Just a note on the author, Judge Aaron B. Cohn found in a 1935 Popular Mechanics article on the history of outboard racing -
I HEARD a yachtsman say, “I have sailed sloops, schooners, yawls and eat boats, and have raced in power boats, but never have I felt the thrill that I have in a race with the put-puts.
In the presence of about 700 people, the writer who was an official and not competing that year, asked the owner of the “Y” engine if his machine was 2 horsepower, and if he had rebored his cylinder. He answered that it was rated as a 2 horsepower, and he had not touched his cylinder. He was thereupon awarded first prize. But the incident still lingered in the minds of the entrants and the next year, when another and new "Y" engine appeared, it provoked intense discussion about fair competition, and resulted in an attempt at handicapping "Y" engines and twins.
Labor day, 1920, was the high peak so far as entries were concerned. Note the evolution from a handful of entries to the grand total of 68 on Labor Day of 1920. Silver cups and pennants for first, second, third and in addition thirty-five money prizes of $35.00 for first in addition to the Cup, and graduated down to $2.00 for the thirty-fifth. Five-pound boxes of candy to every woman in a boat raced only by women. Several hundred dollars was subscribed by the people of Stops 42, 43, 44, and 45. Much publicity in the daily papers, and a film of 500 feet taken of the aquatic events, put-put races, diving and swimming. Sixty-eight put-puts churning up old Lake Erie certainly was a thriller. We were informed by outboard engine companies that that event was the biggest of its kind in the history of the put-puts.
However, up to this time the put-put races were like big family parties, racing the old family horse and buggy. 1921 saw the construction of speed row boats of % inch and 5/16 inch stock, bottom boards running lengthwise. Several of these owners of the new boats bought new engines for 1921. Note the evolution. It was thought best to have four prize races instead of two, so a silver cup for each of the four races was offered.
The first race of 1921 demonstrated so unmistakably the speed of the combination of new boats and engines that one by one the balance of the sixty-eight of last year dropped out of competition until there remained only seven speed boats so called.
The falling off of entries due to the development of the speed boat and speed engine has led Toledo Beach Boat club to another necessary step in the evolution of the put-put, that of classification. It proved manifestly unfair, of course, to have heavy fishing boats compete with light especially designed speed boats.
To the uninitiated it seems absurd to speak of a speed row boat, or a speed put-put. You would have agreed, however, with the representatives of several out board engine companies had you witnessed with them the races at Stop 43, Toledo Beach, that—much may be done in the construction of a row boat and engine to accelerate speed.
The following are a few of the attempts to speed up the boat. Pot lead the bottom and sides, some grease it and others bronze the bottom. The enthusiast takes his boat out to dry for two or three days before each race. Splash boards preferably of light metal—extending at least five or six inches out from sides and extending from bow about two-thirds of the length. Some have installed a pump so that it can be handled by the man operating the boat. One has built in a rudder in the bow to assist in turning stakes effectively. The fastest boat of the 1922 season was a light eighteen footer.
Many experiments have also been made with fuel. The writer knows personally that Bensol, high test, high speed gas, and coalene, have all been used. Castor oil has been used instead of the mineral lubricating oil. Mothballs, ether, and many other so called stimulants to power have been added to the fuel. Some of the above have helped and some have brought only experience and regret.
Now we come to the engine. Some of the manufacturers would not recognize their own product. Many parts have been subtracted and many added. Changes can be made to most put-puts because they were not originally not designed for speed. However, the benefit of those who have pioneered , the writer refrains from revealing their pet changes. You will find them yourself as you put-put through a race or two.
Games and contests always provoke the best or worst in humans. No resort or regatta should book any put-put races without formulating rules. Just as the fathers of our Country found it necessary to create a fundamental law of the land at the outset, so likewise you must establish rules for these put-put races at the outset or you will have chaos, confusion, bitterness, individual and, therefore, conflicting interpretations of fair play, fair competition, etc.
The Toledo Beach Boat club has passed through all of those stages, and this year the writer submitted the following rules which were adopted and have governed the last two races and are operative for the coming season. They are offered to the field not as the best set of rules, but merely as an effort to help keep the put-put races clean, orderly and fair, and uniform.
By 1924, Judge Aaron B. Cohn, of Toledo, O., was causing a sensation at the Detroit Regatta of the American Power Boat Association by speeding around the course at twelve miles an hour with an outboard.
