Boats sink or swim at 7th annual regatta

Before starting the Cardboard Boat Regatta Friday, Evans Scholars team members senior Jesse Burroughs and junior Karl Schaefer were holding homemade swords, axes and shields. Afterward, they were holding trophies.\nThis Regatta was Burroughs’ third and Schaefer’s second, so they said they were ready to hold more than just their weapons.\n“If we don’t win,” Burroughs said before the race, “we’ll be pillaging the other boats.”\nThe seventh annual Cardboard Boat Regatta, put on by the Council for Advancing Student Leadership, serves as the group’s sole fundraiser to furnish the 10 $500 scholarships they give out each year to the “Top 10 student leaders,” said CASL Administrator Wesley Erwin.\nThis year’s Regatta was Erwin’s first, so he did not know what to expect.\n“I don’t even think the CASL boat will float,” he said, laughing. \nErwin was correct. In the demonstration before the race, the CASL boat was submerged within seconds of being boarded. \nSome boats were more fortunate in their voyages. \nBefore the first heat, IU President Michael McRobbie said he was there to cheer on his son’s team, The Panthers. The team consisted of Bloomington High School South’s swim team.\n“Last year their boat sank halfway down the pool,” McRobbie said. “I think it’s terrific, but I haven’t the slightest idea if it will float.”\nWell, float it did, all the way to third place.\nGeoff Minger, Bloomington High School South senior and rider in the Panthers’ Star Wars Land Speeder, said the boat took seven hours, 20 rolls of duct tape and “a lot of parents’ money” to make. The boat received second place for creativity.\nThe creativity portion of the event was in part judged by Corbin Smyth, assistant director at the Indiana Memorial Union. He said the teams were judged on creativity, the overall theme and originality. \n“It’s fun. CASL does a great job with this,” Smyth said. “You guess which will sink right away, but some of these boats are built for speed and some are built for creativity.”\nFirst place in creativity went to the Evans Scholars, which followed a Viking theme. Second went to The Panthers with their Star Wars Land Speeder and third went to Team Autumn, a boat that looked surprisingly similar to a Nike athletic shoe.\nBob Allen, lead singer of Prizzy Prizzy Please, gave his creativity vote to Team Autumn. \nThe Regatta was Prizzy’s first time playing at an event like this, Allen said.\n“It feels kind of like high school pep band,” he said. “But that’s definitely not a bad thing.”\nSmyth said one of the best things about the Regatta is that it is open to the whole community, not just the college.\n“This event is really for all ages,” Smyth said. “It’s just fun to see so many people come out.”\nThe best part about the event for Minger, however, wasn’t coming to the actual event. It was preparing for it.\n“We got to have the swim team together in a garage to build this thing,” Minger said. “That was probably the most fun part, just having everybody together.”