Madison, Indiana, is steeped in a competitive tradition that dates back to the 1800s when steamboats raced each other on the legendary Ohio River. Perhaps because of this, boat racing is very deeply engrained in the public consciousness.
According to folklore, one of the earliest boat races to occur in the vicinity of Madison was a keelboat competition that supposedly matched Mike Fink, the flamboyant "King of the River," with Davy Crockett, "King of the Wild Frontier." Crockett emerged the winner (by barely a boat length) in the apocryphal race that began in Maysville, Kentucky, and ended in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The earliest documented power boat regatta at Madison took place in 1911. The steamship PRINCESS from Coney Island tied up in the middle of the river. Power launches ran an oval track roughly around the boat. This was also one of the earliest examples of competition as it is currently characterized around a closed course.Â
