© Copyright 2011 Julianne Dodds
Speedboat and hydroplane Championships
1921 - 1925
As the interest in speed boat racing grew, the Motor Yacht Club of Queensland was formed in August
1922. The Club held their State Princess Carnival on 18th November 1922 beside the Brisbane River.
Without a speed boat Mac could not race in that event. Instead, he raced his new motor yacht Malaita
in the Motor Tender Handicap and won. In those days there were no restrictions on engine size for
racing boats. Mr. Lahey, the owner of the speed boat Q.P., had actually taken the engine out of his
motor car, fitted it into his boat and won the race.
While Mac was wondering what he was going to do about Miss Brisbane, the plans of another
contender for the Australasian speedboat championship came to Mac’s attention. Major Darcy Donkin
had risen to rank of Major in the First World War. From his property ‘Meteor Downs’ in far west
Queensland, he became the first private owner of an aeroplane in Queensland and flew it to inspect
the sheep on his station. Major Donkin had run second in the 1922 race in Adelaide with his
hydroplane Greyhound. He had represented New South Wales in the Championship because when
he joined the Motor Yacht Club he did not know that such an association existed in Queensland.
Donkin had ordered a hull to accommodate two Rolls Royce Eagle Eight engines, yielding an
aggregate horsepower of 700. His new boat Meteor was built on similar lines to the world’s champion,
Miss America.
Mac now realised that Miss Brisbane needed a much larger motor to compete against both
Tortoise and Meteor. He was prepared to spend big money in his quest and, following the results of
similar boats in America, Mac finally settled upon a 450 h.p. Liberty aero motor. He immediately
cabled to America for the engine and Reg Holmes began to construct a new hull. Working night
and day, twelve men at the boatshed finished the hull in nine weeks, and when the new Liberty
engine arrived it was immediately installed in the boat.
Plans for the 1923 Australasian Championship
Darcy Donkin’s Meteor
Photo from Williams Collection
Speedboat and hydroplane Championships
1921 - 1925
As the interest in speed boat racing grew, the Motor Yacht Club of Queensland was formed in August
1922. The Club held their State Princess Carnival on 18th November 1922 beside the Brisbane River.
Without a speed boat Mac could not race in that event. Instead, he raced his new motor yacht Malaita
in the Motor Tender Handicap and won. In those days there were no restrictions on engine size for
racing boats. Mr. Lahey, the owner of the speed boat Q.P., had actually taken the engine out of his
motor car, fitted it into his boat and won the race.
While Mac was wondering what he was going to do about Miss Brisbane, the plans of another
contender for the Australasian speedboat championship came to Mac’s attention. Major Darcy Donkin
had risen to rank of Major in the First World War. From his property ‘Meteor Downs’ in far west
Queensland, he became the first private owner of an aeroplane in Queensland and flew it to inspect
the sheep on his station. Major Donkin had run second in the 1922 race in Adelaide with his
hydroplane Greyhound. He had represented New South Wales in the Championship because when
he joined the Motor Yacht Club he did not know that such an association existed in Queensland.
Donkin had ordered a hull to accommodate two Rolls Royce Eagle Eight engines, yielding an
aggregate horsepower of 700. His new boat Meteor was built on similar lines to the world’s champion,
Miss America.
Mac now realised that Miss Brisbane needed a much larger motor to compete against both
Tortoise and Meteor. He was prepared to spend big money in his quest and, following the results of
similar boats in America, Mac finally settled upon a 450 h.p. Liberty aero motor. He immediately
cabled to America for the engine and Reg Holmes began to construct a new hull. Working night
and day, twelve men at the boatshed finished the hull in nine weeks, and when the new Liberty
engine arrived it was immediately installed in the boat.
Plans for the 1923 Australasian Championship
Darcy Donkin’s Meteor
Photo from Williams Collection