Team 648 would like to challenge teams to participate in the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta held on September 9th in Galesburg Illinois. The challenge is to build a boat, constructed out of cardboard, to complete a 200 yard course. Budda sent out a challenge last year, and it was not taken up by any of the other teams. 648 has participated in the race the past two years and has had a lot of fun in doing so. The Class II or mechanical drive is a lot of fun. Hopefully this year there will be more interest in it.
More information can be found on the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta website at:
http://www.gcbr.com/
We have a video of our “FIRST” Attempt on our website at
http://www.qcelite.com
Looks great. I have made one for a physics class and it was fun. I would love to try it on a grander scale. I will definately tell my team captain tomorrow.
These cardboard boat races are a lot of fun. I did one on Lake St. Clair (Lake that connects Lake Huron and Erie). If this was closer to home I would do it.
We had something like this during homecoming (aka hobo week). Our boat was really heavy but there was no way it was gona leak or sink… except when it tips 
We had to fit 12 people in it, it probably wouldnt have tipped but they didnt get in it in order, so one side just flipped it over.
What is the entry fee?
EDIT: I looked on the site, but I couldn’t find the rules. Are they posted somewhere?
Im not sure on the entry fee, ill ask tonight. Ill try to find an actual copy of the rules tonight also. For the class II, the boat must be constructed entirely out of corugated cardboard except for the steering and drive system which can be constructed out of anything else. There are other competitions listed on the site, but I do not know how close they are to you.
Entry fee has been $10 per boat and I expect it to be the same. The rules, however, will not be posted online this year, for some unknown reason. Our contact, Lacey, got them in the mail the other day and there was a letter attached that says NOT to post them online by any means. Why? Who knows.
Team 648 will be participating in the July 4th race at Sunset Marina, Rock Island, IL and the September 9th race and Lake Story, Galesburg, IL. I, too, would really like to see other teams participate. Unfortunately, these races we are in are far from other teams. Although, teams 111, 1625, and the Peoria, IL, teams aren’t extremely far from Galesburg (still a good drive). But hey!! It’s well worth it and a great team-bonding event.
A couple of weeks ago we decided to make a [TOP SECRET] boat. Since we’ve had two dominating designs in the past, we’ve decided to go creative and innovative. There’s pretty much no practical use for this idea, except for the “Wow! You can move [TOP SECRET]!” factor. Haha, more details to come after July 4th. Expect a technical write-up detailing every aspect of this auspicious boat.
Did I do a good job selling it?
EDIT: Come to think of it, the rules have never been posted online. You must email or call them to have the rules sent to you.
We would like to have other FRC teams participate at either of the Galesburg or Rock Island Regattas. If you come we’ll be sure to have fun, but if you are too far away there are similar events with slightly different rules around the country.
I specifically remember “milk carton boat regattas” at both the Aquatennial in Minneapolis, Mn and at the National Cherry festival in Traverse City, MI as well as a cardboard boat regatta somewhere in the Dallas, TX area. Details should be available at event websites.
Have fun and do some team building at the same time this summer!
Yeah! There are cardboard boat races all over the United States although many of them are not affiliated with GCBR and the rules are a bit different. There is another race here in the outer limits of the Quad Cities TV viewing area (Alpha) that has a race not affiliated with the competition that we are in. We can’t race there because of the rule differences. I grew up on that lake, too. LOL.
Anyways, we’ve invited students that have signed up at the Moline Freshman orientation to be involved with the building of the boat.
This is a really big deal at our high school. The drafting teacher, Mr. Bartels, has been doing it for years in the pool every year around finals. This year it was coupled with a duct tape fashion show.
Most of the boats don’t make it all the way around the pool, but they are so fun to watch! Especially when some of the larger ones capsize :).
-Chris
UPDATE:
We’ve recieved our donated shipment of cardboard (there’s a lot) and cutting it out tonight. I like Malhon’s design, very nice. Maybe he’ll post some screens of it in Inventor. I donno, maybe he doesn’t want to give away a secret. LOL. Anyways, I’ll try to keep you all updated (via Lacey b/c I won’t be there anymore).
Pictures and detailed technical descriptions to come soon, date TBD.
Enjoy and have a nice night!
Ill post some pics soon. It is the first idea of its kind, while not necessarily the fastest thing in the world, it will be fairly menuverable and even more fun to drive.