2008 Woodie Awards
Cardboard competitors get soggy
Ted Norgaard
Issue date: 10/15/08 Section: News
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Cardboard isn't designed to float, but last Thursday in Rock Pond by Oakland Apartments, it kind of did.
The challenge set by UMD's Mechanical and Industrial Engineering clubs was simple: make a boat from cardboard and race it. Successfully completing this challenge was anything but.
Nine cardboard boats made it into Rock Pond last Thursday; more than half of them didn't make it very far before sinking.
"As soon as we set off, we sank. I just figured when we started going down to make it theatrical and go for that Titanic award," said freshman Ian Welshons.
Three awards were given out on Thursday: best time, best looking boat and the Titanic award, which was given to the boat that sank the most theatrically.
The fastest boat around Rock Pond was the Beast, which was paddled by juniors Mitch Woitalla, Christina Bangasser and Brett Shultz.
The team attributes their success to the boat's long, sleek design and cardboard that held true in the water.
"We knew that our design was good, but we were worried that it might not be stable enough to hold us all," Woitalla said.
This was the first cardboard boat race sponsored by the clubs. Two of the event's organizers, seniors Tom Rustad and Kevin Nowak, said there were more spectators than they anticipated. They also said that the groups plan to hold the event again next year and are hoping for even more student participation.
"Hopefully this will be an annual event," Rustad said.
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