America's oldest motorboating trophy, the Gold Cup, is a gold-plated silver urn that looks like an inverted Napoleon's hat. It was put up in 1904 by Manhattan's Columbia Yacht Club, to give the "monkey-wrench sailors" something to race for. Yachtsmen still think motor-boatmen are crazy. But there are enough mechanically-minded U. S. citizens, willing to spend $50,000 for a boat and 500 hours a year tinkering with it, to make the Gold Cup race one of the most exciting sport events in the U. S.
In 1904, 23 m.p.h. was breakneck speed for a "naphtha launch." Last week, when the 37th Gold...
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