Regatta makes quite a splash
South Range Regatta
By KATIE SEMINARA
Some South Range sophomores had to abandon their cardboard ships during the annual Raider Regatta.
NORTH LIMA — Ethan Witmer was still ripping and sticking duct tape to his boat, the Buzz Mobile, moments before it was to enter the pond in Memorial Park.
“We are shooting for best in show,” said Gerrad Rohan, who assisted Witmer in building the Buzz Mobile for the 11th Raider Regatta on Monday.
Ethan and Gerrad, both 15, were dressed as Toy Story characters, as were their three other teammates, Sam Smith, 15; Emily Seman, 15; and Mike Thorpe, 16.
The boat that took them two weeks, 20 rolls of duct tape and lots of cardboard to build had a good chance of making it across the pond and back, said Ethan and Gerrad.
Team Toy Story was just one of the many teams competing in the South Range Raider Regatta, which was started by English teacher Laura Elder. It’s a project that challenges sophomore students to use creativity, be hands-on and solve problems.
“It’s just a really fun day,” she said.
The task was to build a boat from cardboard and duct tape then race it across the pond in Memorial Park behind South Range High School.
“Our group was crazy. We got in so many fights,” Emily said about the stressful building process of the Buzz Mobile.
“But in the end we will have victory,” she said.
Standing by was a team who hoped to drown those hopes of victory and conquer with their boat, The Tanker.
“We’re taking The Tankers down,” Emily said.
“The Tankers will prevail.” said David Peterson, responding to her threat.
Both The Tankers and team Toy Story were vying for that No. 1 spot, and David believed his team had the edge.
“It looks like it’s small, but we have a solid base,” said David, 16, of The Tanker.
“We did all the calculations, and this holds about 720 pounds and we weigh about 725,” he said, still confident that they would complete their task and beat team Toy Story.
David and his teammates, David Buzzacco, 15, Jake Oliver, 15, John Pifer, 16, and Phil Arsuffi, 16, were covered in army-green paint ready to take the plunge.
“If we go down, we’re going down together,” said David Buzzacco.
Unfortunately for The Tankers that “if” became a reality when some team members jumped ship during the final lengths of the heat against team Toy Story.
The Tanker tanked in the end but could still win one of the regatta awards.
Competing teams could clinch numerous awards, which included: Best in Show, Titanic Award, Best Costuming, Best Time and others, which were to be awarded this week.
Though the vendetta between The Tankers and team Toy Story was one of the most apparent, another rivalry brewed between two pirate ship teams.
The Black Pearl and captain Jack Sparrow, Nick Parks, 15, weren’t in the same heat as The Other Pirates, but Nick still wanted his boat to have a better showing on the water.
“They are poser pirates,” said Brandon Homan, 15, who was also riding on the Black Pearl.
Both Brandon and Nick were wearing long, black wigs and pirate hats and were feeling confident under their sails made of bed sheets. The Black Pearl even had cannon balls, otherwise known as water balloons.
The Other Pirates claimed to have the pirate theme first, and Bobby Toot, 15, said his team focused more on stability rather than appearance.
“Ours might not be as fancy, but we are going to win,” Bobby said.
Bobby’s teammate, Jon Ohlin, 15, wasn’t sure being number one was most important but was more concerned with ending up in the water.
“Hopefully all the work pays off; we just don’t want to sink,” Jon said.
And The Other Pirates didn’t sink.
But The Black Pearl did, and the pirate hats of its crew were left floating on the water.
“The wet wig is kind of gross in the mouth,” said a soaking wet Nick after The Black Pearl was taken by the waters.
“But it was a blast,” he said.