Great Steamboat Race

Keith, you are too modest. All you fans out there do not know the part he played in this race. Keith was part of a group that studied the Belle's engines using steam consumption indicators, but he came up with a more refined method. What was learned was that the Belle's starboard engine had a badly leaking valve that robbed much of its power. The valve was repaired and other adjustments made that made the Belle much more competitive than in recent years. Thanks, and a deep kowtow to Keith!

Dear Alan & steamboating colleagues:
Thanks for the reports on this web Re: the big Steamboat Race yesterday. Things pretty quiet over it here in Cincinnati in addition to my having to deal with the smashed in front of my van from hitting a pesky deer. What a mess...poor deer. Movers/shakers and 'wannabees' here in town usually try to ignore the annual race due to that ancient steamboat and civic rivalry between the two near sister cities.

Keith Baylor's stellar work and contribution to the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE's engines reminds me of the 'wizardry' applied by old Jim Burns, builder of the DELTA KING/DELTA QUEEN. He was famed nationally by 1900 for his steamboat engine 'tinkering' to maximize speed, efficiency and fuel consumption...a little adjustment here, tightening there, listening, 'feeling' the engines, cranks etc., and he had them up and running smoothly. I'm sure the spirit of old Jim was not only aboard his beloved DQ but the BELLE as was Jim Howard and his famed family in Jeffersonville along with the James Rees Co., original builder of the IDLEWILD/AVALON/BELLE OF LOUISVILLE in Pittsburgh. Think of the blood, sweat and tears of the untold legions who've labored on and for those boats over the years.

I attended the first Great Steamboat Race back in 1963--now 44 years ago--and it was incredible. Hard to believe it has gone on and on all these years now. The day, as I recall, was miserable: cold, windy and dark. I attended a number after that and, to one media interviewer a few years ago, mentioned there was a lot of "hot bourbon and cold coffee" for many of the passengers and guests. A number of kill joys back then in Cincinnati decried the first race as 'contrived...phony...mere PR ploy...Betty Blake gimmick.' They were handled diplomatically in short order. Let's hope the event continues for many years to come.

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

I really wonder how many more years this farce of a steamboat race will continue; interest in it has been declining for years and now hardly anyone lines the river banks to see the race. The local paper had a very short article about the race this morning and TV news hardly covered it at all. In years past all the local stations had live coverage from the boats from start to finish, but no more.
I blame it all on the local politicians and their stupid pranks. The DQ passed the finish line first this year but lost because some Derby festival official declared it so. All credability has been lost and people are not interested in seeing stupidity. The race is a joke and a laughing stock with the people and, therefore, no one bothers to attend.
Even my 7 yr old grandson couldn't understand how the DQ lost when he saw her win. It's hard to explain to him that it doesn't matter which boat crosses the finish line first; it's whichever boat some politician says won.

Jim, you and I were with the Belle of Louisville for some of those years when the race was real. The day the corrupt and foolish Derby Festival Committee took it over by chartering the Belle was the end of true competition. Captain deMarrerro showed his contempt for the race the year he was told to lose. He ran away from the Belle several times and stopped several times, then stopped dead at the finish line to let the Belle "win." The committee loads the Belle with as many high-paying drinkers as possible, thus insuring her loss in an honest race.
We used to race the Delta Queen every Thursday night. Both boats were scheduled to depart from the wharf at 8:00 PM. We quickly learned that when the Belle had 600 or more passengers she would lose, and with 400 or fewer she would win.
I wouild like to see the races continue, but only after electrocuting the Derby Festival Committee.

Clearly the "Belle" was once again heavily loaded. Chief McCoy and I looked at her wheel trim at about 4:30 and it was already bad.....with the crowd still boarding. Just below Six Mile Island, the BofC approached the BofL rather closely and I could see her splashing her pitmans in the water. I just hope the boat made a lot of money off the big crowd.....

You're right, Jim, there's not much interest and precious little media coverage anymore, but I did see pretty big crowds at Cox Park and at the Louisville Water Company. Didn't notice much of anybody on the Indiana side.

Cap'n Bates, your comments regarding my contribution are extremely generous. Chief McCoy and his crew, along with Chief Howe, truly did and are doing ALL the heavy lifting. I continue, however, with the analysis of the BIG test matrix I ran last October with the hope of making some additional operational contribution to the "Belle".

Hmm,
While my "vote" would be for the DQ, I do wonder if anyone has considered if the overloading compromises safety? That might be one way to reduce, if not eliminate, the Derby Committee's undue influence?
In the very old days of "racing" the "cheating" consisted of not making stops, reducing the number of passengers, tying down the safeties (EGADS!!) and definately denying that one was "racing" ( Heh Heh Heh).
Now the turning tugs, while genuine cheating, was very clever, so gets points for that! 🙂
I think that if the race is to become more popular, this modern 'rigging' of the race should be dropped, and more publicity given the preparation for the race, such as the fine tuning of the engines, wheel dip, etc. I think that would make the public more intrested, and would show that there is some serious work being done to actually compete.
Steamcerely,
David D.

I think the true inventive cheating is part of the fun...as David says 'very clever'. The tug turning incident and other incidents that I have read about are the type of stuff that starts stories that stand the test of time. That's the reason, I think, that there are no rules, or that the rules are developed over time.

What I think is just flat out sick and is wrecking the whole experience for passengers and spectators alike is what Alan stated...that the race is declared won by a particular boat even before the race starts. What fun is that? And better yet, what the frit is the point? Who benefits from yesterday's 'official' race result?

The DELTA QUEEN's staff was:

Captain Larry (Buford) Wilkinson
Pilot : Capt Swiegert
Pilot: Capt Nally
First Mate: Ed Utterback
Second Mate: Carl Koen
Chief Engineer: Jimmy _______ (I can find out the last name if no else provides it)

I don't remember what other positions you list, but if you need more info let me know.

Alan: Keith, in my view ended up being the "main man" in this "engine room caper". Bruce Babcock started things off two years ago. Sophisticated equipment that far surpasses the old mechanical indicater testing (supplied thru the good offices of Keith), long hours setting up and then tearing down into the wee hours after a hard, long day's testing were just the beginning. Endless hours taken to plot and print the results in book form. The engineers, McCoy Howe and others, DID respond to the info they got from keith and have made real improvements. Management who requested the data be taken must be credited too. But there is more work to be done and the BELLE will be extremely lucky if they can get Keith to do it!

The Chief Engineer was Jimmy Finch

Thanks, Pat and Roger, for the lists of the "Queen's" crew.

Have a look at www.wade-bell.blogspot.com for some pictures of the race.

They wouldn't even dream of rigging the Derby itself, so why rig the steamboat race? What's the point? Would ANYBODY attend the Kentucky Derby if they thought it was rigged? Where do they get the notion that rigging the steamboat race is a good thing? I can't think of anybody that would benefit. Put 500 people on the Belle and it would be a fair fight, no rigging necessary.