Garfield ‘Gar’ Arthur Wood (1880 – 1971) was a motorboat builder and racer who held the world water speed record on several occasions. He was the first man travel over 100 miles per hour on water. 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... A 1962 Rebel. A wooden speedboat with an outboard engine. ...

His father was a ferryboat operator on Lake Osakis, and Gar worked on boats from an early age. In 1911 at 31, he invented a hydraulic lift for unloading coal from rail trucks. He established the Wood Hoist Co. in Detroit and soon became a successful businessman. A database query syntax error has occurred. ... Hydraulics is a branch of science and engineering concerned with the use of liquids to perform mechanical tasks. ... This article refers to the largest city of Michigan. ...

In 1916, Wood purchased a motorboat for racing called Miss Detroit. Wood set a new world record speed for a boat, (74.870 mph) in 1920 on the Detroit River, using a new boat called Miss America. In the following twelve years, Wood built four more Miss America's and broke the record five times, raising it to 124.860 mph (200.9 kmp) in 1932 on the St. Clair River. 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... A world record is the best performance in a certain discipline, usually a sports event. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Detroit River seen from Grosse Ile Township, Michigan The Detroit River is about 51 km (32 miles) long and 1 to 4 km (0. ... The St. ...

In 1921, Wood raced one of his boats against the Havana Special train, 1250 miles up the Atlantic coast from Miami to New York City. Wood made the trip in 47 hours and 23 minutes and beat the train by 12 minutes. In 1925, he raced the Twentieth Century Limited train up the Hudson River between Albany and New York and won by 22 minutes. 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... This article is about the city in Florida. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... The 20th Century Limited was a passenger train operated by the New York Central (NYC) railroad. ... Image of the Hudson River taken by NASA. View of the Hudson River in 1880s showing Jersey City View of the Hudson River from Battery Park, New York The Goldman Sachs Tower looms above the skyline of downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, overlooking the Hudson River. ... The name Albany is an ancient and literary name for Scotland, north of the Firth of Forth (east) and Firth of Clyde (west). ...

As well as being a record breaker and showman, Wood won five straight powerboat Gold Cup races between 1917 and 1921. Wood also won the prestigious Harmsworth Trophy nine times.

In 1931, he lost the Trophy in dramatic circumstances to his younger brother George. The race was held on the Detroit River and was billed as a match race between the Wood brothers and English racing driver and record-breaker Kaye Don, driving Miss England II. Before an estimated crowd of over a million spectators (one of the largest crowds for a sporting event ever), Don won the first heat of the race. In the second heat, Wood was leading Don, when Miss England II suddenly flipped over rounding one of the turns, fortunately without injury to Don and his co-driver. Gar Wood finished the race first, but both he and Don were disqualified because they had jumped the starter's gun by seven seconds. George Wood completed the final race to win the trophy.

Wood retired from racing in 1933 to concentrate on his businesses. He died in Miami at the age of 90 in 1971, days before the 50th anniversary of his first Harmsworth win. Upon Wood's death, George Van of The Detroit News wrote: “To the public, he was Tom Swift, Jules Verne, Frank Merriwell with a little bit of Horatio Alger thrown in.” 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Along with The Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News (owned by Gannett) is one of the two major Metro Detroit newspapers. ... Tom Swift is the protagonist in a series of childrens adventure novels from the early twentieth century. ... Jules Verne. ... Horatio Alger, Jr. ...

External links

• Detroit News retrospective (http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=126&category=sports)
• Gar Wood Boats (http://www.garwood.com)