CNG 87, Lot: 2051. Estimate $750. Sold for $600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

UNITED STATES. AV Medal (36mm, 27.19 g, 12h). Awarded Annually through 1954 by the American Power Boat Association. Dated 1954. THE CHARLES E ROCHESTER MEDAL, two competitors in speedboats racing right on sea / NATIONAL TWO CLASS TROPHY, WON BY/BILL RANKIN/1954 in three lines. Edge: marked 14K. Choice EF, loop at 12h.

From the Clarence & Helen Zaar Maritime Collection.

Awarded annually through 1954 by the American Power Boat Association, the Rochester Award was given to the outboard driver who scored the most points in any two classes between the first of April and the first of October each year. The final recipient of this award, Bill Rankin, rose to regional fame in the Pacific Northwest in the 1930s. A popular yet dangerous sport at the time, speedboating caused numerous injuries and deaths, one of the most tragic occurring in Seattle on 14 June 1936, when a hydroplane’s throttle stuck open and hit the beach at top speed. Boat and driver then flew over a majority of the crowd, with the left arm of the latter impaled upon a climbing spike of a telephone pole. Though the driver was rescued and did recover, his boat struck a spectator who subsequently died from his injuries. The ill-fated boat was later purchased by a new owner who hired a young Bill Rankin to pilot it. Though restrictions in the 1940s made the sport safer to prevent such disasters, Rankin was able to work within these parameters to create some of the strongest-performing boats around. Even after receiving the Rochester Medal in 1954, the lifelong enthusiast and master mechanic continued his pursuit by building engines which were legendary in the boat-racing scene, continuing to set local, national, and international records.