Sport: Flying Shingles

Next to winning the 130-mile Albany-to-New York marathon, the most cherished dream of every U. S. outboard motorboat driver is to have U. S. 1 or U. S. 2 painted on his boat. The number U. S. 1 is awarded annually to the amateur outboarder who, during the season, has amassed the largest total of points in regattas sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association. U. S. 2 goes to the highest-scoring professional.*

Last week at the annual meeting of the American Power Boat Association the racing numbers for 1939 were assigned.

U. S. 1 went to 20-year-old Arthur Wullschleger, a Cornell junior who owns three outboards, races in four classes (A, B, C and F). Of the 82 sanctioned meets this year, Driver Wullschleger competed in 13, compiled 15,637 points, including the national championship in Class C.

U. S. 2 went to 38-year-old Fred Jacoby Jr. Son of an outboard body builder (Jacoby Flyaway), Driver Jacoby has no peer among the fast-growing fraternity of rough riders who spend their summers bumping around U. S. waterways, kneeling in little, flat-bottomed boats they call flying shingles—with life preservers round their necks and a yapping whine in their ears. Professional Jacoby’s total of 25,897 points† (in 20 regattas) this season was 10,000 more than his nearest rival (amateur or professional), and his feat of outscoring all other drivers this year for the third time in four years established a record unparalleled in U. S. outboard racing.

Although Fred Jacoby is a professional motorboat racer (61% of U. S. outboard racers are professional), he earns his livelihood as a scenic artist, painting backdrops for Broadway shows. A veteran of twelve years of riding flying shingles, he knows better than to depend on his racing earnings. In 1935, when he won the Albany marathon (worth $250) and spreadeagled the field in almost every other regatta, he wound up with the coveted U. S. 2 but he was $600 in the red.

*In addition to U.S. 1, the highpoint amateur outboarder receives successive odd numbers if he owns more than one boat; the highpoint professional receives successive even numbers.

†Points are awarded for fifth place or better. Jacoby competed in 65 races—won 36 first places, ten seconds, eleven thirds, four fourths and three fifths, plus bonus points for the Albany marathon and national championship events.