2007 Cardboard Boat Races at Tempe Town Lake
Introduction:
For the past 30 years, there have been boat races where all the boats are made entirely of cardboard, glue and paint. The thing that makes the boats waterproof is putting 5 coats of latex paint on the outside. Jim Lemmon has been organizing a cardboard boat race here in Phoenix, at Tempe Town Lake for the past 6 years which typically draw over 100 entries, the most of any cardboard boat events in the world!
About The Boats:
There are 3 classes of boats:
1 - Paddle Only - Boats made entirely of cardboard, glue, tape, and paint, and can only be propelled with canoe or kayak paddles. This is the majority of entries.
1 - Paddle Only, Youth Division - If all of the people in the boat during the race have to be 14 or younger
2 - Mechanical driven - These boats are also made from just cardboard, but have some other means to propel them, like a paddle wheel. The mechanical drive system may have other materials, such as the ITT boat in 2005 had a welded steel frame inside with a bicycle chain driving their paddle wheel. There are only a few boat that enter this class.
3 - Instant Built Boats - These are boats built at the event, you can buy a raffel ticket and if your number is drawn, you get to build a boat from a kit they give you. The kit contents are secret.
In addition to awards for winning the above races, there are also trophies for:
Viewers Choice - the viewers vote at the Friday media display
Pride Of Regatta - most creative design, best use of cardboard.
Vogue Award - most attractive / spectacular looking boat
Best Dressed Team - funny / spiffy / elegant
Team Spirit - most spirited team
Titanic Award - most dramatic sinking
Race Day:The races are held on the South side of the lake, just East of the Mill Street bridge. You can park in the parking lot there and hand carry your boat about 100 yards to the grassy hill to find a place to wait till your race starts. They have a registration table to check in, and an inspector will come along to look at your boat, make sure it doesn't break any rules. (if it does, they let you fix it). The races start at 10am, they call on the loud speaker who is up next, and also have a score board. I would guess that about 1500 people show up to watch the races, it is a good sized crowd.
The race course is a C shape, 4 or 5 boats race at a time, you paddle out for 50 yards, make a left turn, go about 150 yards, make another left turn and head to the finish line. There are 3 heats, the fastest group in the first race can then compete in the second heat, then the fastest 4 or 5 boats from that race compete for the trophy.
Safety Concerns At The Race
Everyone is required to wear life jackets and wear shoes with a closed toe (if you wear sandals, they will duct tape over top of your toes). If you don't have your own life jacket, they will loan you one. They have a few divers in the water which help launch and position the boats, and many small kayaks which paddle next to the boats. If the cardboard boats capsize or fall apart, the kayaks very quickly (like within a couple of seconds) assist the people, either to pull them out of the water, or to help them get back into their boat. I saw one boat with 5 yr olds in it. They had 2 kayaks drafting them the whole way, and made it all the way around the course just fine. Another way to think of it is that Tempe Town Lake is rather like a large swimming pool. There are NO power boats allowed, and the lake is closed to all other boat traffic during the race, so if your kids can swim, it will be just like a day playing in the pool.
2004 Girl Scout EntryThe council only had one entry. In previous races, they were beaten pretty badly, so they tried to make a better boat design. When the race started, they were doing great till the first bouy and with a couple of bumps from another boat, they got turned around and didn't finish fast enough to move up to the next heat.
2005 Girl Scout EntryMargaret Spicer took over the responsibility of organizing the team for the first time, and she wanted to WIN!!! I am a Girl Scout leader and Margaret recruited me to build a boat and help train a special team of girls to win the races. Skip Johnson just happened to be a friend of mine, he is a famous paddle boat designer and his mother was a Girl Scout leader and council member for many years. He drew up a boat for us, I built a plywood one to practice with, and then 2 cardboard ones to enter into the race. The girls practiced for weeks ahead of time, and on race day we blew the doors off the competition. We even had the 2nd fastest time of the entire day, the adult class 1 boat was only 3 seconds faster.
For more info and pics [click here]
2006 Race
We had 8 different troops enter a total of 12 boats. Some of them made it to the finals, one troop won the team spirit award, and we had a great time. For photos of the race [click here]
Registration & Costs
You need to register with the Rotary River Ralley organization directly. Go to their website: RotaryRiverRalley.com where you can register online or by mail.
It costs $45 to register your boat with the "adopt me" option. What this means is that a corporation may "adopt" you, where they give you $100, and donate an additional $250 to the organizers for the Rotary Club charity. You also have to display their corporate logo on the bow of your boat. Both of our boats were adopted last year very quickly, the corporations like to sponsor youth groups like the Girl Scouts. The earlier you register your boat, the easier it is to get sponsored.
Rotary River Ralley provides large sheets of cardboard for free that you can pickup, or you can get cardboard from local stores. The glue I prefer is Titebond II, and costs $16 per gallon, you will probably use 2 gallons. The paper tape is about $8 per roll, and you will probably use 2 or 3. Most people have some paint laying around they want to get rid of, ask around your troop and I am sure you can get enough paint free. So as you can see, with the coroporate sponsorship the boats can be built without additional funds.
Boat Building Clinics
The Rotary River Ralley holds several boat building clinics, for dates / times / directions, see their website: RotaryRiverRalley.com
The cardboard boats are super easy to build. I am also available to help, you can either call me as you have questions, or we can setup a time where you can come over to my garage and I can show you techniques in person. I can help review the design of your boat and make structural suggestions.
Also if you are interested in building a Cookie Monster type boat (which is meant solely for speed), I can send you the plans and give you advice on how to construct it. I build boats using different methods than the ralley does.
Getting Cardboard
The Ralley organizers arrange for free stacks of large sheets of cardboard to be at the Rio Salado Operations Center, at Tempe Town Lake [directions] This is the best cardboard to work with, it is good quality and assembles really easily. You can also get large amounts of cardboard from places like Toys R Us, all you have to do is contact a manager and setup a time to pickup their empty boxes on a day that they receive a shipment.
Required Equipment
Signed Waiver Form -- Here is a link to the waiver: [click here]
PFD's / Life Jackets for everyone in the boat -- if you don't have one, they will loan you one at the event.
Closed Toe Shoes -- Many cardboard boats fall apart, and sometimes the crew has to swim for the shore, and climb up the concrete wall, or walk up the ramp. They don't want your feet & toes damaged, so if you wear open toed shoes, they WILL duct tape your toes to protect them.
Paddles -- If you don't have them, they will loan you some paddles.
Suggested Equipment
Self Standing Sun Shade -- There is a lot of waiting between races, an "Easy Up" shade tent is of great help.
Cold Drinks & Snacks
Sun Screen & Hats -- Some teams make their own hats from cardboard, that match the boats.
Digital Camera -- Take lots of pictures so I can publish them on my website after the race.
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Want to build your own sailboat? With about the same amount of effort as building a cardboard boat, you could make a PDRacer sailboat. Basically a plywood box with a curved bottom, it is the easiest boat in the world to build. Just plywood, yellow non-toxic construction glue and latex house paint. For more info, see PDRacer.com