Dorothy Levitt - Motor Yachting

Motor Yachting

In July 1903 (possibly the 12th) Levitt won the inaugural British International Harmsworth Trophy for motor-boats at Cork Harbour in Ireland, defeating the French entry Trefle-A-Quatre. She set the world's first Water Speed Record when she achieved 19.3 mph (31.1 km/h) in a 40-foot (12 m) steel-hulled, 75-horsepower Napier speedboat fitted with a 3-blade propeller, owned by Selwyn Edge. S. F. Edge was both the owner and entrant of the boat, and thus "S. F. Edge" is engraved on the trophy as the winner. The third crew member, Campbell Muir, may also have taken the controls. An article in the Cork Constitution on 13 July reported "A large number of spectators viewed the first mile from the promenade of the Yacht Club, and at Cork several thousand people collected at both sides of the river to see the finishes."

On 8 August 1903 Levitt drove the Napier motor-boat at Cowes and won the race. She was then commanded to the Royal yacht by King Edward VII where he congratulated her on her pluck and skill, and they discussed, among other things, the performance of the boat and its potential for British government despatch work.

Later in August she went to Trouville, France, and won the Gaston Menier Cup. This was reported as "a very competitive race, 'against the world's cracks'", and she won what was described as the "five mile world's championship of the sea" and the $1,750 prize.

In October 1903 she returned to Trouville with the Napier motor-boat and won the Championship of the Seas. The French government, like King Edward VII, saw the merit of the design, so went ahead and bought the boat for £1,000.