just now, we found it was badly overheated, and the pistons smashed, and the connecting rod came off, and so forth.

Well, gentlemen, that is the complete story of the Hannsworth race. Needless to say I am very, very disappointed, but not downhearted. (Applause.) 1 am still of the opinion that the Rolls Royce engines are the very finest in the world; there is no doubt in my mind about that, and I have had a tremendous amount of experience with them.

Small things happened which put me out of both heats, a thing which I have never experienced before in all of my racing career, and which in all probability will never happen again.

The hull finished in excellent condition, and I want you to believe this when I tell you that I think it is one of the finest hulls that America has ever seen. Great credit is due to the boat builder. It was made by that famous builder, Thornycroft, and also the Rolls Royce. One must not lose sight of the fact that the boat, even though the engines failed at Detroit, is still the fastest boat in the world. She is the holder of the world's water speed record, and is the first boat to travel over two miles a minute. (Applause.)

She proved by the first three laps in the first race on Saturday that she was a very, very worthy challenger, and I sincerely trust Lord Wakefield, that great British sportsman, who so generously and wholeheartedly backed this venture, will see fit to recondition the boat, and make another attempt, and I hope I shall be the pilot.

(Applause.) I thought, gentlemen, you might like to hear the history of England III I hope I am not keeping you too long, but I will be as brief as I can.

It was first decided to build Miss England III in January, and, after very careful consideration, the order was placed by Lord Wakefield with Thornycroft. The boat was built in their yard at Hampton-on-Thames, near London, and she was installed with the latest type of Rolls Royce engines, capable of producing in the neighbourhood of thirty-two hundred revolutions. Such things as the shaft, the rudder structure, and the rudder gear were made by another firm whom you all know, Vickers, of 110 tensile steel, and 1 am sure you will agree with me if you saw them, that they are masterpieces of engineering.

The power is taken from the engines by a shaft forward to the gear box, and by a propeller shaft to the propellers. The propellers, of which I have two, are seventeen inches in diameter, with a twenty-inch pitch, and they turn at approximately seven thousand revolutions per minute.

England III was completed in May, and I took her to Lake Goddard in Italy for her first trial. The reason we go there is that the weather is very good, and nine days out of ten you can put a boat in the water and continue your work without any interruption from bad weather. There it was found that although the boat was very good at speeds up to 100 miles an hour, over that she had a tendency to be somewhat nose-heavy, and the very best speed I did there was 106 miles an, hour.

The boat was then brought back to England, and certain modifications were made, and then we went to Loch Lomond in Scotland. It was found on my first trial there that we had over-corrected the fault we had found in Italy, and instead of planing, she listed, which meant further modifications had to be made, and this was done at Loch Lomond.

During the trials I found I had acquired a perfect plane angle, but our troubles were not at an end. We found at speeds over 100 miles an hour that owing to something peculiar happening to the stem of the boat we could not get any water to the engines. We had her water scoops fitted at the stem, but we could not get any water, with the result that the motors were starved and overheated.

After experimenting, it was found necessary to take these scoops away, and put them under the forward step. That was done, and a further trial was made on the morning of July 18th. I took the boat out about 7.30 in the morning, and it was officially timed over the mile, and she did a speed--I think 1 am correct in saying-of 117 plus miles per hour one way, and 118 miles per hour the other way, which gave us a world's record of 117 plus miles per hour average.

I then took it back to the boat-well, and I used some special fuel, which gives increased horse power. That was put in, and the boat was taken out again, and this time it resulted in a speed, going form north to south, of 120.5 miles per hour, and on the return journey she did 119.121 miles per hour, giving me a mean speed of 119.81 miles per hour. That was the first time a boat had ever travelled at more than two miles a minute. (Applause.)

Miss England III was then sent back to Derby to be prepared for the Harmsworth Trophy. The Rolls Royce engines were taken out, stripped, carefully examined, reassembled, put on test, and put back in the boat. Every nut and bolt was tested, and the gear box taken out, and the whole thing reassembled, and when we arrived at Detroit I thought I had a 100 per cent. perfect job. 1 still think that. It was a wonderful job; it was prepared to the very very best of our ability. The boat now has left Montreal and is on its way back to England.

With regard to the future, I am of the opinion that speeds will get higher; in fact, as I am talking to you now, my great American competitor, Commodore Gar Wood, is busy preparing his boat for an attack on our record. Personally 1 think he will get it. I had the opportunity of seeing his boat, and he has really done a good job. He has four motors in it, giving him something over 6,400 horse power, and I should not be surprised any moment to see him get the world's record. But I think I can safely say this, that we shall have a most, effective reply. (Applause.)

I think it is passible on my return to England that further modifications can be made to Miss England III, and she will be able to show she is capable of attaining even greater speeds than she has already attained. In the event of our losing our record, I am confident that Lord Wakefield will put the boat in condition again and endeavour to regain that which we have lost.

Mr. President, I thank you for the great hospitality you have extended to me, and if I come over again I hope 1 shall have the opportunity of seeing you once more. (Prolonged applause.)