On March 12, the Poolesville Seniors cardboard boat regatta team traveled to the MLK Jr. Indoor Swim Center in White Oak to compete in the Montgomery County Recreation Department’s annual “55+ Cardboard Boat Regatta”. The Poolesville team competed against eight other county senior center teams, each of whom had constructed and decorated a boat for the contest. By rule, boats are constructed and decorated using only cardboard, plastic trash bags, and various colors of duct tape. Each team had an identified “Captain” who rowed or paddled the boat across the 25-meter pool, up and back, for a total of 50 meters. Awards were given for Fastest Time, Best Team Spirit, Best Design, and the “Oh Captain, my captain” award for the best costume worn by a rower.
Your Poolesville Seniors won first place for fastest time! The team’s captain, Lori Kocur, paddled the 50-meter course in a spectacular 54.5 seconds, smoking the competition. The second-place time was 1 minute 21 seconds. Lori was spectacular!
The Poolesville team began building their boat in mid-January, meeting every Tuesday afternoon at the home of Eric and Courtney Ives. The team developed a sleek design and fashioned hand paddles out of cardboard. The boat, christened “JAWS”, was decorated to look like that famous shark and was certainly fierce in this competition. The crew even fashioned a small fishing boat, christened “ORCA” in homage to the fishing boat in the movie, and just like in the movie, the little ORCA took some punishment as it trailed behind the shark. The boat builders were Bill McDonald, Claire Gunster-Kirby, Denise Jacklin, Tom Conlon, Lee Bristol, Roger Brenholtz, George Phelps, and Courtney Ives.
Congratulations to the boat crew and captain on this spectacular showing!
We can’t wait for next year when we will defend our title!
