b'THE GREAT STEAMBOAT RACE: MEMBER NEWSAn Exhilaratingly Slow Race You Have to See for YourselfI ts springtime in Kentucky. This can only mean one thing: the highly anticipated race that brings scores of people to Louisville to cheer on their favorite competitor. Yes, the Great Steamboat Race is back in 2021. Whilemostpeoplethinkofhorseracingat ChurchillDowns,butIthinkofitasboat racingtime.Theyhaveevencoinedacatch phrase about the race, the slowest two hours in sports. As most of you know, the Kentucky Derby is known as the fastest two minutes in sports.This year, three PVA operators squared offin this epic battle on April 28 to determine the winner of the race that has been taking place for nearly 60 years. The course is a 6.5 mile run upriver starting (and fi from thenishing) Second Street Bridge in Louisville, to a turn American Duchess, Belle of Cincinnati, and the Belle of Louisville competed in April at the annual Great buoy and then the downriver portion back toSteamboat Race on the Ohio River.the fi nish line. It takes about two hours. Now most people think that a race is determined byOf course, we dont operate in Louisville, so weSteamboat Company out of New Albany IN. the boat that crosses the fi line fi Notdont owe any taxes. Nevertheless, the MayorThree very large boats racing hard to win notnish rst. true in this case. It is determined by the Captaindeclared me a criminal!only the traditional antlers, but bragging rights and crew of each boat as to who can lie, steelfor an entire year.This year the start time was or cheat to their favor. That is correct and caseThe competitors were the Belle of Louisville, a6 pm, but I believewithout the benefi t of any in point, the Belle of Cincinnati has crossed107-year-oldsteamboat,fromLouisville,theevidencewhatsoevertheBelleofLouisville the line fi rst several times to be disqualifi ed byBelle of Cincinnati operated by my company, BBstarted early. The speed moving up river is much the judges for various reasons, one time beingRiverboats near Cincinnati, and the Americanslower then coming down the river so the average that we had not paid our taxes in Louisville.Duchess,operatedbytheAmericanQueenspeed was right around six miles per hour. The competition was fi At the fi lineerce! nish Is Your Fleet a winner, the Belle of Louisville was declared. Running You Ragged? CaptainMarkDotywasawardedthegrand prize:thebeautifulgoldenantlers,which TripLogger Can Help.have been hanging at the Belle of Louisvilles Enable your operators to track essential dataofficesince2019.AccordingtoWLKY.com for your passenger vessel or entire fleet withLouisvilles CBS television station affiliate, the ease. With TripLogger, your team can trackBelle of Louisville has won 29 times since the important passenger data along with captainrivalry began in 1963. While I personally dispute and voyage details with a few simple taps.that number, its always great fun to experience. Easily compile accurate daily trip reports forI hope to see you here in 2022!your fleet that are automatically uploaded and managed in a secure company dashboard. Is your fleet running you, or are you running your fleet?About the Author: Take control with gplinks TripLogger app for iPad.Captain Alan Bernsten is the owner of BB TripL gger powered by Riverboats in Newport, KY and a licensed Custom Apps for Passenger Vessel Fleets captain. He is a long-time PVA member and a PVA Past President. He writes a gplink.com/tl regular column for Workboat. +1 252.504.5113MEMBER NEWS 40 FOGHORN'