The American boats were conspicuous by the manner in which they skimmed over the water, which they hardly seemed to displace, and very little white spray ever appeared. It was quite easy to distinguish the various boats at a distance by the amount of foam. Maple Leaf VI. could easily be found by the periodic banks of spray as she “hopped” along, and Maple Leaf V. seemed to proceed through two walls of water. And so the British International Trophy went to America for the fifth time since 1903.
On September 4th, the date of the Junior Car Club’s Autumn Meeting, Harry, in entering an A.C. car which he had lately acquired, was to have made his first attempt at light car racing.
His entry was received and accepted, and it was not until the cars were lined up in the paddock prior to entering the track that the gods that be decided not to permit him to race as the car was not standard.
The car was a new 4-cylinder overhead valve model which the A.C. Company had made with a view to a fast standard sports model production, and the race was for standard cars only. But the word “standard” involuntarily brings a smile when applied to any of the veterans’ mounts. And also being a handicap race, there is always the energetic handicapper at work at Brooklands who has a wonderful knack of letting the light in on dark horses. However, if the mount had been a Mr. Brown’s entry it would probably have been allowed to race, and possibly even spoilt the reputation and interest it gained that day, but the speeds put up by the rest of the standard cars must have brought complaints from many a disappointed owner, who, trading on his all too standard production to little effect, wondered if personal training would produce the missing 20 or so miles an hour.
On September 25th, at the last B.A.R.C. Meeting of the year, Harry, having formed a company in Australia with an agency for D.F.P. cars decided to enter a perfectly ordinary 4-cylinder D.F.P. car.
The handicapper notes H. G. Hawker’s entry of a D.F.P., gives him plenty of time at the starting-line to study the various “get-aways” of the other competitors, and has the satisfaction of seeing him coming up the finishing straight as the cars for the next race were proceeding to the starting-line, having been “all out” the whole race. So much for a name.
Harry’s next activity was to have been, with any sort of luck, as one of the three representatives for the Gordon-Bennett Air Race of 1920, to be held at Etampes, France, on September 28th, the other two entries being Raynham on the Martinsyde Semiquaver which had won the Aerial Derby, and Tait Cox on the Nieuport Goshawk, which had also flown in the Aerial Derby. Fear was expressed as to the possibility of the latter’s entry owing to the closing of the Nieuport firm, but although the entry was satisfactorily arranged, it was not among the starters in the race, as it had not arrived at Etampes early enough the previous day to comply with the rules.
Neither was Harry’s ill-luck at rest, as a week or so before the race it was found necessary to withdraw the machine, the Rainbow, fitted now with the Bristol Jupiter engine in place of the A.B.C., owing to the liquidation of the Sopwith Aviation Company. These were the beginning of the very lean days which do not seem to fatten even yet, and England was left with the Semiquaver as its only representative.
There were three American and three French entries, which latter country had but to win the race this time to gain the Cup right out, having won the two immediately preceding competitions.