JOHN PALMER

John Palmer, a native of Wellington, Ontario, is the first racing-boat builder, designer and driver to be inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame. He started building and racing power boats at the age of 15 and he was still racing them until he was 45, when a heart condition stopped him from taking part in the big events.

He designed and built the famed Slockum ll back in 1947 and with this craft won the Canadian Hydroplane championships for seven consecutive years.

He repeated the Canadian racing title in 1969 when he rebuilt a 280 C.C. class inboard hydroplane, including the engine, and promptly won the Canadian championships at the annual Dominion Day Regatta on Lake Couchiching by a margin of 20 seconds over the great Ken Helwig of Sarnia, considered to be the best driver of his era. On that day, Palmer piloted the Slokum IV around the mile and two-thirds course at 100 mph. A crowd of 10,000 saw the thrilling race.

Following his 1959 win with Slokum lll at the Canadian National Exhibitions he entered the World Professional Championship race at Springfield, Ill., and finished fourth in a field of 80 boats from all over the world.

His untimely death came in Collingwood in 1983 at the age of 51.

John M. Palmer was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.