I believe that is true because I do all my own work in preparation and operate the put-put myself." This is the secret of the thrill—You do all the work and racing of the put-put.
No, a put-put is not a new parlor game, nor is it related to putting in golf. A put-put is an outboard engine, so named because put-put is the language it speaks. If it putters, you're out of luck, but if it put-puts with increasing power and frequency, then you have a winner. Right at the outset you ask where is the thrill in those darn little things. “I’ve always seen them advertised as being able to go so slowly and noiselessly that you could use them in trolling."
That may be true, but Oh, Boy, those ads surely are singing another tune now. Each ad is trying to find the nth degree superlative for—FAST—each ad in graphic word pictures tells of how its outboard engine took first, second and third with a field including all its competitors.
What’s the reason for the sudden change—the radical change? A change that has sent the Sales Manager panic stricken into the plant, to seek out the mechanical experts — and frantically demand that they create something faster (note here—the "er" is the first step in search for the nth degree superlative for fast) than the X engine which beat them at some regatta.
No, a put-put is not a new parlor game, nor is it related to putting in golf. A put-put is an outboard engine, so named because put-put is the language it speaks. If it putters, you're out of luck, but if it put-puts with increasing power and frequency, then you have a winner. Right at the outset you ask where is the thrill in those darn little things. “I’ve always seen them advertised as being able to go so slowly and noiselessly that you could use them in trolling."
That may be true, but Oh, Boy, those ads surely are singing another tune now. Each ad is trying to find the nth degree superlative for—FAST—each ad in graphic word pictures tells of how its outboard engine took first, second and third with a field including all its competitors.
What’s the reason for the sudden change—the radical change? A change that has sent the Sales Manager panic stricken into the plant, to seek out the mechanical experts — and frantically demand that they create something faster (note here—the "er" is the first step in search for the nth degree superlative for fast) than the X engine which beat them at some regatta.
But the beating didn't cause the hysterics of Sales Manager. Oh no, the X company's next ad in all the sport magazines read, “The fastest (Ah! in the "est" we have arrived at the base of all superlatives of fast) outboard engine on the lakes." Imagine the consternation in the A, B, C, D, and other competing companies. Advertising managers had to acquire a new set of phrases or give way.
Next followed what—a veritable revolution. Safety, comfort, slowness, durability, dependability, all had to give way to the twin infants Fast and Speed. There seems to be more truth than aptness in the use of the word twin - the outboard engine of tomorrow bids fair to be a twin cylinder - for the simple and obvious reason that a twin is faster, and is non-vibrating.
Next followed what—a veritable revolution. Safety, comfort, slowness, durability, dependability, all had to give way to the twin infants Fast and Speed. There seems to be more truth than aptness in the use of the word twin - the outboard engine of tomorrow bids fair to be a twin cylinder - for the simple and obvious reason that a twin is faster, and is non-vibrating.
The frantic efforts of the rival outboard company to produce the CHARLIE PADDOCK, the GAR WOOD, the MISS AMERICA, the MAN OF WAR of outboards is but a natural evolution of that engine, an evolution that is resistless as trying to stem Old Faithful by putting a dishpan over it.
Several larger regattas, including Peoria, Ill.; Madison, Wis.; Sandusky, Ohio; Houston, Texas; Put-in-Bay, Ohio; Detroit and many others, included the put-puts on their racing program, and next year no regatta will be complete without them. So the race is on, and the put-put will be heard throughout the land.
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| Judge Cohn (the author) at the wheel of his racer winning the Inter-Lake put-put championship at Put-in-Bay. |
A Fascinating Sport
Instinctively feeling the inevitable and certain popularity of the put-put races, everyone is asking, Why? The answer is get into one race, and you're gone. You immediately give your order for an "X" engine, and either buy or build a rowboat of some design, that you, or the builder, knows is the last word in speed. While you are doing that, however, others are doing the same thing, and as two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, and likewise two boats cannot be first, the game is on.
Early Attempts at Racing
The history of put-puts at Stop 43, Toledo Beach is probably the same as at other summer resorts. However, as I will show, it may have been more highly developed.
As far back as 1914 a few races were held with a maximum of seven or eight entries. At that time only the heavy fishing boats and old style engines were used. For several years interest in the put-put races ceased. In 1919 it was again revived and two big races were scheduled, on on the Sunday before the Fourth of July and the other the Sunday before Labor Day. That year fishing boats and old engines were still used, and there were about twenty or more entries.
