This hand-drawn certificate from the Union of International Motorboating (UIM) declares in both French and English that SLO-MO-SHUN IV, owned by Stanley Sayres and driven by Joe Taggart, won the Best Performance Gold Cup, Unlimited Class on August 7, 1955, during a 15-mile heat on Lake Washington. The boat's speed was recorded that day as 166 kilometers per hour.
Stanley S. Sayres (1896-1956), the owner of the Slo-mo-shun hydroplanes, was in the automobile business and he became interested in speedboat racing in 1926 in Oregon. He commissioned Ted Jones to design the Slo-mo-shun IV and Jensen Motor Boat Company, at the north end of Seattle's Lake Union, to construct it. Jensen Motor Boat Company launched the 28-foot-long, 4,750-pound hydroplane in October 1949. Sayres established a world speed record (160.3235 mph) for hydroplanes while driving the Slo-mo-shun IV on June 26, 1950.
The Slo-Mo-Shun IV is on permanent display at the Museum of History & Industry in Seattle.
Caption information source: Stanley S. Sayres papers, 1950-2004, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv53558 Caption information source: Union Internationale Motonautique, accessed March 18, 2019, https://uimpowerboating.com/
Physical Description: 1 certificate : color ; 15 x 12.75 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
