Miss America X will be on display at Bay Harbor Car & Boat Festival 2023

Arguably the most prolific and significant race boat in American history, “Miss America X”, a/k/a U-10, was the finale in Garfield Wood’s dominance of the powerboat racing and world record setting career. Between 1920 and 1933, Gar Wood’s boats won each and every Harmsworth Trophy Contest, the world’s most recognized boat race/ speed record setting event.

“Miss America X” featured a quartet of highly tuned Packard V12 engines and was the first boat in history to achieve more than 2 miles per minute, topping out at 125.4 MPH in 1932. The craft defended the title once again in 1933 and was subsequently retired, but held the record well into the mid 1960’s (i.e., more than 30 years).

The boat was acquired from the Wood family by William Harrah, American

businessman and founder of Harrah Casinos in Las Vegas, later becoming

Caesar’s Palace. She was purchased from the Harrah estate by Harold Mistele

and has been under single ownership for many decades, being offered on the

market for the first time. Following a series of boat show and regatta appearances

in the 1980’s, “Miss America X” was comprehensively restored by the Mayea

Boat & Aeroplane Works in the mid 1990’s and has been on permanent display

since that time at the Packard Museum.