1954 U-17 My Sweetie John Francis

The Dodge family of Detroit has a long association with the automobile, but the name also shared an equally intriguing link with the sport of hydroplane racing. In 1923, Horace E. Dodge Jr. founded Dodge Boat Works with a $2 million loan from his mother, Anna Thompson Dodge.  The company didn’t survive the Great Depression, but Horace’s love of boats continued on with over a dozen racers that campaigned well into the 1950’s. This included several boats named Delphine (after Horace’s sister), the Hornet, and four step-hulls named My Sweetie. Dodge found success in the 1949 Gold Cup with the original My Sweetie, and a handful of races on the Detroit River in the 1950’s. The caveat, however, was that the purse strings for Dodge’s racing was controlled by his mother due to her son’s penchant for wild behavior (for a proper ‘society’ family, at least).

In an era that was rapidly being dominated by the 3-point suspension hydroplane, Dodge held a particular belief in the nearly obsolete step-hull design which relied on water-displacement while riding on a series of angled ‘steps’.  Dodge campaigned three different My Sweetie hulls in the 1950’s, all designed by John Hacker.  At the 1954 Silver Cup at Detroit, Dodge’s three boats finished first, second and fifth. 

 The last of these hulls, the U-17 My Sweetie John Francis was built in 1954 by Les Staudacher.  Named after Horace’s uncle, the late John Francis Dodge, the U-17 was unique in that while it was still a step-hull, it featured sponson-like flares on its sides—at least giving it the appearance of a more contemporary 3-point Unlimited. With Dodge’s retirement from racing in 1956, the boat went into storage and was still remarkably preserved when acquired by Dr. Ken Muscatel in 2014.