1917 – Father and Son Miami-to-Key-West Race Winners – Or Were They?
Note: I have written a great deal about the search for my long-lost paternal grandparents, the sad Elisabetta DeFabritus and Francesco Mancini, and eventually published a book called Immigrant Secrets about the search.
In a series of new posts, I’m going to start to document another unusual family character, my maternal grandfather, John Oliver Manson. I will likely hop around a bit as I do the research, so I’ll put a date stamp in the titles so those keeping score at home can follow the timeline. Previously published:
My grandfather John Oliver Manson was a well-known sea captain, powerboat racer, and occasional rum-runner in South Florida during the 1910s and 1920s
My grandfather was frequently accompanied on some of his capers (including a fake kidnapping) by his son, Jack Manson (my Uncle Jack). My Uncle Jack inherited his father’s competitive drive and need for speed. Uncle Jack was also a well-known captain and boat racer and an organizing member of the Offshore Power Boat Racing Association in 1963.
The_Miami_Herald_1963_06_13_page_42
Uncle Jack competed in some of the same races as his father, most notably the Miami-to-Key-West race, winning the race in both 1963 and 1964. These races were apparently not exactly relaxing cruises, and the press reports of the race include stories of injuries sustained by multiple people on board, not to mention the impact of all the stress on my uncle’s health.
The_Miami_Herald_1963_11_04_page_21
The_Miami_News_1964_11_07_page_13 (1)
Making the two wins even sweeter was the reporting that my grandfather John Oliver had also won the first instance of the Miami-to-Key-West race, run back in 1917.
A great story, but I’m not sure it is exactly true. Close to true, but not exactly.
Yes, my grandfather was a well-known powerboat racer, but I don’t think he won the Miami-to-Key-West race, at least not in 1917. Here’s why.
There were three major boat races in South Florida in 1917, held over the course of three weeks in February and March.
The first race, on February 24, was from Miami to Gun Key, a distance of 61 miles. My grandfather was the captain of the Raven III and won the race by only 3 seconds over the Shadow III. According to my grandfather, “That race to Gun Key…was one of the prettiest and closest races between fast cruisers I ever saw.”
The_Miami_News_1917_02_26_page_1
The second race in 1917 was the longest, 161 miles from Miami-to-Key-West . The race was again a battle between the Raven III and the Shadow III. My grandfather got off to a quick start – “the Raven III seemed in a second’s time to fairly leap out of the water, and she was off, like a bird on the wing, almost before the Shadow III began to move.”
The_Miami_News_1917_03_03_page_1
The_Miami_News_1917_03_03_page_6
Ultimately, though, the Raven III experienced engine trouble (uh-oh, John Oliver) and needed to run with one engine for ten minutes, losing the race by three minutes.
The_Miami_Herald_1917_03_04_page_8
And so it appears that my grandfather did not win the Miami-to-Key-West race in 1917 that his son would win 46 years later.
The third race, on March 10, was from Miami to Palm Beach a distance of 71 miles. For this race, my risk-taking grandfather appears to have jumped ship – somewhat literally – by signing on to captain an entirely different boat. This boat was only known in the application for the race as Boat X and eventually revealed to be the Sweetheart. The Sweetheart did feature a radical new design, that “is so light and airy-fairy the 200 horsepower engine can make her leap out of the water like a thing of life.” Whatever that means.
I can’t determine whether there was any controversy involving the finish of the Miami-to-Key-West race that led to my grandfather’s ship-jumping decision. The Miami News did note that he was a favorite to win in the new boat. “J.O. Manson, a yachting man of 27 years’ experience, is to pilot the Sweetheart…It was Mr. Manson who piloted the Raven III to victory in the Gun Key race and he is likely to win a similar honor in the coming race to Palm Beach.” I’m not sure what my grandfather told the News about his age and whether anyone questioned a yachting career that apparently began at age 10.
The Miami News went on to throw a bit of shade on the other participants in the race, noting that they “will have to go some to throw any salt spray into the faces of the crew on the Sweetheart.”
Alas, my grandfather’s decision turned out not to be a wise one – Spoiler Alert about some other future life decisions he would make – because the Sweetheart arrived minus eight pistons. The Miami News noted that my grandfather was “wrought up” over the “inexplicable delay of eight pistons which were ordered from Detroit a week ago.” Despite “burning up the telegraph wires in tracing the shipment” and even “resorting to the long-distance phone to the shippers in Detroit,” the pistons never arrived and the Sweetheart never raced. Evidently my grandfather had not opted for Amazon Prime, a decision that likely made him even more “wrought up” when the Raven III won the race.
The_Miami_News_1917_03_10_page_1
There was supposed to be a fourth race, but that one was cancelled to a lack of participants.
The_Miami_News_1917_03_19_page_10
So….
Both grandfather and son leading FL sea captains. Check.
Both grandfather and son well-respected boat racers. Check.
Both won the same Miami-to-Key-West race. Maybe not.
PS - And just because I like the idea - and remember going to the theater to see the move - here’s a final blip on one of my Uncle Jack’s boat escapades.
The_Miami_News_1963_04_07_page_78
