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Page 148 The 100th Running of the Gold Cup By Steve Garey The American Power Boat Association Gold Cup, first contested in 1904, is the oldest motor racing trophy being contested in the world today. This is truly a proud year for the APBA, the Detroit River Regatta Association, and for anyone who has been involved with this classic event. From its inception, the Gold Cup has come to symbolize the boat racing supremacy of the United States, if not the world. But, you may ponder, if the first race was staged in 1904, then why isn't this the 108th running in 2008? 2004 was the 100th anniversary, but 2008 is the 100th running. You see, all racing in America was suspended between 1942 and 1945 while we fought the Second World War, and the 1960 contest in Las Vegas was canceled due to rough conditions on Lake Mead. That leaves us with 99 Gold Cup races. But wait! There happened to be two Gold Cup contests in the initial year 1904, so that makes an even 100. Millions of dollars have been spent, careers and lives have been made and lost in the pursuit of the "old Tiffany Urn", and it is still the standard after a century of top-notch, hotly contested races. The first race was held on the Hudson River in New York. The winner was a 59 foot boat named Standard, driven by C.C. "Carl" Riotte and powered by a 110 horsepower Standard motor. Riotte averaged 23.160 miles per hour over the 18.4 mile course. The City of Detroit has been at the forefront of Gold Cup racing since 1915. That's when a group of Detroit businessmen sent a boat to New York and won the right to stage the 1916 event. Johnny Milot and mechanic Jack Beebe turned the trick in the first MISS DETROIT. The great Gar Wood stepped in the following year and won the Cup five straight years with his MISS DETROITs and MISS AMERICAS until 1922, when the rules committee banned Wood's "unlimited" power boats in favor of a more gentlemanly class of MISS DETROIT enroute to winning the Gold Cup in 1915. Photo from Mystic Seaport Museum Rosenfeld Collection.