Stanley St. Claire Sayres (1896 - 17 September 1956) was a hydroplane racer who broke the world water speed record with his "Slo-mo-shun IV" boat. Stanley Sayres was born in

Dayton, Washington Dayton is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,526 at the 2010 census. History Dayton was founded in the 1860s. A town site plat was filed by Jesse N. and Elizabeth Day on November ...

in 1896, and studied in

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...

at the

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacifi ...

. He entered the army in 1917. After World War I, he ran his own car dealerships in Walla Walla and a second one in

Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution. Pendleton ...

. By 1931, when he moved to Seattle, he owned 5 dealerships. His

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

dealership was located on the corner of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and Madison Street in Seattle. Together with Harry Jensen he founded the successful company Jen-Cel-Lite, which made sleeping bags using cellulose for insulation. Harry's brother Tony owned Jensen Motor Boat Company, and this sparked the interest in motor boat racing Sayres would have for the rest of his life. From 1937 on, he owned a series of successful hydroplane racing boats called ''Slo-mo-shun'' I to V. The first ones were bought in 1937 and 1942 from Jack Cooper; the ''Slo-mo-shun II'' had with its previous owner and under its previous name ''Topps III'' set a world record for its class (225-class boats) at 87.48 mph. The 1947 ''Slo-mo-shun III'' was the first boat specially ordered by Sayres, again in the 225 class. It marked the start of the collaboration between Sayres, designer Ted Jones, and builder Anchor Jensen (son of Tony). The ''Slo-mo-shun IV'' was built between 1948 and October 1949, the ''Slo-mo-shun V'' in 1951. It was the last boat he built. Usually, he let others drive the boats, but in 1950 he piloted the ''Slo-mo-shun IV'' to the World Unlimited water speed record.

Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...

had set the record in 1939 to 141.740 mph (228.108 km/h) with his ''

Blue Bird K4 ''Blue Bird K4'' was a powerboat commissioned in 1939 by Sir Malcolm Campbell, to rival the Americans' efforts in the fight for the world water speed record. The name "K4" was derived from its Lloyd's unlimited rating#K4, Lloyd's unlimited rating ...

''. On 26 June 1950, Sayres broke that record when he reached 160.323 mph (258.015 km/h). He again improved this record on 7 July 1952 to 178.49 mph (287.25 km/h). This record stood until July 1955 when

Donald Campbell Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, son of the former record holder, reached 202.32 mph (325.60 km/h) in the ''

Bluebird K7 ''Bluebird K7'' is a jet engined hydroplane which Britain's Donald Campbell set seven world water speed records between 1955 and 1967. ''K7'' was the first successful jet-powered hydroplane, and was considered revolutionary when launched i ...

''. In the early 1950s, his two boats ''Slo-mo-shun IV'' and ''Slo-mo-shun V'' (with various drivers including Ted Jones) were the 6-times winners of the

APBA Gold Cup The APBA Gold Cup (originally known simply as the Gold Cup, a speedboat race) is an American hydroplane boat race, named for the American Power Boat Association. It is now run as part of the H1 Unlimited H1 Unlimited is an American Unlimited ...

, the most important hydroplane race in the United States. The IV also won the

Harmsworth Cup The Harmsworth Cup, popularly known as the Harmsworth Trophy, is a historically important British international trophy for motorboats. History The Harmsworth was the first annual international award for motorboat racing. Officially, it is a cont ...

in 1950, making it the only boat to win the two most important trophies and set the world speed record in one year. Sayres died of a heart attack in 1956. The Stan Sayres Memorial Park in Seattle is named after him.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayres, Stanley S. 1896 births 1956 deaths American automobile salespeople American motorboat racers Businesspeople from Seattle People from Dayton, Washington Water speed records Whitman College alumni World record holders 20th-century American businesspeople