Every summer there was held at the beach an aquaplane race from Avalon, on Catalina, to the Hermosa pier. The word aquaplane is foreign to most modern ears having been replaced completely by water skies. The aquaplane was a curve-shaped water sled about the size of a kitchen door and pulled by a speedboat, much like water skiing, with the rider holding onto a steering rope attached to the front of the board. Aquaplaning as a sport disappeared long before Esther Williams, but back in the summers of '38 and '39 it was alive and well.
The race was entered almost entirely by guys (the “almost” was my mother, Bunny Seawright.) She had been talked into entering the race by two Hermosa lifeguards who knew my mom and dad from the beach at 24th. Excitement filled the Hermosa Pier as the first riders could be seen out on the horizon. The excitement rose as the first speedboats with their riders roared across the finish at the Hermosa Pier. My mom was among them. Later, out on the pier she was presented with a gold trophy which proclaimed her to be the “First woman to cross the Catalina channel on an aquaplane.” The Hermosa Review covered the event with pictures of her receiving her trophy. She entered the following year, but storm-driven seas made it a miserable crossing. She earned a silver trophy just for making it across a second time. My most vivid memory was seeing my mom covered from head to foot with slimy black oil. It was for the cold, of course, but I worried that she was to be tarred ad feathered. The races ended in a year or so with the advent of World War II. No one much remembers the races now, but I still remember my mom covered with black oil.
02 Aug 1937 --- AQUAPLANE DASH - Bunny Seawright won the women's class, Bob Brown the men's, in the 32 mile dash from Catalina Island to Manhattan-Hermosa Beach, California, August 1st. Loretta Turnbull Richert piloted , which towed Mrs, Seawright, and Don Berry towed Bob Brown in . Left to right after trophies were presented are Mrs. Loretta Turnbull Richert, Mrs. Bunny Seawright, Bob Brown and Don Berry.
(Note: Photo with caption from Ron Felsing's Flickr file)