Name/Title
Hydroplane, OutboardEntry/Object ID
2009.003Description
1934 B Class Outboard Hydroplane B-86 "Humarock Baby" formerly belonging to Clayton Bishop
2009.003
Boat type: Outboard hydroplane
Builder: Robert Boles
Designer: Robert Boles
Original Power: Johnson Sea Horse 16
Current Power: S-45 Johnson Outboard see 2009.003.a
Length: 10.5' Beam: 4.5'
Name: Humarock Baby B-86
Date built: 1932 or 33 (donor reported date of build)
Class: B Class Outboard Hydroplane
The Humarock Baby was built by Robert Boles of Humarock, Massachusetts. The beam is a generous 54", but the actual planing surface and width are within recognized standards. She carries 42" on the forward plane and 44" on the after one when planing in the water. She has a slight round at the outer edge of bottom and is a modification of the "anti-trips". The boat boasts a particularly safe design wherein none of the boats using this hull design have ever flipped during a race. She is smooth while going around turns and runs clean at high speeds, producing upwards of 54 mph in rough water. She is also able to plane with two people on board, making it an excellent design for a marathon boat.
The Humarock Baby was originally equipped with a Johnson Sea Horse 16, and driven by Clayton Bishop, a Fire Chief from Onset, Massachusetts. The Humarock Baby received its accolades in the Albany to New York Marathons from 1934 to 1940. The 135-mile race from the Albany Yacht Club to the foot of Dyckman Street in New York City was often quite a challenge with the rough and unpredictable waters of the Hudson. The marathon, in the form of a shotgun start, included boats from the A, B, C, F, X Classes, outboard runabouts, 225 Class hydros, Class E, and the unlimited Class, respectively. Thus, there would be a winner for each class as well as a winner for the entire race. Classes were divided by the weight of the hull including the steering wheel and motor controls. A Class A boat should be no less than 100 pounds, Class B no more than 150, and 190 for Class C. The Humarock Baby competed in the B Class.
Bishop first competed in the race in 1934 where he placed 3rd overall. He averaged 34 mph and finished thirteen minutes earlier than any B Class driver in the past. The following year, 1935, Bishop placed 6th overall, second in the B Class to Sammy Crooks. In 1936 Bishop was again up against Sammy Crooks. Crooks was in the lead for the first part of the race but, like most racers, stopped in Poughkeepsie, the halfway checkpoint, to refuel. Bishop though, had packed enough fuel, 17 ½ gallons, to make the course without stopping. He had installed tanks on each side of the cockpit and partly under the decks, so there was barely space left. Bishop, in an interview in Power Boating magazine, claimed this to be an advantage in that it was so tight that he could not possibly fall out! Indeed, that ten minute stop by Crooks was all the time Bishop needed to take the lead for good. Bishop, who had arrived in Poughkeepsie in 1st place, became the first B Class driver to win the race. Furthermore, with an average speed of 37.17 mph, Bishop's became the fastest time ever recorded for a B Class engine in such a long race.
The Humarock Baby continued to produce success in 1937 when Bishop placed 2nd overall, 1st in his class. In the 1938 Marathon, Bishop's motor gave out a little past Poughkeepsie, prompting him to decide that both he and the Humarock Baby were getting too old to race. That Christmas though, Bishop's fire department gave him a new Johnson Class B motor, ensuring that he would again race that coming year. The 1939 Marathon started out rough, Bishop's new motor, not being sufficiently broke in, stalled about 10 miles down the course. When it finally started up again, Bishop had his work cut out for him to catch up and again he chose not to refuel at Poughkeepsie. Boat by boat the Humarock Baby slowly gained position and with a sputtering and fuming motor, Bishop became the first racer in the 12 years of the marathon to win twice. At the same time he again broke the B speed record, lifting it to 40.6 mph.
The Humarock Baby's success continued as she carried Bishop to victory the following year, 1940, where he placed first in both class and race despite the weather causing record breaking devastation to other racers. Bishop competed in the Humarock Baby one last time in 1941 and to much devastation, his engine conked out about two-thirds of the way through the race in Peekskill. Bishop went on to join the Navy and in the Engineering Department of the Submarine Chaser Training became a diesel mechanic.
Information from donor associated material.
JMP 3/31/2010Collection
BoatsAcquisition
Accession
2009.003Source or Donor
Charles BirdseyAcquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Manufacturer
Boles, Robert S.Date made
1934Location
Building
*William J. Morgan Building
