The great cardboard boat regatta is a tradition started by my friend and professor, Richard Archer in 1974.

It started as a class assignment for AD100B- 3d design class. I have to say that it was probably the most fun I have had working in any class. The object is to design and build a boat based on cardboard and common materials. There are a colorful variety of classes with different objectives for each. Some boats are designed for speed, others for capacity, others are designed as an artistic expression. Mine was designed as a personal challenge and an attempt at a different type of boat alltogether.

My concept was a gigantic cardboard wheel. The 8' high wheel had cardboard ridges all the way around the circumference. I entered and exited through the side of the wheel and would power the boat by jogging inside. Steering would be accomplished by jogging either to one side or the other.

Because of the limited space indoors, I had to build the boat in two separate halves. Each half had a 4' radius, and took 3 days of solid work to complete. The halves had to be transported separately to the event via truck. I assembled them using several layers of cardboard and tape as a patch at the event near the starting line.

Things went better than expected at first, and my boat floated well. After the staring gun fired, I began to jog, and the wheel started to turn. As I jogged faster, the giant wheel began rolling around the course, creating huge splashes as each fin dropped in and then out of the water. Eventually, about 1/3 of the way through the course the fins began to detach from the wheel. This resulted in my boat thowing off fins in every direction as the wheel spun. I continued to jog (jumping over the cardboard patch with each rotation) until the cardboard began to disentegrate from the water- at which point I managed to dive out the side as the patch collapsed. Moments later, the entire boat collapsed into a pile of wet cardboard.

I was very happy with the results, and I'm told the crowd was very entertained. I received a trophy for the best sinking affectionally titled "The titanic award". The boat and my award were listed in the local papers as well as on local television. Richard Archer, the founder of the event, is now retired from teaching, but still runs the Regatta on a national circuit. More information is available from the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta website located at www.gcbr.com