Happy hunting ground
Top 20%
average finish here
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest is their spot: an average finish in the top 20% across 2 visits.
- 2 visits
- best finish 32nd
- average top 20%
The Drunken Sailor
The Drunken Sailor is a competition barbecue team with 20 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2023 and 2026. Their best overall finish is 7th of 34 at the KTD Smokin Gobbler Cook-off (2024). They are ranked #2481 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1521
peak 1529 · rated over 15 contests
Contests
20
in the data
First seen
Feb 3, 2023
latest Oct 2, 2026 · 3.7 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
1
3 podiums
Overall top-10s
1
5% of 20 contests
Avg finish
top 56%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
678.75 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 677.42 (+1.34)
Walk rate
45%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±9.80
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork Ribs
avg 169.78 · weakest Chicken (169.15)
Road miles
4,618
across 20 mapped stops · furthest 980 mi
Schedule strength
77%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1599)
Purse competed for
$297K
listed at 17 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 15 state-championship entries
Master avg
677.42 / 720
15 Master contests · 0 GCs
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #773 (162 pts) | #710 (237 pts) | #951 (142 pts) | #810 (167 pts) | #877 (137 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #312 (709 pts) | #336 (704 pts) | #146 (1,269 pts) | #180 (1,089 pts) | #352 (644 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #771 (180 pts) | #820 (185 pts) | #642 (328 pts) | #750 (205 pts) | #610 (285 pts) |
Overall rank by season
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to The Drunken Sailor, each with one reason worth a look.
77 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#2,487 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1530
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to The Drunken Sailor)
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team The Drunken Sailor has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#2,471 of the rated field
- Contests
- 14
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 36%
- Peak
- 1537
Their last contest in the data was back in 2022, 4 years before The Drunken Sailor's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#2,477 of the rated field
- Contests
- 14
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 36%
- Peak
- 1526
Careers of much the same size, 14 contests to 20, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#2,472 of the rated field
- Contests
- 14
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 21%
- Peak
- 1537
14 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 21% top-10 finishes rather than wins.
⚔ Compare careers#2,484 of the rated field
- Contests
- 20
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 15%
- Peak
- 1545
They were already cooking in 2013, 10 years before The Drunken Sailor's first contest.
⚔ Compare careers#2,482 of the rated field
- Contests
- 11
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 36%
- Peak
- 1522
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 11 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SmokinGhost BBQ | 10 | 2 | 8 | 20% | ⚔ compare |
| THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE SMOKE | 8 | 3 | 5 | 38% | ⚔ compare |
| Matty Macks | 7 | 3 | 4 | 43% | ⚔ compare |
| LOVE 2 Q | 7 | 2 | 5 | 29% | ⚔ compare |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 7 | 1 | 6 | 14% | ⚔ compare |
| GOOD GOOGLY GOO BBQ | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33% | ⚔ compare |
| Heavy Smoke BBQ | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Mulkey's BBQ | 6 | 1 | 5 | 17% | ⚔ compare |
| Can Country Outlaw BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| JANKY LEG BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| TRIPLE H BBQ | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| Bourbon & Blues BBQ | 5 | 4 | 1 | 80% | ⚔ compare |
| KEEP CALM & SAUCE ON | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| Smoke This Drink That BBQ | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
| DB BBQ | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 177.7028 | 159.9656 | 169.15 | top 59% |
| Pork Ribs | 19 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 179.4400 | 159.3944 | 169.78 | top 45% |
| Pork | 15 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 178.8572 | 160.5256 | 169.23 | top 53% |
| Brisket | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174.8572 | 161.6688 | 169.35 | top 47% |
“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.
