The Gold Cup race, for the world's fastest hydroplanes, is supposed to end in a triumph of one boat over the others. Last week's race almost ended in a triumph of all the boats over the men who built or drove them. As the six big hydroplanes jockeyed and circled, awaiting the start of the first of three 30-mile heats, some 250,000 fans on the shores of Seattle's Lake Washington confidently cheered the two local entries—Stanley Sayres's Slo-mo-shun V and his Slo-mo-shun IV, setter of the world one-mile speed record of 178.497 m.p.h. (TIME, July 14).
The cheerers were silent with dismay...
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