M E D I A R E L E A S E
05 May 2001
First International Virtual Steamboat Race
TO: Editors of travel, Internet, lifestyles and sports columns
RE: Steamboat Racing on the Internet
CONTACT: Nori Muster blog - at - steamboats.com
Steamboats.org contact: Franz Neumeier, Franz Neumeier
Steamboats.net contact: Jerry Canavit, Jerry Canavit
DATE: 26 April 2001
URLs: https://steamboats.com
First International Online Steamboat Race Scheduled for 05 May 2001
CYBERSPACE -- The webmasters of three paddlewheel steamboat history sites will hold a steamboat race just outside of virtual New Orleans. The event will take place on Saturday, 05 May 2001, and the public is invited.
This is the first online steamboat race of the century (and the first of its kind in history). The purpose is to raise awareness of steamboats history. As long as there have been steamboats, there have been river enthusiasts who have wanted to race them. The tradition almost ended in the first decades of the twentieth century, but steamboat racing entered the modern era in 1963 when Belle of Louisville supporter Judge Marlow Cook challenged Letha Greene, head of the Delta Queen's Greene Line Steamers, to a race. It was the first steamboat race in thirty-three years. When the Delta Queen crew won, Belle supporters immediately challenged them to another race. The races have been going on ever since. Now the sport moves online.
The contenders are:
The Orline St. Franz, with Capt. Franz Neumeier of Munich, Germany (Steamboats.ORG)
The Nettie Jer, with Capt. Jerry Canavit of Austin, Texas (Steamboats.NET)
The Commerce Muster, with Capt. Nori Muster of Mesa, Arizona (Steamboats.COM)
Steamboats.org, hosted by Franz Neumeier of Munich, Germany, is the original award winning steamboat history site. Log on to hear fifty different steamboat whistles, sounds of the Delta Queen calliope, video footage of the Delta Queen, plus photos, information and links. Steamboats.net is the home page of Jerry Canavit, a leading steamboat historian in the "real world," who is available to answer email questions on steamboat history. Nori Muster, author of several fiction and non-fiction books, built Steamboats.com to serve as a community network for steamboat historians. The site features a message board, steamboat museum, link collections and ideas for teaching steamboat history in the classroom.
