You ask and ... Here it is.

Fifteenth Annual Tugboat Race & Competition
Sunday 2 September 2007

Pier 84, at the end of West 44th Street & Hudson River, Manhattan, NY

Schedule

10:30 AM - Tugs gather near Pier 84

11:00 AM - Parade of tugs from Pier 84 to the start line near the
79th Street Boat Basin.

11:30 AM - Race starts

12:00 Noon to 1 PM - Nose to nose pushing contests and line toss
competition.

1 PM - Tugs tie up to Pier 84 for lunch and awards ceremony.

2 PM - Awards ceremony. Tugs depart at about 3 PM.

This spectatcular race and competition attracts tugs of all kinds and
sizes from the 7,000 HP Lincoln Sea, race winner overall in 2006, to
the tiny historic W.O. Decker from the South Street Seaport, a
perennial winner of the Little Toot Award. The competition begins
with a parade of tugs, accompanied by fireboats spraying water and a
USCG Cutter, followed by the one nautical mile race itself, with
awards in several horsepower categories. The sight of a dozen or more
powerful tugs racing a full throttle down the river is nothing less
than awesome.

Following the race, two other competitions provide in-water action.
One, the "nose-to-nose" pushing contests occur as one tug will
challenge another, both tugs face off bow-to-bow and each attempts to
push the other backwards. Sometime the results can be surprising. The
other is the line toss, where tugs approach the pier and are timed as
they attempt to "lasso" a bollard without touching the pier. It's a
contest that involves a high degree of coordination and precision
between the captain and the line handler. In 2006 the winner was
Janice Ann Reinauer.

After the in-water portion of the event, the tugs all tie up at the
pier and the awards ceremony takes place, with additional winners in
such categories as best dressed crew, best looking tug, best crew
member tattoo (that can legally be displayed), best tugboat mascot
and the best historic tug. It's a competiton, yes, but it's also a
way for tugs crews to interact and let off steam and have fun, as
well as a way to remind the public of the hard work these vessels and
crews do 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year in and out. As the day
winds down, the refreshed crews make their way back aboard their
respective powerful water-bourn workhorses, and depart to go back to
work, already thinking ahead to next year.

BE IN THE ACTION

The event is free on the pier but a special spectator boat is also
available, leaving from Circle Line's Pier 83, right next door to
Pier 84, at 10:30 AM. Boarding begins at 10 AM. Don't miss it. The
boat will be in the parade of tugs and will follow the race from
start to finish. Then it will hover in the area for the bow-to-bow
pushing contests. It will land at Pier 83 at 12:30 giving passengers
time to walk to Pier 84 for the awards and other contests. The price
is $35 or $30 for WHC members.

For tickets for the spectator boat:

https://www.nycharities.org/event/event.asp?CE_ID=1485

For other WHC tours:

http://workingharbor.com/