CHANNEL MOTOR RACE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 24, 27 July 1929, Page 20

CHANNEL MOTOR RACE

A NIGHT OF PERIL

It was not until o o'clock on 9th June that information was definitely received at Dover that the last of the missing competitors in the ctossChannel outboard ruotoi'-boat race had reached safety, writes the Dover correspondent of the London" "Daily Telegraph." This was Mr.. W. D. Miller,, whose whereabouts had been unknown for twenty-four hours. After the hazards' of a night in a sinking boat, Mr. Miller had to swim for his life, and he barely succeeded in reaching the Ituytingen lightship, off the Belgian coast, before his strength failed. Not one of tho forty-nino small outboard motor-boats which had been entered succeeded in completing the course. Stories of hours spent in darkness searching for land were told when the motor-boat owners who reachqd France landed/ at Dover frota the packet boat. AU night and during the morning 200" boats—tugs, motor-boats, yachts, and other craft—from both sides of the Channel had scoured the great area of water, and many anxious hours passed before news was received that all the missing were safe. . At half-past four on Saturday afternoon (Bth June) forty-nine of the light craft \ had left Dover Harbour, full of confidence. ••.-. They, were to race to Calais and back, and it was expected that the leaders would return to Dover in under two hours. Three hours after the start not a single boat had been to Calais or near it. The only craft in; the harbour at that time had broken down within a comparatively short distance of the starting point. The rest were scattered up and 3own tho Channel:—and beyond. One man.found himself at-Dunkirk, another at Boulogne, a third was landed after breaking down at Dungeness, a fourth landed at-JTolkes.tone,. and one reached .Ostend. .:. ; .... Over three hours after the race had started it was announced that tho event had been abandoned, no prizes ■would be given, and a reception arranged for that night was cancelled. In the rain, thousands of people lined Dover promenade or tho quayside hours after the boats were expected back, waiting to hear,something, and they became "more 'and more anxious as time passed. \-': .' DISABLED ON THE GOODWINS. Mrs. Christie had an adventurous voyage. With her in the boat was Mr. Webb. They got within about two miles of Calais when disaster overtook them. First of all tho lead to tho magneto had to be held for some miles, and then a seam wont, and the boat ■was full of water within a few seconds ■up to the gunwale. For some time they tried to get tho water out, and eventually a boat picked;them/up and took them back to Folkestone. "Mrs. Christie showed wonderful towage," said Mr.■:Webb afterwards. "Although bruised and cut by the buffeting of the sea in the water-logged boat, she went on baling, and was most disappointed at having to give up the attempt. She went on until it was evident that we would sink if wo attempted to go further." Tho Lady Beatty, the Deal motorboat, which" recently did temporary duty as ■ a light-ship when the Gull lightship was sunk by the liner City of York during a fog, came across one of the disabled boats. of danger, the crew" of" the Lady Beatty dashed right across the Goodwin Sands and found the boat, Miss Speed, in a waterlogged condition some three miles east of the sandbank. Officials of tho British Outboard Eaoing Club answered tho criticism that the race was not run under adequate supervision. A system of patrol boats, had been organised from both ends of the Channel at. a distance of three miles apart. The start took place in'ideal weather conditions. The opinion of local seamen and others ■who''are acquainted with the Channel was taken before the decision to start was arrived at; . The race is to be held at a later date.