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Cliff Padgett (19 December 1879 – 7 August 1951) was a boat builder. ==Life== Clifford E. “Cliff” Padgett was born in 1879 in Barry, Illinois and moved to Quincy, Illinois in 1894 where he began an apprenticeship at a blacksmith shop owned by John Reagan. In 1903 Cliff began to take an interest in the river and dreamed of building a racing boat with a Pierce-Budd 3-cylinder motor. In 1906 Padgett married Reagan’s daughter Lillian and opened his own blacksmith shop. Having only a fifth grade education, Padgett took a correspondence course in mechanical drawing and design and quickly mastered the art of “blueprinting” and carving miniature boat models out of mahogany. He entered and won his first regatta in 1914, and in 1916 his 16-foot hydroplane with its 3-cylinder Pierce-Budd engine became an instant success and convinced him to desert blacksmithing for boat building. For the next 25 years, Padgett built and raced boats, with many of the races held on the Mississippi along the Quincy waterfront. By 1928 Padgett was too busy building boats to race. His prowess in racing design and construction spread throughout the Midwest and beyond. In 1931 Padgett co-founded the Quincy Power Boat Club, and a new opportunity began for local residents. As the 20th Century opened, commercial river traffic was declining along the Mississippi River. A new type of river activity was just beginning as a pleasure for most, but a business for others. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cliff Padgett」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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