Anchor Jensen; Master Shipwright

Anchor Jensen, 82, a master shipwright who created the record-breaking Slo-mo-shun IV and V hydroplanes. With a family legacy of 180 years of shipbuilding that began in Denmark, Jensen gained personal fame for his work with hydroplanes. Although Ted Jones has been credited with designing Slo-mo-shun IV, those who watched it built in Seattle’s Portage Bay marina credited Jensen. The master shipbuilder himself credited several others. Owner Stan Sayres piloted Slo-mo-shun IV to a world record for a mile and Jones drove the boat to a Gold Cup victory in Detroit in 1950, earning Seattle the right to host the next annual speedboat race. Jensen’s Slo-mo-shuns earned the Gold Cup for five straight years and set a second world record for a mile in 1952. The boat became a prototype for hydroplanes and is now displayed at the Museum of History & Industry in Seattle. Jensen for 63 years headed Jensen Motorboat Co., founded by his parents in 1927, specializing in building and rebuilding classic wooden boats. He enlisted in the Navy during World War II, graduated first in his class at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and served aboard the battleship Iowa. On Aug. 13 in his Seattle boatyard of a heart attack.