The Need for Uniform Rules
Next year, in 1920, the evolution started. Some of the competing boats had been specially designed and constructed during the winter. A "Y" engine that apparently created trouble, but in reality served as an important agent in the evolution. This particular engine had been used intermittently for seven years, and then retired to the woodshed, but resurrected for the race of 1920, and it finished in the lead. Its unmistakable superior speed caused considerable questioning on the part of all other entrants. The only requirements at that time were:
- Flat bottom boats, minimum length 14 feet.
- Single cylinder outboard engine.
- Standard 2 horsepower.
- No reboring of cylinder.
Real Sport in 1920
Labor day, 1920, was the high peak so far as entries were concerned. Note the evolution from a handful of entries to the grand total of 68 on Labor Day of 1920. Silver cups and pennants for first, second, third and in addition thirty-five money prizes of $35.00 for first in addition to the Cup, and graduated down to $2.00 for the thirty-fifth. Five-pound boxes of candy to every woman in a boat raced only by women. Several hundred dollars was subscribed by the people of Stops 42, 43, 44, and 45. Much publicity in the daily papers, and a film of 500 feet taken of the aquatic events, put-put races, diving and swimming. Sixty-eight put-puts churning up old Lake Erie certainly was a thriller. We were informed by outboard engine companies that that event was the biggest of its kind in the history of the put-puts.
A Change from Sport to Science
However, up to this time the put-put races were like big family parties, racing the old family horse and buggy. 1921 saw the construction of speed row boats of % inch and 5/16 inch stock, bottom boards running lengthwise. Several of these owners of the new boats bought new engines for 1921. Note the evolution. It was thought best to have four prize races instead of two, so a silver cup for each of the four races was offered.
The first race of 1921 demonstrated so unmistakably the speed of the combination of new boats and engines that one by one the balance of the sixty-eight of last year dropped out of competition until there remained only seven speed boats so called.
The falling off of entries due to the development of the speed boat and speed engine has led Toledo Beach Boat club to another necessary step in the evolution of the put-put, that of classification. It proved manifestly unfair, of course, to have heavy fishing boats compete with light especially designed speed boats.
To have twins and 3 horsepower engines compete with single cylinder engines is unequal competition. So classification has led to the establishment of three classes:
- Speed boats—flat bottoms,
- Fishing boats—flat bottoms,
- Free-for-all—Flat bottom, round bottom, or V-bottom twins, single cylinder, of any horsepower out board engine.
Class B immediately brought out 23 additional entries.
To the uninitiated it seems absurd to speak of a speed row boat, or a speed put-put. You would have agreed, however, with the representatives of several out board engine companies had you witnessed with them the races at Stop 43, Toledo Beach, that—much may be done in the construction of a row boat and engine to accelerate speed.
Getting the Most out of the Boats
The following are a few of the attempts to speed up the boat. Pot lead the bottom and sides, some grease it and others bronze the bottom. The enthusiast takes his boat out to dry for two or three days before each race. Splash boards preferably of light metal—extending at least five or six inches out from sides and extending from bow about two-thirds of the length. Some have installed a pump so that it can be handled by the man operating the boat. One has built in a rudder in the bow to assist in turning stakes effectively. The fastest boat of the 1922 season was a light eighteen footer.
Many experiments have also been made with fuel. The writer knows personally that Bensol, high test, high speed gas, and coalene, have all been used. Castor oil has been used instead of the mineral lubricating oil. Mothballs, ether, and many other so called stimulants to power have been added to the fuel. Some of the above have helped and some have brought only experience and regret.
Now we come to the engine. Some of the manufacturers would not recognize their own product. Many parts have been subtracted and many added. Changes can be made to most put-puts because they were not originally not designed for speed. However, the benefit of those who have pioneered , the writer refrains from revealing their pet changes. You will find them yourself as you put-put through a race or two.
Games and contests always provoke the best or worst in humans. No resort or regatta should book any put-put races without formulating rules. Just as the fathers of our Country found it necessary to create a fundamental law of the land at the outset, so likewise you must establish rules for these put-put races at the outset or you will have chaos, confusion, bitterness, individual and, therefore, conflicting interpretations of fair play, fair competition, etc.
Games and contests always provoke the best or worst in humans. No resort or regatta should book any put-put races without formulating rules. Just as the fathers of our Country found it necessary to create a fundamental law of the land at the outset, so likewise you must establish rules for these put-put races at the outset or you will have chaos, confusion, bitterness, individual and, therefore, conflicting interpretations of fair play, fair competition, etc.
