Maritime Throwdown Finals To Return To IMX

Maritime Throwdown (MTD) will return to the Inland Marine Expo (IMX) in Nashville, Tenn., this year to hold its 2024/2025 finals. A total of $10,000 will be split among the finalists who win first, second and third place.

The competition, founded by Capt. Kenny Brown in 2017, will open the showroom floor this year at IMX on May 28. Competitors will participate in a variety of challenges, including line-throwing, line-handling and tying different kinds of knots while wearing a life vest. Mariners are scored on their accuracy and time.

Those who want to participate in the finals but couldn’t attend previous MTD competitions can do so in the wildcard qualifier on May 27 before IMX begins the next day. Six wildcard mariners will compete, and the winner will get the chance to go up against the other finalists in the May 28 competition.

First place will take home $7,000, second place $2,000 and third place $1,000.

MTD’s goal is to train industrial maritime athletes, encourage experienced mariners to refine their skills and encourage teamwork, confidence and safety, according to the MTD website.

New for this year, alongside the usual MTD finals, all IMX attendees can have the opportunity to participate in the Maritime Throwdown Experience starting May 29.

“Everyone wants to come visit and throw lines, but we never really had an official crowd participation competition before,” Brown said. “We’ve managed to create something that is fun and fair with enough people to assist any attendees, too.”

The Maritime Throwdown Experience gives attendees who do not want to compete in the original competition the chance to experience what it’s like to be a deckhand. Instructional sessions for the course will be held every two hours throughout the day. Between these sessions, attendees are encouraged to step up and try it out for themselves.

Participants in the Maritime Throwdown Experience can earn between one and seven points each round. Every participant starts off with one point. If a participant passes the first round, he or she earns an additional three points. A second successful round earns two points, and a third and final successful round earns one point. Participants receive a raffle ticket for every point they accumulate at the end of their three tries for the chance to win a $1,500 electric bicycle.

Thanks to sponsors and other supporters, MTD has given away more than $60,000 in prizes since its founding in 2017.

“We want to incentivize practicing skills you wouldn’t normally do every day,” Brown said. “No one does this stuff outside of work unless they’re passionate and prideful. With this, companies get to know who those mariners are and invest their time into better leaders.”

The 2025/2026 season for MTD will kick off in August. In the new season, MTD will unveil a new “Incentivized Training Program for Towing Operators,” as well as a new “Collegiate Training Unit.”

MTD partnered with Central Boat Rentals to build the Collegiate Training Unit prototype, a new course modeled off of the main MTD rig but tailored to suit college students who want to experience a part of the maritime industry. The Collegiate Training Unit prototype will remain at Central Boat Rentals.

“We want to attract the next generation of mariners and show the industry in a positive light,” Brown said. “The only time the industry really gets seen is when a barge hits a bridge or someone gets hurt. We’re trying to fix that.”

“We’re taught as captains to run a boat, not a crew, but the most valuable piece is the people on the boat and the environment on the vessel,” he added. “With Maritime Throwdown, we teach them to lead up. People leave because of a lack of good leadership. If you’re able to know what good leadership is, and you’re not in a leadership role, you can still learn how to make it easier for yourself and the people around you just by learning the fundamentals.”

To learn more about MTD or secure a spot in the wildcard qualifier, contact Brown at 601-551-0321 or email him at maritimethrowdown@gmail.com.

Featured photo caption: Leighton Loveless, then a steersman with Central Boat Rentals, prepares to throw a line at the Maritime Throwdown final competition at the 2024 Inland Marine Expo (IMX). Loveless came in first place. (Photo by Frank McCormack)