In a strong and early sign of pent-up demand for organized go-fast boating events this season, the Kuttawa Cannonball Run in Kentucky heads into this weekend 105 registered boats. That’s the word from Indiana-based Jeff Hoefling, one of the organizers of the fourth annual happening on Lakes Kentucky and Barkley.

“We closed registration last Sunday night with 105 boats,” he said. “We’re expecting approximately 20 walk-up registrations this Friday.

Even without last-minute walk-ins, the Kuttawa Cannonball Run already has the biggest registered fleet in its four-year history. Photo from the 2019 Kuttawa Cannonball Run by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix/speedonthewater.com.

If that happens, Hoefling and his fellow organizers including Stephen Miles of Kentucky-based Stephen Miles Design, will crush the previous Kuttawa event record of 68 registered boats set in 2019. Though most participants are local to the South and Midwest, the event has registrants coming from as far as the Pacific Northwest and the Upper Northeast.

“We’ve definitely blown our previous record out of the water this year,” said Hoefling. “And we have a lot of great hardware coming—most of the boats are on the event website.”

Added Miles, “It’s going to be huge.”

Speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden will be there to capture the action, and based on this weekend’s forecast for fair weather in the area he’s already well ahead of where he was last year. In 2019, thunderstorms, lightning and torrential rain forced the veteran photographer to abandon his plan to shoot from a helicopter and instead use a bridge for his platform.

“This year, I get to fly with (helicopter pilot) Tom Cline, so it’s a win-win,” Boden said, then chucked. “I need to get back to work. I hope I still remember how to use my cameras.”

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