By field size and state
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 7 | 0 | top 59% |
| Large (40+) | 8 | 0 | top 53% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | 2 | 32 | 0 | top 20% | Nov 5, 2025 |
More numbers
Busiest season
2024
11 contests
Contests a season
5
across 4 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
MO
5 of 20 contests · 8 states in all
Contests visited
14
1 of them more than once
Most-entered meat
Pork Ribs
19 entries · 0 wins · 5 calls
Opponents faced
935
finished ahead 914 times, behind 654
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20261 milestone
- Most recent contest La Belle MO Show Me BBQ Showdown
20251 milestone
- Peak power rating (1529) American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
20245 milestones
- First category win (Pork) Minnesota in May
- 10th tracked contest Minnesota in May
- First overall top-10 KTD Smokin Gobbler Cook-off
- Career-best overall score696.5256 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Career-best single call (Pork Ribs)179.4400 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
20233 milestones
- First tracked contest Budweiser Smoke on the Water
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score658.7084 Budweiser Smoke on the Water
- First call WashMo BBQ & Bluesfest (ONE MEAT RIBS) (JUDGING FULL)
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +17.2 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Oct 30, 2024 |
| +14.4 | KTD Smokin Gobbler Cook-off | Jul 12, 2024 |
| +9.5 | Southaven Springfest | Apr 26, 2024 |
| +8.2 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Nov 5, 2025 |
| +3.9 | BBQ & Fly-In on the River | Aug 16, 2024 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -9.6 | Trekking for CDH | Sep 14, 2024 |
| -7.9 | La Belle MO Show Me BBQ Showdown | Oct 2, 2026 |
| -6.6 | Boo-B-Que BBQ Championship (Day 1) (MASTERS and BACKYARD) | Oct 25, 2024 |
| -5.6 | Budweiser Smoke on the Water | Feb 3, 2023 |
| -4.9 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship | Mar 15, 2024 |
Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
How entries end (by meat)
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | top 82% | 93.2% | 93.2% |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33% | top 44% | 95.2% | 94.2% |
| 2024 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 45% | top 52% | 96.7% | 94.6% |
| 2023 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60% | top 64% | 93.9% | 92.7% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | La Belle MO Show Me BBQ Showdown 🏅 La Belle, MO | 27 / 33 (671.2684) | 16 (170.8112) | 28 (165.0972) | 30 (164.5256) | 13 (170.8344) |
| Nov 5, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Sides Kansas City, KS | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nov 5, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 130 / 401 (685.6112) | 262 (167.3828) | 83 (174.2628) | 203 (169.6800) | 66 (174.2856) |
| Aug 22, 2025 | East Central State BBQ Cookoff 🏅 Paola, KS | 15 / 27 (670.1488) | 5 (177.7028) | 19 (165.0972) | 14 (165.6800) | 20 (161.6688) |
| Oct 30, 2024 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 32 / 444 (696.5256) | 178 (171.4056) | 3 (179.4400) | 161 (170.8228) | 45 (174.8572) |
| Oct 25, 2024 | Boo-B-Que BBQ Championship (Day 1) (MASTERS and BACKYARD) 🏅 Oak Grove, MO | 45 / 53 (670.2056) | 36 (170.2628) | 40 (167.9772) | 52 (161.6684) | 24 (170.2972) |
| Sep 14, 2024 | Trekking for CDH 🏅 Pierron, IL | 29 / 35 (676.4684) | 31 (167.3828) | 7 (176) | 34 (163.4056) | 22 (169.6800) |
| Aug 16, 2024 | BBQ & Fly-In on the River 🏅 Excelsior Springs, MO | 33 / 65 (680.4916) | 11 (176.5600) | 54 (159.3944) | 21 (173.7144) | 27 (170.8228) |
| Jul 12, 2024 | KTD Smokin Gobbler Cook-off 🏅 Worthington, MN | 7 / 34 (691.3828) | 11 (174.2856) | 10 (171.9772) | 3 (177.7372) | 20 (167.3828) |
| Jun 7, 2024 | Hoosier BBQ Classic 🏅 Franklin, IN | 21 / 38 (678.7544) | 29 (167.3944) | 19 (169.1200) | 24 (170.8228) | 13 (171.4172) |
| May 10, 2024 | Minnesota in May 🏅 St. Peter, MN | 38 / 58 (674.7312) | 55 (161.6684) | 28 (169.6800) | 1 (178.8572) | 51 (164.5256) |
| May 10, 2024 | Minnesota in May (ONE MEAT RIBS) St. Peter, MN | — | — | 12 (171.9772) | — | — |
| Apr 26, 2024 | Southaven Springfest 🏅 Southaven, MS | 16 / 44 (690.8116) | 20 (170.8344) | 4 (177.7028) | 5 (176.5600) | 30 (165.7144) |
| Mar 15, 2024 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship 🏅 Lebanon, TN | 63 / 93 (671.8744) | 86 (162.8116) | 38 (170.2744) | 58 (167.9656) | 33 (170.8228) |
| Mar 15, 2024 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship (ONE MEAT RIBS) Lebanon, TN | — | — | 11 (173.7028) | — | — |
| Sep 15, 2023 | Saluting with Smoke Single Meat - Rib Burn (ONE MEAT RIBS) Yorkville, IL | — | — | 16 (167.3944) | — | — |
| Jul 14, 2023 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Eureka, IL | 13 / 25 (676.3996) | 12 (170.8112) | 13 (166.2400) | 8 (173.1084) | 13 (166.2400) |
| Apr 28, 2023 | WashMo BBQ & Bluesfest (JUDGING FULL) 🏅 Washington, MO | 23 / 37 (667.8628) | 23 (167.9656) | 22 (165.0972) | 32 (160.5256) | 6 (174.2744) |
| Apr 28, 2023 | WashMo BBQ & Bluesfest (ONE MEAT RIBS) (JUDGING FULL) Washington, MO | — | — | 7 (167.4060) | — | — |
| Feb 3, 2023 | Budweiser Smoke on the Water 🏅 Winter Haven, FL | 37 / 47 (658.7084) | 41 (159.9656) | 28 (167.9772) | 37 (163.3828) | 30 (167.3828) |