Cardboard boat race

[left-of-center2012]

Next week, more than 70 colorful boats will set out from tiny New Richmond, Ohio, in the southwestern corner of the state, and race down the Ohio River. Some won’t finish the short 200-yard journey alongside the town's Front Street; they’ll sink before reaching the finish, and that's expected.

It's not for lack of skill of the captain—instead, it’s because the boats in the race are all made from cardboard. Captained by all ages, the cardboard boats range from canoes and kayaks to elaborate vessels shaped like guitars, ambulances and battleships.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/small-town-in-ohio-is-home-to-worlds-only-cardboard-boat-museum-180978310/

"Creating corrugated chaos on the Ohio!"
The world's top cardboard boat race teams converge to compete for bragging rights in the weirdest, wildest & wackiest competition this side of the Pecos!

http://www.newrichmond.org/cardboard-boat-regatta.html

[captain queeg]

1. Cool. I'd be up for that if I lived there

I grew up in NE Ohio. We had an annual canoe race on Silver Creek. I did the race once. The creek was so small we ended up carrying the canoe at least 80% of the time. It was fun but way too much work.

[marble falls]

2. It's an Ohio kinda thing ...

https://uakron.edu/im/news/concrete-canoe-and-steel-bridge-teams-head-to-national-competition/


Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge teams head to national competition
The University of Akron News
04/11/2017

The University of Akron’s Concrete Canoe team placed first and the Steel Bridge team placed second in recent ASCE student competitions, qualifying both teams for national competition.

The Concrete Canoe team topped more than a dozen teams from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky at the Ohio Valley Student Conference (OVSC) Regional Concrete Canoe Competition hosted by Ohio State University April 7-9. As the first-place regional winner, UA’s team qualifies for the national concrete canoe competition, held June 17-18 in Golden, Colorado.

"Our team received first place in several categories, including oral presentation, final product, women's sprints, co-ed sprints and the men's endurance race," says team captain Jessica Givens, a senior civil engineering student. "The team is very excited to continue onto the national level."

According to Givens, more than 2,000 hours were spent by team members on this year's qualifying canoe.

"We have a strong tradition here with the team being established in the early '70s," says Givens. "We continuously improve upon past successes while promoting future team development."

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https://media.cleveland.com/akron/photo/Wright%20Way[3]%20copy.jpg

[luv2fly]

3. My first cardboard boat was in 1981...

...as a student at SIU-Carbondale. I made a pair of shoes to walk on water, and I walked for a while, but I sadly didn't finish the race... my shoes fell apart. It was fun though, and the water in campus lake was warm.