Some Practical Suggestions
The Toledo Beach Boat club has passed through all of those stages, and this year the writer submitted the following rules which were adopted and have governed the last two races and are operative for the coming season. They are offered to the field not as the best set of rules, but merely as an effort to help keep the put-put races clean, orderly and fair, and uniform.
I. The races shall be managed and supervised by a Race Committee of three appointed by the president and confirmed by the executive committee (consisting of President, Secretary and Treasurer, etc.. of the club). The race committee shall serve for a period of one year. Ruling of racing committee shall be final. Committee shall appoint its assistants, subcommittees and officers.
BOATS
2. Flat bottom—with or without skeg—minimum length 14 feet. N0 restriction as to care of sides, bottom or any part of boat. No restriction upon application to surface for the purpose of increasing speed.
ENGINE
3. Any single cylinder out board engine—rated as a standard 2-horsepower. No restrictions as to make or type, or to additions or subtraction of parts. Boring cylinder prohibited.
CREW
4. No occupant of any boat shall be under 15 years of age or less than 100 pounds in weight.
5. Competing boats shall contain not less than two occupants, the owner of the boat or engine or member of his family, and one crew, both amateurs.
6. For the purpose of this race, an amateur is defined as one who is not, or who has not, been within the last year engaged or employed in a mechanical capacity in the business of building, or operating, boats or outboard motors as a means of livelihood.
COURSE
7. Triangular equal or unequal sides. Course to to be less than 4 miles in the aggregate.
FUEL8. No restrictions as to fuel or mixtures of fuel.
STARTING9. By air bombs or cannon. Preliminary gun 5 minutes before starting gun. Starting gun 5 minutes later. (If air bombs are used—time is computed from explosion in air.) Starter shall display cards 4, 3, 2, 1, and 1/2 or drop indicators to show the passing of starting line.
10. The race shall be run in such a direction that the boats shall have turning stakes on their port hand.
11. The boat that is in the lead has the right of way at stakes and straightaway providing sea room is given to all boats to port at the stakes.
12. Touching stake with boat or hands or any other device shall disqualify such entrant.
13. Crossing starting line before final gun shall disqualify unless entrant returns to a fair position and starts anew.
14. No occupant of any boat shall touch any other boat or person therein with hands, oars, or any other device. Any violation of above shall disqualify such entrant.
15. The hulls of competing boats must have no breaks in the longitudinal continuity of the immersed surface.
16. Competing boats must carry a racing number, assigned by the racing committee.
17. Competing boats must report to the racing committee at starting dock at least 10 minutes previous to start of races and immediately on crossing finishing line, competing boats must again report at a place designated by the race committee.
18. The race shall start at 2:30 p. m. No postponements from the advertised time of start of the race shall be allowed, excepting for weather conditions.
19. These rules shall remain in effect without change through and including the 1922 races. Changes made to these rules shall not become effective earlier than five months subsequent to their passage
.20. An entry fee of $5.00 must accompany entry for the season's races or a fee of $2.00 for each race.
Class “A” and “B” includes only flat bottomed boats. Class “C” includes any type of boat, and is a free-for-all.
What is the future of the put-put? Judging by the interest created at Stop 43, Toledo Beach, and many other resorts, and by the reception accorded them at several regattas, the writer predicts that put-put races will sweep the country during 1923. No regatta, or races of any size will be complete without the little fellows - the put-puts. Commercially the rivalry is intense and this winter will see the greatest activity on the part of every outboard motor company to develop the fastest put-put. The greatest activity will probably be in the manufacture of a fast light twin.
Another great stride will be made this winter winter in the construction of speed boats - flat bottom, round bottom types.
The big reason for the popularity, the universal appeal of the put-puts is the cost, compared with any other power races. Most any type of put-put can be bought for $75.00 to $110.00, and a boat can be built or bought for the same price. It's a game for the man of modest means.
1923 with a put-put race on every program will bring out the results of the winter’s intensive effort for speed, and make that season a most memorable one in the history of the put-put.
1923 with a put-put race on every program will bring out the results of the winter’s intensive effort for speed, and make that season a most memorable one in the history of the put-put.
January 1923, Motor Boating
This extra comment from 1923 is from Rudder:
"A reader wrote in following the publication of the February Boat Show issue and said: "... It seems as if the 1923 racing season will be what is known to small boys as a "whopper"."
