The Olympics are in full swing and with that many sports are
brought into the limelight that are, shall we say, questionable in their
inclusion on the Olympic program. Some
of the usual targets are Synchronized Swimming, Synchronized Diving, Table
Tennis, Dressage, and a seemingly endless line of shooting and gymnastics
events. With that said, a look into the
Olympics’ past finds even more less than deserving “sports.” Among these include Croquet, Basque Pelota
(whatever that is),Rogue, Polo, Tug of War, and even powerboat racing. It’s hard to believe now, but for one year
powerboat racing had a place on the Olympic program. In the 1908 London games, medals for
powerboat racing were awarded along with the other sports that many have long
associated with the Summer Olympics.
Before
looking at the action of the 1908 Olympic Water Motorsports (as it was more
commonly called back then) events, it should be duly noted that the Olympics in
those early were quite different from the two week festival they have grown to
be. The Summer Olympics in those early
years were often spread out over months and were often tied to World’s Fair
exhibitions with Olympic competitions merely being another event on the program
of these multimonth events. The 1908
London Games were spread out over seven months, with the Opening Ceremonies
being held on April 27 and the Closing Ceremonies held on October 31. Instead of representing their country,
athletes often wore the colors of their athletic club, University, or simply
what they chose to wear, although the 1908 Opening Ceremonies were the first
time that Olympic athletes marched behind their nation’s flags. The events on the Olympic program often had a
local flavor, sometimes even hosting events that were rarely if ever played
outside their host nation. For example,
in the 1904 St. Louis Games Basketball, which was a sport that was thirteen
years old but was quickly spreading in popularity through American YMCA’s, was
staged as a demonstration sport. With
this in mind, powerboat racing was wildly popular in Great Britain at this
time. The first Harmsworth Trophy race
(officially the International Motorboat Trophy) was held in Queenstown, Ireland
in 1903, over two decades before the first British Grand Prix. These Harmsworth Trophy races were often huge
events that drew crowds of over a half a million spectators. Despite the wide popularity in Great Britain,
the footprint of powerboat racing in the early 20th century didn’t
go much further than France and the United States. So despite the fact that the sport was rarely
if ever staged outside of these three nations, the fact that the Olympics were
held in the hotbed of powerboat racing of that time was enough to get the sport
on the program. It should also be of
note that, despite these were the London Games, the races were held 75 miles
south of London in Southampton, another example of the wide open feel of the
Olympics of that time.
The Water Motorsports events were scheduled for August 28
and 29, 1908in Southampton.
Plans for the event were apparently optimistic, as three different
classes of boats were scheduled to compete for medals: an open class, an under 60
feet class, and a 6.5-8 meter class which essentially broke the competition
down into a “large, medium, small” event.
Despite the seemingly optimistic staging of the event with three different
medal competitions, the boat attendance had to damper that optimism. Only six boats showed up to compete in the
events, five of which were British boats and one of which was a French craft. Only two boats entered the three events, and
the events were, shall we say, less than competitive.
The
first event to be held was the Open Class (officially Class A). Two boats, the Dylan and the Woleseley-Siddely,
answered the starting gun. The race was scheduled
for eight laps around the five mile course, but before one lap was completed
the Dylan withdrew. The
Wolseley-Siddeley completed one lap, but then returned to the dock after it was
determined that the weather was too severe to continue.
The Wolseley-Siddeley making its way through the rough Southampton course
Despite
the first race being called due to inclement weather, later on that day the
Under Sixty Foot class (officially Class B) event was held later that day. Once again only two boats entered, the
Quicksilver and the Gyrinus. Just to
clarify, the Quicksilver that competed in this class was an offshore style boat
that would cut through the water, and was not the same Quicksilver boat that
would compete in the Unlimited Class many years later. The Gyrinus boat was a pioneer, and early
attempt at having a boat plane over the water.
The Quicksilver boat was noteworthy at the time for having a female
member on the crew who rode along. Wife
of Quicksilver driver J.M. Gorham, identified only as Mrs. Gorham, was
described by a contemporary account as “worthy of special remark as an example
of female endurance” for being able to endure a ride on the rough Southampton
waters that day. Both boats ended the
first lap pretty much even, but on the second lap the Quicksilver began to take
on water and was forced to retire. The
Gyrinus also took on water, but crew members Bernard Boverton Redwood and John
Field-Richards were able to dump water off the boat quicker than it was coming
on allowing Isaac Thomas Thornycroft to win the first Gold Medal ever awarded
for Water Motorsports. Later in the day
a third race, a handicap race between larger and smaller boats, was ran but was
not an official part of the Olympic program.
The
next day’s activities began with a Class C (6.5-8 meters) race. The competitors this time was a small craft
known as the Sea Dog, and once again the Gyrinus boat. For the first few laps it appeared to once
again be a very competitive race, with both boats exchanging the lead and
officially scored as less than a second between them. The Sea, Dog, however, had a faulty valve and
wound up breaking down on the course.
Thus Thornycroft once again was able to drive to a Gold Medal with no
running competition.
Gyrinus II, one of the first examples of a boat that attempted to plane over the water
After
another exhibition handicap race and a sailing race, and other races featuring
yacht dinghies and another handicap powerboat competition, the rerun of the
Class A “open” class took place. Once
again, the race was seen as a letdown.
The London Times account of the event noted “It will be noted that nothing
has been said of the Olympic Race for motorboats of any length or power. But really, there is very little to be said.”
Once again only two boats entered the
event. The Wolseley-Siddeley returned
from before, and the lone French entry the Camille, driven by Emile Thubron. During the course of the race, the
Wolseley-Siddeley ran and was unable to continue, govomg the race to Thubron
and the Camille. The inaugural Olympic
powerboat competition was done: three events, six entries, only three
finishers. Before the following Olympics
in Stockholm, the International Olympic Committee passed a rule that said no
events on the program will include motorized vehicles (a rule that still stands
to this day) which ended powerboat racing as an Olympic Sport. However, considering the nature of the
Olympic Water Motorsports racing I’m guessing the news was met with little
disappointment.
What’s
just as noteworthy about the Olympic Powerboat competition is how little
attention it got, certainly not what one would expect of an Olympic Sport. Few contemporary accounts exist of the
event. No major competitors were drawn
to the competition, as none of the six boats that competed ever won the
Harmsworth Trophy, and as far as I know none of them had even entered the
competition. Even during the actual
events, the other races held seemed to attain more attention from the
spectators and from the newspaper writers covering the event. So the 1908 Olympic Water Motorsports event
exists as a historical anomaly that gets little attention and even in the most
complete Olympic accounts. So while it got
little attention, the races were far from a crowdpleaser, and they’re more exemplary
of the wide open days of the early Olympics, it should be noted that, yes, the Olympics
once really did have powerboat racing on the official program.
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