© Copyright 2011 Julianne Dodds
Speedboat and hydroplane Championships
1921 - 1925
Miss Liberty won the Henley
on Brisbane Speed Boat
Championship – 13th
October 1923.
Photo from Williams
Collection
Century Tire arrives in Australia
Right: 450 h.p. Liberty engine in Tortoise II. The
steering wheel indicates the size of the engine.
The steamer Kandahar, carrying Century Tire, arrived in Brisbane from New York on 23rd September
1923. She didn’t look like a winner when she was unpacked from the huge case after her trans-Pacific
journey. Under Mac’s instructions, Century Tire was given an overhaul. Her hull was in a bad state,
and her bottom was very roughly coated with clumsy copper paint. She was sandpapered and coated
in orthodox racing fashion, with a black lead preparation, which offered the least possible resistance to
water. Her Liberty engine was taken apart and reassembled with care under the expert supervision of
Jack Smith, who had a great deal of experience in dealing with Liberty motors. On her first trial on the
river her huge engine didn’t miss a beat. Fuel consumption was heavy at 1 ½ miles per gallon
(1.5 litres per kilometre) and cost five pounds an hour. A lot of money in those days.
The next race meeting for the Queensland Motor Yacht Club was held on Saturday 8th October
1923. Miss Liberty’s first race did not disappoint the crowds. At times she ran so fast that she lifted out
of the water. She raced away from her opponents, Q.P., Miss Albion and Gee Whiz, to win the race.
A week later Miss Liberty won the Speed Boat Championship at the Henley on Brisbane event.
After the success of Miss Liberty, Mac was wondering if she might have been a better boat for the
big Cup. The Rymill brothers in Adelaide were concerned about the growing competition for their
Tortoise. Mac wrote a letter of encouragement to them – “I note you are once more beginning to take
an interest in your hydroplane Tortoise. You refer to her as your old tub, but if Tortoise is a tub what
must my original Miss Brisbane have been, for your boat left mine as if standing…if all goes well you
can expect me in Adelaide ‘when the whips are cracking.’”
The Rymill brothers had been very confident
in the ability of Tortoise to defend the Cup until they
had heard about Century Tire. So they too, cabled to
America for designs of a new boat. Completed in
record time, the new hydroplane Tortoise II,
designed by John L. Hacker, was a single-step
hydroplane, 26 feet in length.
The 12 cylinder 450 h.p. Liberty engine from the
old Tortoise was re-used in Tortoise II.
Her first trials gave promise to sensational speeds.
Two months after her arrival in Australia, Century Tire was finally launched
and went for a spin.
Photo from Williams Collection
Speedboat and hydroplane Championships
1921 - 1925
Miss Liberty won the Henley
on Brisbane Speed Boat
Championship – 13th
October 1923.
Photo from Williams
Collection
Century Tire arrives in Australia
Right: 450 h.p. Liberty engine in Tortoise II. The
steering wheel indicates the size of the engine.
The steamer Kandahar, carrying Century Tire, arrived in Brisbane from New York on 23rd September
1923. She didn’t look like a winner when she was unpacked from the huge case after her trans-Pacific
journey. Under Mac’s instructions, Century Tire was given an overhaul. Her hull was in a bad state,
and her bottom was very roughly coated with clumsy copper paint. She was sandpapered and coated
in orthodox racing fashion, with a black lead preparation, which offered the least possible resistance to
water. Her Liberty engine was taken apart and reassembled with care under the expert supervision of
Jack Smith, who had a great deal of experience in dealing with Liberty motors. On her first trial on the
river her huge engine didn’t miss a beat. Fuel consumption was heavy at 1 ½ miles per gallon
(1.5 litres per kilometre) and cost five pounds an hour. A lot of money in those days.
The next race meeting for the Queensland Motor Yacht Club was held on Saturday 8th October
1923. Miss Liberty’s first race did not disappoint the crowds. At times she ran so fast that she lifted out
of the water. She raced away from her opponents, Q.P., Miss Albion and Gee Whiz, to win the race.
A week later Miss Liberty won the Speed Boat Championship at the Henley on Brisbane event.
After the success of Miss Liberty, Mac was wondering if she might have been a better boat for the
big Cup. The Rymill brothers in Adelaide were concerned about the growing competition for their
Tortoise. Mac wrote a letter of encouragement to them – “I note you are once more beginning to take
an interest in your hydroplane Tortoise. You refer to her as your old tub, but if Tortoise is a tub what
must my original Miss Brisbane have been, for your boat left mine as if standing…if all goes well you
can expect me in Adelaide ‘when the whips are cracking.’”
The Rymill brothers had been very confident
in the ability of Tortoise to defend the Cup until they
had heard about Century Tire. So they too, cabled to
America for designs of a new boat. Completed in
record time, the new hydroplane Tortoise II,
designed by John L. Hacker, was a single-step
hydroplane, 26 feet in length.
The 12 cylinder 450 h.p. Liberty engine from the
old Tortoise was re-used in Tortoise II.
Her first trials gave promise to sensational speeds.
Two months after her arrival in Australia, Century Tire was finally launched
and went for a spin.
Photo from Williams Collection