Speed: Tug boat vs. Paddlewheeler

mongoose29 said:

which is more likely to travel faster?

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The one with the more powerful engine

They will probably both travel at their design speed.

A tug is designed to pull huge loads so is unlikely to be affected by anything it can take on board unless it takes enough lead to sink it, the paddlewheeler will likewise get up to its max speed albeit it might take a little longer to get there.

The load on a boat is largely irrelevant to the hydrodynamic forces acting on it. I can move an eleven tonne boat with one hand.

ETA the longest boat will probably travel the fastest - google "hull speed"

Here's an interesting page that has information about some of the fastest riverboats (paddlewheelers), out of the thousands that were built.

Wikipedia has the results for four years' worth of the New York Tugboat Race, where the tugs travel one nautical mile (=1.15078 land miles). You can look at their times and do the math and see how it converts to mph. (Or, 1 knot = 1.15078 mph.)